• Media Life, Wednesday, March 21, 2007 2:13 PM

While little in the way of broadcast network sitcoms seems to attract viewers, the classic American TV format is far from dead. Indeed, we are watching as many or more comedies than ever, only as reruns on cable or syndication. The problem is not with the sitcom, but with the broadcast networks, says a report from Magna Global: The networks just got it all wrong, going with themes that just don't resonate.

What still works are shows about families like "Everybody Loves Raymond," or family-like groups, such as "Friends" or "Seinfeld." But instead, the nets air stuff like NBC's "30 Rock," lacking laugh tracks and the familiar family groups. That's because they think families no longer watch TV together, says Steve Sternberg, executive vice president of audience analysis at Magna. And that premise is incorrect.

"We've demonstrated that 80 percent of homes only have one TV set turned on during prime time," he says. "People have multiple TV sets for convenience, not so everyone can scurry off and watch TV by themselves. Certainly anyone with kids knows that they are always searching for programming families can watch together."

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