One example of how times have changed in the US television industry

Homicide: Life on the Street ran from 1993 to 1999 on one of the "big three" networks. The Americans began pretty much exactly twenty years later, and has run from 2013 to the present on a popular "basic cable" network (i.e. the sort of place Homicide would have found a home if it were on the air today). Homicide had seven seasons, while The Americans will have had six by the time it finishes in 2018. Both were/have been considered "good shows that nobody's watching" during their runs.

Homicide's viewership ranged between 7.5 million and 12.7 million over the course of its run. The Americans' viewership has never cracked a million for any of its seasons (single episodes have, but not as an average over the season), and averages around 910,000.

I know times have changed, but somehow, that one comparison really puts those changes into perspective for me in a way nothing else has.