|
 This
is not quite “couch potatoes of the world unite, get off your duff and
protest,” but what I am about to tell those of you who are passive
viewers, meaning most of you, might be a bit of an object lesson.
Everyone knows that fewer people, especially the young, watch TV
because more are finding ways to participate in it. They may not call
it TV, but that is what it really is. Everyone is jumping on the
YouTube bandwagon and the other new social networks that are coming
on-line all the time. It should be no surprise to TV watchers because
there is almost nothing on the original tube to entertain them.
Unfortunately, most free television and what we find on cable or even
the pay channels, is not very good.
Some months ago a Harris Interactive study found that fully a third of
adults who go online watch less TV. More importantly, about two-thirds
of YouTube users not only watch less TV, these frequent YouTube users
visit fewer other Web sites, play video games less, watch fewer DVDs,
and do not send as many e-mail. Maybe we should be thankful for that,
but where do all those other e-mails come from, anyway? Worse, at
least for me, these people, especially the young, also spend less time
with friends and family, maybe something that friends and family do
not mind. But that is not new. Harris also found that nearly
three-quarters of YouTube visitors objected to the possibility of
seeing video ads before they saw a clip. Now that is news. If viewers
will not sit for an ad before they see a clip, will they stick around
to view an ad after a clip?
Separate from what is taking place in the world of passive viewing,
and as interactive as these social network sites think they are, they
have become the new world of passivity. Does anyone among TV viewers
know there is a move to end television as we know it? Not a bad thing
in itself, but surely it is something to think about for the future. I
plan to write more about this later, but for now, this will do.
Sports announcers, especially on ESPN, spend too much time talking
about anything but the ball game they are describing. It means they
often miss a shot, a run, a good defensive effort, and a game-changing
move. They know that instant replay is their savior, so they will talk
about their most recent meal before they describe the game. They
probably believe because it is television, they can say more about
anything else except the game because the audience sees what they see.
If they are correct, who needs them anyway? They can always find work
at McDonalds. The announcers usually come to life in the last few
minutes, especially if the score is tight and one team is making a
run. Then, again, with parity in sports today’s watchword, the last
few minutes of most games are the ones that count anyway.
 Sideline reporters at
nationally televised sporting events are a waste of time. They add
nothing to the game, they slow the game down, and they get in the way
of the action. When I see one, I hit the mute button and get a snack.
Then I play seven-card stud with my Shih Tzu Lacey. Sometimes I read
the stock market reports, if I can find them, since most newspapers no
longer publish the listings. All these activities are far more
interesting and invigorating.
Most, if not all, local TV reporters who try to be funny, are not. And
why is it necessary for local TV news shows to end with a “kicker.”
Can’t the anchors simply say good night or thanks for watching and we
welcome you back tomorrow? I guess not.
By the way, HBO’s “John from Cincinnati” is pretentious twaddle with a
bad script to boot. Just thought you should know how I feel. Surfers
surround themselves with a phony mystical aura so the show probably
works for them. I am sure the surfer’s guild will attack, but a little
salt water rubbed into a wound never hurt anyone.
Finally, there is this. Effective immediately this will be the last
"This and That" column. I enjoyed writing about the small things in
media that get my ire up. Starting next month, I will be starting a
new column for the Weblog of The Digital Filmmaker and The Digital
Journalist. I call it, Anti-Matter. I will write about many of the
same things I wrote of in “This and That,” except the venue will be
different and, because I conceive of myself as a semi-blogger, I may
submit material more regularly as the mood strikes me. I look forward
to entertaining you and puncturing ideas that annoy me and may annoy
you.
........................................................................................................................
At NBC News for 35 years, Ron Steinman was bureau chief
in Saigon, Hong Kong and London, was a senior producer on Today and wrote
and produced for Sunday Today. At ABC News Productions, he produced
and wrote documentaries for A&E, TLC, Discovery, Lifetime and the
History Channel. He has a Peabody, a National Headliner award, a
National Press Club award, a International Documentary Festival Gold
Camera Award, two American Women in Radio & Television awards and
has been nominated for five Emmy's. He is a partner in
Douglas/Steinman Productions, whose latest documentary, "Luboml: My
Heart Remembers," aired on PBS' WLIW/21 and the History Channel in
Israel, April 29, 2003. He is the author of, "The Soldiers 'Story",
"Women in Vietnam," and most recently, "Inside Television's First
War: A Saigon Journal," University of Missouri Press, 2002. |
