TV's Awful Decline

[MediaZone4K 2158]

Ultimately, what is the endgame? Cable and broadcast shutting down entirely? Tv networks like ABC converting soely to free ad supported or paid subscription streaming services offering live sports or live news at fixed times, and producing shows that release a new episode at midnight on "Day X" every week?

 

We're already seeing CBS O&Os demphasize channel numbers which is a sign of linear tv's growing irrlevance, even in news consumption. They're basically saying "what does a channel number matter if your watching this online?". 

Edited January 29, 2023 by iron_lion

[DirtyHarry 727]

5 hours ago, iron_lion said:

 "what does a channel number matter if your watching this online?". 

 

It would be nice if you could use a channel number online or through streaming though. I don't know why they haven't included that on the streams that use a menu like Pluto. 

 

Or maybe you can do this and I just don't know about it since I go through a Roku box?

I'll probably get in trouble for posting this, but I was amused by the ad at the top of the screen, so I screen capped it for you all.

 

[bmasters1 400]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:49 PM, iron_lion said:

 Does Rediculousness even do that well in the ratings to be rerun that often?

 

It's a low-rent MTV version of AFV, so it shouldn't be.

[CLETVFan 367]

I will gladly take a Ridiculousness marathon any time over even one minute of Basketball Wives.

 

I also thought of Bravo, which has become one hot mess of a channel, and A&E.  Nothing but reality shows on both.  One is known for "housewives" and the other is known for anything involving police and courtrooms.

[Justin Hill 38]

The one thing I couldn't stand, was how Warner Bros. Discovery  has treated their content. They've treated some of their content like it was disposable, which is hurting things o Cartoon Network's end. The last time Cartoon Network had great shows, was from their golden age with the likes of The Powerpuff Girls Classic in 1998 up until recently with Adventure Time, both those cartoons are popular enough that they are getting some new spin-off series as well...

 

I, too, feel sad for the sorry state of broadcast TV, especially since when Scripps bought Ion and eighty-sixed "qubo," Ion's kids/family-oriented subchannel in favor of channels focused on reality TV, Defy TV and TrueReal TV...

 

When Scripps did away with qubo, I was saddened by the fact that I won't be able to watch Inspector Gadget on an over-the-air broadcast, Inspector Gadget was one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood...

[tyrannical bastard 3933]

4 minutes ago, Justin Hill said:

The one thing I couldn't stand, was how Warner Bros. Discovery  has treated their content. They've treated some of their content like it was disposable, which is hurting things o Cartoon Network's end. The last time Cartoon Network had great shows, was from their golden age with the likes of The Powerpuff Girls Classic in 1998 up until recently with Adventure Time, both those cartoons are popular enough that they are getting some new spin-off series as well...

 

I, too, feel sad for the sorry state of broadcast TV, especially since when Scripps bought Ion and eighty-sixed "qubo," Ion's kids/family-oriented subchannel in favor of channels focused on reality TV, Defy TV and TrueReal TV...

 

When Scripps did away with qubo, I was saddened by the fact that I won't be able to watch Inspector Gadget on an over-the-air broadcast, Inspector Gadget was one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood...

When they can't even carry their own content on HBOmax.   Just heard that they let all of the Looney Tunes cartoons go away.   THEIR OWN CARTOONS....

 

At some point, they may pull another A.A.P. sale...this was the sale of their pre-1948 content to Associated Artists Productions.   Later sold to United Artists, then merged with MGM to form MGM/UA....then Ted Turner bought MGM/UA and resold the studio to Kirk Kerkorian (while keeping all of the content)...and when Turner sold out to Time Warner, voila!  The WB (and pre-1986 MGM/UA) is all under Warner Brothers again.

 

[bpatrick 73]

For me, the death knell was when old shows like "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum, P.I." were revived.  However good they may be, it indicates to me that the Hollywood creative community is woefully dry on ideas.  And all the game, reality (including news), and contest programs (such as "America's Got Talent") are ways to fill prime time as cheaply as possible (come on, do we really need two hours of "20/20" and "Dateline" on Friday nights?). One problem, I think, is that there are too many channels and not enough programming to fill them all. Also, I can't think of a lineup today that excites people like CBS's Saturday-night block in the '70s or NBC's "must-see-TV" Thursday block in the '80s and '90s. Further, it's the very fact that we have computers and online streaming that makes it so hard for television as we've always known it to attract an audience.  The simple fact is what is happening is the same thing that happened to old-style "30s and '40s radio when television came in.  

 

 

[CLETVFan 367]

2 hours ago, bpatrick said:

For me, the death knell was when old shows like "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum, P.I." were revived.  However good they may be, it indicates to me that the Hollywood creative community is woefully dry on ideas.  And all the game, reality (including news), and contest programs (such as "America's Got Talent") are ways to fill prime time as cheaply as possible (come on, do we really need two hours of "20/20" and "Dateline" on Friday nights?). One problem, I think, is that there are too many channels and not enough programming to fill them all. Also, I can't think of a lineup today that excites people like CBS's Saturday-night block in the '70s or NBC's "must-see-TV" Thursday block in the '80s and '90s. Further, it's the very fact that we have computers and online streaming that makes it so hard for television as we've always known it to attract an audience.  The simple fact is what is happening is the same thing that happened to old-style "30s and '40s radio when television came in.  

 

 

 Don't forget the revivals of Roseanne, Murphy Brown and Will and Grace back around 2018 among the old shows revived.

[MediaZone4K 2158]

3 hours ago, bpatrick said:

For me, the death knell was when old shows like "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum, P.I." were revived.  However good they may be, it indicates to me that the Hollywood creative community is woefully dry on ideas.  And all the game, reality (including news), and contest programs (such as "America's Got Talent") are ways to fill prime time as cheaply as possible (come on, do we really need two hours of "20/20" and "Dateline" on Friday nights?). One problem, I think, is that there are too many channels and not enough programming to fill them all. Also, I can't think of a lineup today that excites people like CBS's Saturday-night block in the '70s or NBC's "must-see-TV" Thursday block in the '80s and '90s. Further, it's the very fact that we have computers and online streaming that makes it so hard for television as we've always known it to attract an audience.  The simple fact is what is happening is the same thing that happened to old-style "30s and '40s radio when television came in.  

 

 

There was a time I felt sad at the decline of tv, therefore overjoyed at the prospect of classic tv reboots. Now that I've seen the stale writing and political heavyhandedness on revivals , it's best they're left in the past. 

 

Its like Hollywood is out of ideas or is so dissatisfied by today's world, that they'd rather look to the past for nostalgic comfort. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by iron_lion

[DirtyHarry 727]

15 hours ago, iron_lion said:

There was a time I felt sad at the decline of tv, therefore overjoyed at the prospect of classic tv reboots. Now that I've seen the stale writing and political heavyhandedness on revivals , it's best they're left in the past. 

 

Its like Hollywood is out of ideas or is so dissatisfied by today's world, that they'd rather look to the past for nostalgic comfort. 

 

Two things screwed everything up: 1) the death of all the vaudeville people; 2) Norman Lear.

 

Before Lear, everything was just entertainment. Norman Lear with all his shows where he tried to make a social statements influenced too many others who seem to want to push their politics on everybody else. (Not to mention that many of us think that Archie Bunker has been partially vindicated after all these years.) 

 

But more importantly we've lost all those vaudeville people. Those people knew how to tell jokes and entertain and TV and radio reflected that. They're gone and I don't think the people producing TV today have the well-honed skills that those old timers had.

Edited January 7, 2023 by DirtyHarry

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

Two things screwed everything up: 1) the death of all the vaudeville people; 2) Norman Lear.

 

Before Lear, everything was just entertainment. Norman Lear with all his shows where he tried to make a social statements influenced too many others who seem to want to push their politics on everybody else. (Not to mention that many of us think that Archie Bunker has been partially vindicated after all these years.) 

 

So you prefer the comedies of Nat Hiken (Car 54, Sgt. Bilko) or Paul Henning (Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction).

[DirtyHarry 727]

10 minutes ago, RetroCirqII said:

So you prefer the comedies of Nat Hiken (Car 54, Sgt. Bilko) or Paul Henning (Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction).

 

I think most people do. When was the last time you saw an All in the Family or Maude rerun? Sanford and son was the least political, not to mention the most funny. You see that one a lot more than the former two.

 

Green Acres is one of the best shows of all time. Some political stuff sneaks in there, but it's usually to poke people in the eye and make fun of life. Beverly Hillbillies speaks for itself. It's everywhere. Petticoat Junction was lame though.

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

I think most people do. When was the last time you saw an All in the Family or Maude rerun? Sanford and son was the least political, not to mention the most funny. You see that one a lot more than the former two.

 

It is everywhere on Sony's GetTV and on Amazon's Freevee.

[Briella 234]

2 hours ago, DirtyHarry said:

 

 (Not to mention that many of us think that Archie Bunker has been partially vindicated after all these years.) 

 

Many in your echo chamber, which is thankfully slowly disappearing.

[MediaZone4K 2158]

Didn't mean for this to turn overly political. I'll humbly say that I liked Norman Lear's shows, I will agree that Sanford was the most funny, and I dont think everything rural had to be purged from CBS' line up. A mix of rural and urban humor would have been a nice balance.

 

Tv shows can make social statements, it's art. The issue to me is when EVERY show gets political, when shows get too preachy, or one political line of thinking is dominant in most shows.

 

For example, I watch South Park if I want biting social satire but when I watch Martin I just want to see a comedian and 4 friends get into light hearted antics. If I watch a razor commercial I just want to be sold on how "amazing" the product is, not given a social commentary on the state of masculinity. The politicizing of everything has turned people off from tv. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by iron_lion

[NEOMatrix 1299]

1 hour ago, iron_lion said:

I dont think everything rural had to be purged from CBS' line up.

It was more to appeal to advertisers than anything else. Rural folks will save a special day to go into town and not spend as much, whereas city folks can go at any time and get what they want.

[DirtyHarry 727]

3 hours ago, Briella said:

Many in your echo chamber, which is thankfully slowly disappearing.

 

Ummm, no.

[VHSgoodiesWA 303]

I don't mind Norman Lear's old shows. Sanford and Son is hilarious, and All in the Family was funny regardless of some of the controversial content they covered. But TV wasn't in decline back then. There was still lots of pure TV entertainment and fun. Bob Hope's specials, Johnny Carson, Happy Days, etc. It was definitely an awesome time for television.

 

And yes, the remakes of movies and TV shows proves that Hollywood has ran out of creative ideas, unless they are political in nature. For the most part, remakes are not as good as the original thing. Murphy Brown proved that. Instead of hosting a newsmagazine, she was a news anchor for a cable news channel in the revival, and Rolling Stone and Variety panned the revival.

[Megatron81 256]

I can find almost anything on TV I have the TV on 24/7 I have to sleep with the TV on got that from my grandparents on my mom's side even when local TV stations signed off in the 50's, 60's, 70's. They had it on CNN mostly if I spent the night at there house. Before I slept with the TV on all night long I had the lights on and the radio I don't like pitch dark and sight either, I have to have sound all the time I'm weird LOL sorry if I went a bit off topic.

[TresGriffin 139]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:44 PM, DirtyHarry said:

Richard Bey

Well, there's another unlocked childhood memory I completely forgot about...

[DirtyHarry 727]

31 minutes ago, TresGriffin said:

Well, there's another unlocked childhood memory I completely forgot about...

 

Something about humiliating people on live TV and the raw anger that results that I find hilariously entertaining. But then I guess Bey got freaked out by all the violence in the studio and they toned things down. That was the beginning of the end of his show. I don't tune in to Richard Bey to explore people's "feels." I tune in to watch people get angry and fight.

 

Likewise with Jerry. When my grandmother had one foot in the grave, I used to go over there at night and watch Jerry Springer with her. We were just sit there and laugh together.

 

It's not highbrow entertainment, but it's still entertainment, which is a lot more than what you can say about most TV these days.

[DirtyHarry 727]

Compilation of old NBC Promos from the mid to late 1960's:

 

 

[MediaZone4K 2158]

Going back to news, another issue I see is everything feels contrived. Local or national, tv news outlets appear to be going extra hard to seem like they care about the viewer or are invested in the comminity. Be it through excessive hours of news programming, overly dramatic weather coverage, ornate graphics, or gimmiks, it feels forced. 

 

I watched an Australian newscast from the 90s and it struck me how raw, no nonsence and simply news oriented foreign broadcasters like the BBC and SBS were, without being boring. Even the "feel good" story at the end about a man duplicating his grandfather's flight across the English channel comes off as a magazine piece rather than cheesy or selling false hope.

Even now, foreign countries like Jamaica with a lot smaller production values deliver a much more straight newscast than what we get in the states today.

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by iron_lion

[bpatrick 73]

What happened to docudramas?  Remember in the '70s "Pueblo" and "The Missiles of October," to name just two?  Why can you not find a program like "The World at War" on a broadcast station?  I even remember one year in the '60s when ABC had "FDR," CBS had "World War I," and NBC had "Profiles in Courage" either in prime time or just before.
My students have a very limited knowledge of history; shows like these could entertain as well as teach, and perhaps we teachers could use some of the made-for-TV movies to point out factual errors.

[AmericanErrorist 148]

Here a more sober outlook at the difficulties of broadcast TV from the business end:

 

https://deadline.com/2022/12/broadcast-networks-death-declining-ratings-streamers-1235203489/