How many scripted TV shows in 2015? A record 409

There is finally a definitive answer for the number of shows on television, in a year in which television executives have debated whether the industry has reached “Peak TV.”

For 2015 there will have been 409 original scripted TV series on broadcast, cable and online services, according to the research department of FX Networks. That number is close to double the number of scripted shows six years ago (when there were 211, FX said) and represents a record, surpassing 2014, when there were 376.

The number of scripted original series on basic cable has jumped 174 percent since 2009. Premium cable is up 76 percent, and the broadcast networks are up 20 percent. Online services, including Netflix and Hulu, which had only 15 original scripted shows three years ago, ballooned to 44 this year.

FX’s chief executive, John Landgraf, touched off a debate in August when he told the media that there was “simply too much television.” He argued that the glut of programming was responsible, in part, for an industrywide trend in declining ratings, and that this volume of scripted originals would not be sustainable in the long term.

Some industry executives and writers have argued that the landscape has never been richer. There are more quality shows, they say, as well as increased diversity in casting and opportunities for show runners who would have previously been turned away.