Archive for the ‘Television’ Category
Reality Television: The Vast Wasteland Revisited
Broadcast news magazines are on the decline. Maybe they are as plentiful as reality television. Maybe we are in information overload? Despite information overload, we are also in idiot overload!  Is anyone tired of reality television that showcases people vying for their 15 minutes of fame? I am. I would rather see Diane Sawyer on three news magazine shows than watch Wife Swap or even worse Beauty and the Geek 2.  Don’t forget Reality television thinks Americans can not parent! Supernanny should give you tried and true solutions to keeping a peaceful existence with one’s children. Â
Do you know what is really on the decline–my television viewing habits. I view less and less television each year… and that to me is a good thing. The only night I HAVE to watch television is Sunday nights on ABC–Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy! Why? Because each show has professional actors and smart writing.Â
In 1961 Newton Minnow said television is a vast wasteland. His words ring true to this day and age of reality television….
But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you–and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.
You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience-participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western badmen, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials–many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you will see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, try it.Â
Read the entire speech made by Newton Minnow.Now Diane Sawyer has to tell viewers that news IS the original reality television. Sad, but true…
Network Newsmagazines Struggle to SurviveÂ
NEW YORK - The point was so important that Diane Sawyer was compelled to make it twice during a “Primetime” episode on battling stepfamilies.
“You want reality TV?” she asked. “Tonight, you get it. Starting now.”
The appeal couldn’t be any more plain, or plaintive. Broadcast network newsmagazines are at a low ebb — with likely even fewer hours on the air next season — and the popularity of reality television is chiefly to blame.
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Nightline: Attracting younger audiences
The new Nightline may have packed too much into their 30 minute nightly show.
‘Nightline’ Tries to Slow Down the Pace
NEW YORK - The biggest adjustment ABC has made since last November’s debut of the post-Ted Koppel “Nightline” may simply be recognizing that there’s another show tomorrow.
Not everything has to fit in tonight. While “Nightline” has rarely retreated to the single-topic format that Koppel made distinctive, it no longer makes you feel as if its correspondents were double-parked.“We were criticized in the early days for trying to pack too much into the show, and I think we quickly realized that the show was at its best when we let it breathe a little bit,” said James Goldston, “Nightline” executive producer.
Desperate Housewives FREE
Ok… if you missed a Desperate Housewives episode, don’t worry! ABC announced that they will allow Desperate Housewives and other shows to be shown online the day after they air for free. Of course, you MUST sit through commericials… or it would not be free! Your other alternative to commercial free television is to download the episodes from iTunes for $1.99.
ABC Frees “Desperate” and “Lost” Online
New episodes of Desperate Housewives, Lost, Commander in Chief and Alias will appear on ABC.com the day after they air.
ABC is no stranger to the portable entertainment pool, having been the first network to offer shows for downloading via Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Lost, Alias and the other series heading to ABC.com are already available for downloading and commercial-free viewing for $1.99 a pop. Lost has been ABC’s most popular offering to date, and both the not so deserted island adventure and Desperate Housewives have seen their iTunes numbers increase this year. Unlike the iTunes episodes, ABC.com’s streamed shows cannot be ported to an iPod or downloaded to a file for later viewing on a laptop. (The shows will be available in Flash for PCs and Macs.)
CBS Commerical free
You can watch two CBS sitcoms for free on Yahoo this week. Not only are they free, they are also commercial free!
Two CBS Sitcoms Can Now Be Viewed Online
NEW YORK - Joining the trend of TV shows migrating to the Internet, a pair of episodes from the CBS comedies “Two and a Half Men” and “How I Met Your Mother” are being offered for free video streaming this week from the Yahoo! Web site.
TV writers becoming Copy Writers…
Television script writers are not only writing plot lines, but also plot commercials…. so next time you see Teri Hatcher with say a Coke, you can bet it’s an actual commercial. So now instead of fast forwarding commercials, we’ll have to fast forward product placement in our favorite shows. Will this obsession with marketing and advertising ever end??? As long as the 18-49 demographics keep buying, we’ll keep getting BAD television shows drinking products that The South Beach Diet forbids us to eat.
TV Writers Must Sell, Sell, Sell
TV networks are turning to product placements to fight back against ad-skipping technologies like TiVo, but now some writers are putting up a fight, demanding more pay in exchange for scripting product plugs into their shows.
The issue sparked open protest last month, with both the Writer’s Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild calling for a “code of conduct” to govern the use of stealth advertising.
ABC names new Nightly News Anchors
NYTimes reported ABC has named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as the World News Tonight co-anchors.
ABC Names Anchors of ‘World News Tonight’
By JACQUES STEINBERG
ABC News named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff today to succeed the late Peter Jennings as anchors of “World News Tonight,” entrusting its flagship evening news broadcast to a younger generation and asking them to expand the program’s presence on such media as the Web and cellphones.
In turning to Ms. Vargas, 43, the co-anchor of the news magazine “20/20,” and Mr. Woodruff, 44, a correspondent who has been a weekend anchor on the network, ABC bypassed one of its biggest and most established stars: Charles Gibson, the co-host of “Good Morning America.”
Ted Koppel Retires
Koppel Bidding Farewell to ‘Nightline’
NEW YORK - The Ted Koppel era on ABC’s “Nightline” ends with his farewell Tuesday night after 25 years of offering a serious alternative to late-night laughs.
Koppel’s final broadcast was to be a look back at one of his favorite interviews: his 1995 conversation with terminally ill college professor Morrie Schwartz, which led to Mitch Albom’s best-selling book “Tuesdays with Morrie.”
“Nightline” will continue Monday with a revamped format and hosts Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran.
Reruns for FREE!
Forget about buying the DVD sets of your favorite old TV shows, Warner Brothers announced a new Internet service that will show over 100 old television series… and… instead of EIGHT minutes of commercials, there will only be 2 minutes! The only drawback… you can’t skip the commericals. But hey, it’s FREE!
Internet Service to Put Classic TV on Home Computer
Looking for “The Fugitive?” Didn’t get enough “Eight Is Enough?” Would you like to “Welcome Back, Kotter” one more time?
Warner Brothers is preparing a major new Internet service that will let fans watch full episodes from more than 100 old television series. The service, called In2TV, will be free, supported by advertising, and will start early next year. More than 4,800 episodes will be made available online in the first year.
Reruns for sale…
NBC and CBS to Sell Reruns for 99 Cents Each - New York Times
In separate moves, the CBS and NBC Universal television networks said yesterday that they would start selling reruns of their top new shows within hours of their broadcast for 99 cents an episode through video-on-demand services on cable and satellite.
The move follows ABC’s recent deal to make several of its shows available for paid downloads on Apple’s latest iPod portable music and video player. This is the first time the CBS and NBC broadcast networks have tried to be paid directly for newly broadcast shows rather than just rely on advertising revenue.
Tell me something I don’t know…
A study released Wednesday by the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation made headlines for its findings that the number of sex scenes on TV nearly doubled from 1998 to 2005. And as prime time goes, so apparently goes scientific research.
