What's with the reruns???

Is it me or are television shows having more reruns earlier in the year? When I was growing up, weekly shows had something like 24 episodes a year. I think its 18 now. Most seasons start late September and its only February...16 weeks. I understand reruns during the holidays but it feels like the season's just started. I feel like I'm just settling in to the new characters and bam...rerun. Even Oprah has had many reruns and seems to be doing shows that just show clips of old shows. What is television coming to?

I don't watch that much television but when I do, I'd like to see something new. How about you? Do you think the reruns are starting early?