As i sit here typing this my daughter is watching “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” for about the 400th time this Christmas season. While she’s watching it she’s also holding onto a Rudolph plush toy. Don’t even get me started on the Rudolph ornaments, Golden Books, and (let’s not forget) the cookie cutters that make stand-up characters from the special.

My guess is, things in the Rudolph house-hold are going alright. The folks behind this 50 year old special are doing a-ok.

And yet, the doom-sayers at TV Week (who seem to all be collectively depressed based on recent posting) want to know “Where did all the broadcast TV viewers go during this time of year?” because ratings for the holiday specials we all know and love have fallen flat this year.

First, let’s keep in mind that “flat” still means they’re in the Top 20 shows on all of television…so that’s not exactly something to weep about to begin with…BUT…let’s a assume the ratings were bad (which they ARE NOT for shows that older than most of the people writing on the Internet) — can anyone figure out why?

Seems pretty clear to me.

DVD.

These specials are not only ON DVD – they are marked like crazy this time of year. There are holiday packs with these specials in almost every major store I’ve been in since the first week of November. A few years ago it wasn’t like this – but when the first Christmas specials started getting released on DVD EVERY other possible special soon followed (He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special, anyone?). The reason for that is simple – they sell like mad.

Ratings for these shows aren’t down because people are sitting in their houses too depressed to watch TV because of the economy, and the ratings aren’t down because TV is DOOMED. They’re down because people are watching these specials MORE THAN EVER in the privacy of their own homes, whenever the heck they want.

The sooner the television industry figures out that that’s how people want to view television (ANY TELEVISION – SAVE LIVE SPORTING EVENTS) the better off they’ll be.