TV Gone Downhill
Television is great. You don't know how great it is. I can see the potential in the industry that a lot of individuals who work in the medium still doesn't see. Money blinds a lot of folks, and at times they need an outsider looking in for them to understand how it can be greater without focusing so much on "what's in it for me and my bosses." They have created great cable channels over the last four decades. Nickelodeon and ESPN, two of the cornerstones of the industry, both celebrate their 30th anniversary of their national launch this year. However, the industry has turned niche-channels into something that has, admittedly, gone downhill.
Here's a sampler of those channels:
Cartoon Network - Although, admittedly, they have gotten better over the last year, but they still have this need to become everything for every kid and still hung up on live-action creation. And canceling original animated shows isn't leaving me with much confidence.
MTV - Is unwatchable. There's nothing up there but "reality" pablum, dating shows, and immature antics. And music is not there. MTV Hits and Jams are the what MTV used to be, and seeing the quagmire that is MTV 2 in the distance, let's hope those channels stay that way.
MTV 2 - What was once promised as the place where the music is, music's rarely there. It's there in pieces, but the two-headed dog is largely a male-oriented channel. Spike with music videos and less syndicated fare.
VH1 - See MTV, but the music's still there in very small amounts.
G4 - The idea of a video game network didn't fill me with much hope when I first heard about it. When that network took over TechTV for channel space and X-Play, the more I realized G4 was a bad element. Once they stripped the only thing that the network was created for, namely game-oriented programming, in favor of the fifth male-oriented channel in the country, then, as is a mantra in their former focus, game over.
A&E and Bravo - I'm putting both disappointments under the same category because they both were once the cultural heart of cable television. A&E stands for Arts and Entertainment, and that channel was dedicated to theater, Britainia, mysteries, and dramas. Bravo was also focused on the creative arts, airing nearly uncut movies, specials, documentaries, and weekly series. Inside the Actor's Studio is the only show currently on Bravo that resembles the fare the network used to air on a daily basis. Nowadays, Bravo is the home of trashy socialite wives, competition programs, off-network smeg, and cut-up movies.
TV Land - When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, reality shows, weekly movies, and recent programming airs on a network that celebrates the best of classic television, you know there's a problem.
CMT - It's not as bad as its more popular cousin in regards to music, but when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, reality shows, weekly movies, and recent programming airs on a network that celebrates the best of country music, you know there's a problem.
Disney Channel - Take away everything that the Disney name once stood for (FAMILY-oriented programming [there's a difference between family-oriented programming and tween-oriented programming; older folks won't be embarrassed to watch them without their kids], animation, and things overseen by Walt Disney himself), and add more tween-based smeg and way too many breaks between shows (here's what I don't understand; if you have slots for commercial space, shouldn't you air actual commercials instead of just self-promotional hubris?), and you've got today's Disney Channel. Kids love it, and it has become the acme of the kid-vid industry and the reason Cartoon Network has become ratings-obsessed and so willing to do everything that it has done.
And now we're back to the top. But what could those channels do to improve their state of being? To be honest, it's far too late to repair many of them. That's the image they chose to present to the populace, and, for the most part, it works. That's probably why I'm for the potential digital television will present. Unfortunately, Big Media isn't willing to invest in sub-channel development, which is kind of a shame. There is a lot of potential . . . somebody has to tell folks about it.
Here's a sampler of those channels:
Cartoon Network - Although, admittedly, they have gotten better over the last year, but they still have this need to become everything for every kid and still hung up on live-action creation. And canceling original animated shows isn't leaving me with much confidence.
MTV - Is unwatchable. There's nothing up there but "reality" pablum, dating shows, and immature antics. And music is not there. MTV Hits and Jams are the what MTV used to be, and seeing the quagmire that is MTV 2 in the distance, let's hope those channels stay that way.
MTV 2 - What was once promised as the place where the music is, music's rarely there. It's there in pieces, but the two-headed dog is largely a male-oriented channel. Spike with music videos and less syndicated fare.
VH1 - See MTV, but the music's still there in very small amounts.
G4 - The idea of a video game network didn't fill me with much hope when I first heard about it. When that network took over TechTV for channel space and X-Play, the more I realized G4 was a bad element. Once they stripped the only thing that the network was created for, namely game-oriented programming, in favor of the fifth male-oriented channel in the country, then, as is a mantra in their former focus, game over.
A&E and Bravo - I'm putting both disappointments under the same category because they both were once the cultural heart of cable television. A&E stands for Arts and Entertainment, and that channel was dedicated to theater, Britainia, mysteries, and dramas. Bravo was also focused on the creative arts, airing nearly uncut movies, specials, documentaries, and weekly series. Inside the Actor's Studio is the only show currently on Bravo that resembles the fare the network used to air on a daily basis. Nowadays, Bravo is the home of trashy socialite wives, competition programs, off-network smeg, and cut-up movies.
TV Land - When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, reality shows, weekly movies, and recent programming airs on a network that celebrates the best of classic television, you know there's a problem.
CMT - It's not as bad as its more popular cousin in regards to music, but when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, reality shows, weekly movies, and recent programming airs on a network that celebrates the best of country music, you know there's a problem.
Disney Channel - Take away everything that the Disney name once stood for (FAMILY-oriented programming [there's a difference between family-oriented programming and tween-oriented programming; older folks won't be embarrassed to watch them without their kids], animation, and things overseen by Walt Disney himself), and add more tween-based smeg and way too many breaks between shows (here's what I don't understand; if you have slots for commercial space, shouldn't you air actual commercials instead of just self-promotional hubris?), and you've got today's Disney Channel. Kids love it, and it has become the acme of the kid-vid industry and the reason Cartoon Network has become ratings-obsessed and so willing to do everything that it has done.
And now we're back to the top. But what could those channels do to improve their state of being? To be honest, it's far too late to repair many of them. That's the image they chose to present to the populace, and, for the most part, it works. That's probably why I'm for the potential digital television will present. Unfortunately, Big Media isn't willing to invest in sub-channel development, which is kind of a shame. There is a lot of potential . . . somebody has to tell folks about it.
Comments
As does C-Span.
Enter you, Jeff.