Can Super Sentai's Declining TV Ratings Be Attributed To TV's Dying State Due To Increasing Internet Viewership?

Super Sentai's ratings are declining yet it's still going on and it's still airing. Super Sentai's reached up to 40 years last year and we're having the 41st season with Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger. What I just ignored is that maybe, just maybe the low ratings of Super Sentai in terms of TV viewership may also be contributed to the fact that TV is dying. Yes, it's possible that Super Sentai may be getting a lot of viewers but aren't watching it on TV. They may be watching it over the Internet instead. With that in mind it's highly possible Super Sentai still sells but the TV ratings are low thanks to increasing Internet viewership.

Read on and don't forget to watch the videos in-between as you read my speculation!



Here's a video I found that helped me put my ideas here so watch it before you continue reading. Take note that just because your favorite show is there doesn't mean you should stop watching it. Love your favorite shows and cherish them but don't force others to like them. Just take note that this video covers all the way from 2016 and backwards so there are different factors. Fiveman was when Hirohisa Soda burned out. Ohranger was when the late Noboru Sugimura burned out. Carranger was a knee jerk effect so they wrote a comedic series that didn't even bring ratings up at a significant level. Difference was Fiveman had no toy sales to back it up while Ohranger and Carranger made up for low ratings with the sales of Bandai merchandise. But lately, we've entered the digital age which may have affected TV ratings.

Internet TV has been replacing TV which may be a result of the digital age. You might be watching live broadcasts from your tablet or PC or if you're at work, you're probably streaming them on Youtube or any Internet TV site after your working hours. I think this is what could be going on with Super Sentai. Let's start with Gokaiger's successful voyage. It's a huge anniversary season that featured a lot of old school actors resuming their roles. According to the same video, the viewership in terms of TV ratings dropped. My speculation is that a lot of people got into the hype on television. But maybe, just maybe some fans hate to wake up at 7:30 A.M. on Sundays just to watch Super Sentai and Internet TV is now the thing. So what if these people ended up watching Gokaiger through the Internet instead of through their television sets? It's probably time to measure popularity through Internet and TV huh?

You may want to watch this video on Saturday morning cartoons. I hope that it may help support my speculation on declining ratings as far as TV ratings are concerned. As a child in the 90s, I can remember the Saturday morning cartoons phenomenon. I remembered watching some Saturday morning cartoons from ABiaS-CBN and GMA-7. I remembered watching Conan the Adventurer on ABiaS-CBN and Disney cartoons on GMA-7. Those were the times when I dreaded having to study on Saturday mornings because I was so going to miss what my peers watched. I remembered crying a lot every time I missed one episode of Conan the Adventurer. Cable TV started killing it because we've got channels like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. I guess this time there's more good reasons for parents to actually make Saturday morning study time because the children can watch their kiddie shows later on the Internet. Sure they may have missed some episodes of this and that but parents and children could now watch it on their own pace.

Come to think about it Megaranger turned 20 years old last February 14, 2017. It's like as if Megaranger predicted that Super Sentai TV ratings would one day go down because more of its viewers will watch it online. Did Megaranger give us a prediction of the future of the digital age when live TV will be replaced by the Internet? Granted, a lot of stuff started getting upgraded at a fast pace it's hard to keep track. Many went from Windows 95 to 98 to XP to Premium in such a short amount of time. Then Internet technology just got upgraded and people went from VHS to VCD to DVD in such a short amount of time. Internet technology got more and more advanced that not only has stuff like Direct Service Line and fiber optic cables been introduced but it also helped Internet TV progressed to a whole new level. While television sets are still sold but TV in general may not be as powerful as it used to be. 

The impact of the digital age puts a lot of old technology behind making them obsolete. While old school entertainment still remains available but nobody watches old school shows on Betamax, VHS or laser discs because all those stuff are good as dead. Old school shows are now on DVD, BluRay or downloadable digital media. Nobody listens to old school music on phonograph or cassette tapes. Instead, we have CDs and digital media such as i-Tunes, VLC Player and Winamp to do the job. You may be listening to a lot of old school music but it's been redefined and made to sound better. You may be enjoying some classic films but it's now on HD or in 3D. Last time you were renting betamax tapes every week. Now you're renting or buying DVDs. One can always relive childhood nostalgia but with better definition. I'm pretty glad I'm watching some old school stuff remastered in HD.

With the digital age it's really no surprise why TV is now a dying trend. Why want a re-air of old school shows if you could buy them on DVD or in the form of digital media? Why be too particular about the timeslots of new school shows if you can watch them later? Besides, I wonder how many percent of Japanese audiences are watching Kyuranger and Kamen Rider EX-AID on TV compared to those who watch those shows online? I'd take a wild guess that most of them are watching Super Hero Time online. For all you know a show that's well-loved only had lower TV ratings because most of its fans were watching it online. I was really very wrong to think a show's quality can be judged by TV ratings these days. In the past, it could be a strong determinant but today the Internet is defeating TV in general. Only if I had some available data on how many viewers a certain Super Sentai season has based on Internet viewership. Maybe, I could start looking things at a different light considering I hardly watch TV these days. I'm watching Kyuranger and EX-AID but I'm not watching it on TV. Instead, I'm watching them via free fansubs. 

What are your thoughts on this matter? Please let me know what you think and correct any mistakes made here.

Updated March 8, 2017