A-Morning Cancelled... again
A-Morning From A-Channel or A-TV or whatever it will be after the next takeover has been canceled effective IMMEDIATELY. The A-Morning crew would crow over how many episodes they had ("This is Episode 120, Eric!"). I thought that they were feeling that Wile-E.-Coyote-off-the-cliff sensation too. When the last owner of the channel had to cut back they nailed the morning show. Then a new owner rolled out a morning show in markets like Victoria. They dusted off the format and started doing the show again. Monday morning, I popped into a Thrifty's where Maggie Cox was wrapping up her live spot. There she was amid more lights than a Hollywood premier and more cables than a Frankenstein movie. All of her gear and personal effects filled a shopping buggy. I felt a little bit of pity. When I see the same people in front of the camera at 6AM and 5PM and 11PM, I think: "Where is Labour Relations? How can these people be forced to pepper a 17 hour day with three newscasts?"
I'd like to blame the Internet on the decline of TV viability. Really, it's a combination of factors.
TV has gotten boring. We don't call Chek-TV evening news by its name. We call it the "Missing Pet Report" because how much air time goes to missing pets and pets that can do tricks or survive abuse. Apart from Stephen Andrew, local TV news does NOTHING investigative.
Businesses are working with thin margins. TV is too expensive to use as an advertising medium. In a world with CostCo and WalMart, businesses have no breathing room. That's compounded by the high rates that TV charges. For the salespeople to make a good living and not work very hard, they have to get a lot of cash from each deal. For the TV station to keep its doors open, it needs some of that cash too. I worked at a radio station where the salespeople built their house on contra and took off for free golfing with free golf clubs they got in lieu of cash. That radio station is long gone-- now it's the storage cellar for a liquor store.
Some nonviable TV channels have help from the cable companies. The same cable company that botches the channel substitutions is also kicking money up to such broadcasting powerhouses as the Golf Channel (I watched it once while so hungover that friends called an ambulance) and Slice (I don't even know women who can survive that channel). Chek-TV and A-TV are clearly unviable, why don't they deserve a break?
Media in our town is doomed. Morning TV News is gone. The Times-Colonist may soon die out. Chek-TV is on shaky ground. What will that leave? CFAX. Oh, and the Internet. It would be great if there could be a cohesive front put to the Internet and the local topics: decent blogs and timely videos farmed together. The problem with the delivery of the Internet is that it doesn't work well for semi-comatose people who awaken and try to drink coffee with TV news in the background.
I'd like to blame the Internet on the decline of TV viability. Really, it's a combination of factors.
TV has gotten boring. We don't call Chek-TV evening news by its name. We call it the "Missing Pet Report" because how much air time goes to missing pets and pets that can do tricks or survive abuse. Apart from Stephen Andrew, local TV news does NOTHING investigative.
Businesses are working with thin margins. TV is too expensive to use as an advertising medium. In a world with CostCo and WalMart, businesses have no breathing room. That's compounded by the high rates that TV charges. For the salespeople to make a good living and not work very hard, they have to get a lot of cash from each deal. For the TV station to keep its doors open, it needs some of that cash too. I worked at a radio station where the salespeople built their house on contra and took off for free golfing with free golf clubs they got in lieu of cash. That radio station is long gone-- now it's the storage cellar for a liquor store.
Some nonviable TV channels have help from the cable companies. The same cable company that botches the channel substitutions is also kicking money up to such broadcasting powerhouses as the Golf Channel (I watched it once while so hungover that friends called an ambulance) and Slice (I don't even know women who can survive that channel). Chek-TV and A-TV are clearly unviable, why don't they deserve a break?
Media in our town is doomed. Morning TV News is gone. The Times-Colonist may soon die out. Chek-TV is on shaky ground. What will that leave? CFAX. Oh, and the Internet. It would be great if there could be a cohesive front put to the Internet and the local topics: decent blogs and timely videos farmed together. The problem with the delivery of the Internet is that it doesn't work well for semi-comatose people who awaken and try to drink coffee with TV news in the background.
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