The man who isn't there

In just a year, the number of men playing video games in this key age range has risen by 21 percent, she points out. In conjunction with a sister Nielsen ratings system, which measures Internet usage, Elliot says that over the same time period, online instant messaging and game playing jumped more than 50 percent from September 2002.

"No single one of these elements alone has driven this usage shift away from TV," she says, "but once you put them together, it begins to explain some of the other things going on."

Both sides seem to agree on one thing: It wasn't this year's particularly bad programming that led these young men to stray. "Declines in TV-viewing predates this fall season," says Poltrack. "This suggests that it's not related to some form of rejection of the TV programs this season."

Fajardo cheerily confesses to not even knowing what was on. "I didn't tune in for any of the new fall season," says the computer technician. He seems slightly confused as he adds with a hesitant look, "When did it start anyway?"

But keeping up with the younger boys is only the tip of the iceberg, say media watchers. "People of all ages are being weaned away from the TV model by the Internet and other alternatives," says futurist Michael Zey.

"If the networks want that mass audience, they're going to have to bring an interactive element into the experience or they're just going to have smaller and aging audiences."

Sports is a good place to start experimenting with real time repurposing of TV programming, Mr. Zey adds.

"Sporting events [are] one of the few things left that people need to experience in real time," he says, pointing out the obvious. "Nobody watches the Super Bowl on their Tivo."

Fajardo says he and his buddies probably watch less than five hours of television a week.

But, he adds, he's still glued to a screen. He confesses to being an online gaming addict. "Whenever I have the chance that's what I do for fun," he says, "I don't turn on the TV."

All the networks need to do is get their shows online, he says with a laugh.

"I'd probably watch some of those shows if they were," he says. "Besides, that way they could reach people who spend time on their computers during the day, instead of waiting for them to get home and turn on their TV."

Getting online is just a tad harder for the networks than for Fajardo, but not for want of trying. CBS has extended its popular "CSI" franchise online with forensic games and murder investigations, and Fox has experimented with simultaneous online games connected to television shows for children, among others.

The networks are spending millions on trying to keep up with the changes.

But, say media pundits like Horizon Media's Brad Adgate, the question is: Will they change fast enough to keep up with the indicator species - young males aged 18 to 24?

"We're following these people very closely," says CBS's Poltrack. "We know a lot about their behavior," he adds.

To which Fajardo and his pals say, "I remember TV was an important part of my life when I was growing up. But," he says, his eyes flicking to the computer screens that flank his workplace, "not anymore."

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