The prime time tv season has ended and as usual the top shows tell us much about the few things left that Americans share. 

Just three series averaged more than 10 million viewers; two of them are NFL broadcasts. 18 million people watched Sunday Night Football on NBC and 10 million people watched Monday Night Football on ESPN. 

What's the other show in the top three: Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone. Ahhh, nothing brings Americans together like sports and guns.

These numbers are half what I remember twenty years ago and well below a decade or so. 

So where have all the viewers gone? The obvious place is streaming: from Netflix to Disney plus. And how many people are watching those platforms is kept purposely opaque.

These outlets who know precisely what and how long we are watching them release minutes instead of viewership estimates like Nielsen has traditionally.

For instance, Netflix claims that between May 15th and 21st 2023 roughly 82 billion minutes of Queen Charlotte, the spinoff Shonda Rimes’ period drama Bridgerton were watched.

Why? It's about control of course. 

If you're the only one who knows how many people saw something, no one can dispute your proclamation. Several companies including Nielsen are trying anyway because 

if the actors, producers, and directors need to know exactly how popular their projects are because these streaming companies are using this unknown to give them the upper hand in renegotiations.

Or as TV executive Don Ohlmeyer once said, “The answer to all your questions is money.”