Has TV changed so much as to make the traditional TV season unrecognizable, even irrelevant? You can buy whole seasons of shows only months after they air and watch them in order, without repeats, without the long delays that puncture the usual season.
Add to that the ability to buy and download commercial free versions of shows like Lost the day after they are broadcast. (Of course it's not available here in Canada yet, leaving us only the free, illeagal method - when will they learn?)
The question becomes, why watch when the networks want you too? Why not wait until the whole season comes out and buy them all in one shot? The problem is you still need to hold off until the entire season is broadcast, even if you managed to download it.
Secondly, you miss the pop culture bliss of talking about the show while it's on, telling others about it and having something to rattle on about at parties and bars. Programs may not hold the same communal power they did when there was less than a dozen channels, but people still chat about their favourite shows and we all have TVs to check them out for ourselves.
Of course one needn't wait, what with time shifting and and glorious PVR. It is, as Dose points out, the death of the timeslot, not the death of the season.
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