Where have the TV viewers gone?

WHERE HAVE THE TV VIEWERS GONE?
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox have 2.5 million less people watching this Spring than the same time last year. Everyone has a theory to explain the plummeting ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed. Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules. The industry isn't fully equipped to keep track of them, and as a result the networks are scrambling to hold on to the nearly $8.8 billion they collected during last spring's ad-buying season. The viewer plunge couldn't have come at a worse time for the networks — next week they will showcase their fall schedules to advertisers in the annual "up front" presentations. The networks argue that viewership is changing, not necessarily declining. Some advertisers respond that they are no longer willing to pay full price up front to reach viewers that may not tune in later.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070508/ap_en_bu/tv_missing_viewers