Americans continue to learn better and better ways of defending themselves from the constant stream of media messages. With hundreds of feature films, thousands of television shows, and millions of DVD’s, blogs, podcasts, and other new technologies bombarding us on a regular basis, we’ve had to find new ways to focus our attention and delete all the other unwanted and/or unneeded programming.

Princeton University’s Wordnet defines entertainment as, “a diversion that holds the attention.” Getting people’s attention can be easy. Flashy graphics, cute characters, and outrageous situations can distract almost anyone for a moment, but that moment is fleeting if the visual cues aren’t followed up by rock-solid storytelling with a plot, characters, and action. When a story reaches people emotionally, be it funny or sad or inspiring, we can keep their attention indefinitely.

We can see it by studying the television viewing trends over the past few years. Compare the popularity of TLC’s Trading Spaces against ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. While Trading spaces viewership has dwindled, Extreme Makeover is enjoying overwhelming success. Why? The depth of the storytelling on Extreme Makeover. The show tells the story of the homeowners, and the story is typically pretty gripping. Trading Spaces’ “story” is about the transformation of a couple of rooms. Extreme Makeover’s story is about the transformation of lives, and that kinds of story keeps people watching throughout the hour and week to week.