Alternative Television.

January 20, 2001 12:55 PM

Alternative Television. Until I saw this show, it had never occured to me that the television medium was conducive to producing anything that could be labelled as 'art'. I would rather watch this than one more minute of 'standard network programming.'
posted by kristin (6 comments total)

Television pundits tell us that network programming is the way that it is, because that is what the viewers want. I wonder though, if this is sort of the way Internet pundits always talk about how all the web is good for is 'e-commerce.'

Lately, I have been watching a lot more cable access shows, and while they don't all have the high production value of this one, there are some interesting alternatives to 'must see tv'.


posted by kristin at 12:59 PM on January 20, 2001

Network programming is the way it is because it appeals to the largest number of people among those who spend a lot of time watching network television. A lot of people watch TV but watch specialized cable channels, or don't watch TV at all. The demographics of the groups may not be the same.

Total viewership for the networks has been in steady decline for at least 30 years. For ABC, CBS and NBC the problem is only worse because now there are also Fox and WB competing for a shrinking pie.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 1:27 PM on January 20, 2001

I just want MST3K back. You bastards!
posted by tiaka at 2:17 PM on January 20, 2001

TV is the way it is because that's how advertisers want it.
posted by davidgentle at 5:26 PM on January 20, 2001

TV is the way it is because that's the kind that makes the most money. I don't think you have to make it a conspiracy.

I said in 1994 that the web made a 500-cable-channel future obsolete. Why have 500 when you can have 500,000? And today, with weblogs, and a lot of other media, this is true.

We on the web are in OPEN REVOLT against a broadcast culture. To arms!

[click]
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posted by dhartung at 6:20 PM on January 20, 2001

"TV is the way it is because" (heh heh) it's run by executives who don't trust new and interesting ideas - or can't even recognize one. So they recycle things "that work" (make money) and react to polls about "what the viewers want" instead of holding a creative vision for what they would really like to produce. Same for the book (in general) and music "industries". Nothing that is directly related to real creativity should ever be followed with the word "industry" - that's about production lines, not about exciting and interesting and clever new ideas that may make you (shudder) THINK or enjoy life on a whole new level - LOL. [stepping down from soap box]
posted by thunder at 8:21 AM on January 21, 2001