appointment viewing

In the age of binge-watching, HBO’s hit series “The White Lotus” is demonstrating the power of weekly appointment viewing.

Evening newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC — all of which launched in the late 1940s — are among the few shows that still drive appointment viewing.

But broadcast networks are aware that the downward trend in appointment viewing on traditional TV is never going to reverse.

The videos, which now number more than 260, have become appointment viewing for movie lovers, who relish watching their favorite artists rhapsodize about cinema in unrehearsed, genuine ways.

Appointment viewing was once boss in TV, cementing us together in shared narratives of Who-Killed-JR? and Did-Heather-Locklear-Really-Show-Up-In-A-Nighty-On-"Melrose-Place"? But with our household viewing withering on the streaming vine, we can scarcely maintain a shared conversation around the virtual watercooler anymore.