Blog #13

The Late, Great Medium

of U.S. Commercial Television

Working in various capacities in the field of television for 50 years gives one a certain perspective.

Many things have dramatically improved:

the reliability of the technology
the ability to switch to any part of the world with a push of a button
the technical quality, including digital video and 5.1 sound
the fact that there is almost no place on the planet where you can't receive TV programming

These great advances have been propelled primarily by advertising.

But, advertising has also become the curse of television -- especially in the United States. Program "success" is now measured in "eyeballs" -- how many people watch, and it has more to do with prurient appeal than any true definition of quality.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has had considerable success in producing top TV shows in the U.S. says, 'It is getting harder and harder to underestimate the intelligence of the American public. It now averages well below the previous 6th grade level.'

In my college classes I found many students who believed in the potential and influence of television (or presumably they wouldn't be taking an advanced class), said they "hardly watched TV."

Why?

"It's banal and exploitive -- although they tended to use the word "stupid" a lot -- and, "it's nothing but commercials."

Programs like "The Daily Show," and "Boston Legal" were mentioned favorably. But, for the most part, instead of watching regular TV, they spent most of their free time on the Internet -- especially on sites like YouTube and FaceBook.

Some said that at home they used a PVR to record shows they wanted to see. This not only allowed them to watch the shows at their convenience, but to speed through commercials and predictable program segments, making a 60-minute show closer to 45-minutes.

If you will allow me a nostalgic flashback, I can recall when a 30-minute or even hour TV program had only one sponsor and was not regularly interrupted by a block of commercials from a variety of advertisers. That, of course, made TV a lot easier to watch.

But while commercial TV in the United States proceeds to shoot itself in the foot with short-term profit goals and LCD programming, we have Internet options.

We can go to sites like hulu.com and see many network shows, and there are several computer programs like Super Internet TV that will bring us thousands of TV and radio stations from around the world. And, if you don't mind the seemingly ubiquitous advertising, you can go directly to the network web sites to see many programs.

This, of course, is something else that's changed. Today, we no longer just have three networks (or four if you count the old DuMont television network), we have thousands of options.

All the more reason to be very selective in what we "let in the door."

-Ron Whittaker

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