Television Archives
After the disaster that was the MTV Video Music Awards, I add my two cents.
Since Sunday night, there has been a seemingly endless string of discussions about how horrendous MTV's VMA awards were. Most of them centered around Britney's performance which has been officially declared a train-wreck by congress.
Anyway, I can't pretend to have watched the whole thing, however, I did see enough that evening and then watch enough on the MTV site the next day to understand what all the buzz was about. After some interesting conversations with friends, I had been considering writing something about it, but I just didn't know where to begin. But then my friend Andy was kind enough to get the ball rolling with an unsolicited email:
Did you watch the MTV VMA's this week? I watched it with my girlfriend, we are both pretty in tune with pop culture, media, youth, etc...and we found it to be unwatchable. I didn't know who 70% of the artists were, the performances and production were terrible, and the nominee announcement editing nearly gave me an epileptic seizure when they showed it before each award.
For the first time in a long time, I really felt disappointed in pop music and in MTV. The decline of MTV has obviously been a long time coming (since the Real World debuted some might say and started the slide from a music videos to content programming model), but it really felt to me, that this VMA's was the tipping point. It's over for MTV. They have just completely lost the audience that grew up with them.
So how do they save themselves? Do they? Can they? Should they? Would anyone care if they did? Do they even need saving, or is it just the evolution of the brand and the business and I am now officially out of the demographic?
At 29, I grew up with music based MTV and just can't get down with new MTV...but the 15 year olds of today, they have grown up with Real World and reality based MTV and this super polished, pre-packaged "here is your pop music and here are your manufactured pop stars" on a plate...so maybe I am another near 30 year old shaking my fist at these kids and their crazy rap music. Who knows.
I sometimes forget that everyone doesnt consume media like you or I might, with Last.fm and the like...maybe most people don't care that Comcast, and News Corp, and Viacom, etc all tell them what to listen to and what to like. Maybe the average person is fine with having their media wrapped up nicely and left on their doorstep. Maybe we're the crazy ones.
I took the bait and added my two cents (I also added a few thoughts as I was writing this time):
I was having a conversation about just this the other day. The VMAs were a trainwreck, that seems indisputable. However, the question in my mind is why MTV didn't do anything about it. Surely someone must have noticed the thing sucked and mentioned it. Actually, from the minute I turned it on I noticed how the camera work seemed odd. In a way I felt like I was watching a reality show (like Laguna Beach or the Hills), not an awards show with a million dollar budget. Eventually it led me to wonder whether MTV had actually done this on purpose as a way to get people (like us) talking about them. [Seth seems in on this conspiracy theory as well.]
As for MTV, clearly the model has changed (no new news there). Music videos (and music generally) lives in the digital realm. With that said, music videos, I would argue, are more popular than ever before. What's more, three minute short-form content is no longer just an idea, it's a reality. MTV, in many ways, was about 25 years too early. The question, then, is how did they lose their way? Why are they not able to tap into current musical attitudes?
What's more, the thing that really struck me was the cruelty of the whole thing. Shelly Palmer nailed it with his entry about Britney's performance: "Tonight, I was profoundly sad for a star that is about to implode while others profit from her misfortune." It was so clearly a performance made to humiliate. Sarah Silverman had her monologue all ready to rip Britney down. It's almost as if MTV has taken on the personalities it asks of its faux-ality show stars: Shallow, backstabbing and cruel.
It's all quite odd. I think the big question is why MTV would let this happen? Sure "there's no such thing as bad publicity" and I may watch next year to see if it's even worse, however, my desire to turn on MTV at any other moment is non-existent. Sure I'm not the target and it's entirely possible that I am just being an old fart, but MTV seems to be struggling generally (outside The Hills).
So I think that's it. Sorry I couldn't add more insight Andy, hopefully some commenters can fill in the holes. Anyone?
Update (9/12/07): Andy has thrown up a poll on Quibblo: Has MTV Lost Its Appeal?
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The best television station you're not watching.
Last July I wrote about Current TV, the new cable station aimed at 18-34 that Al Gore is somehow involved with. In that article I took Current to task for trying a little too hard.
That was before I had spent time with Current. Now I get it.
Current is television for Generation Y. It's a station with segments of roughly five minutes on a wide variety of topics. It also includes some viewer created content that is first uploaded to the website and then voted on by viewers. Each pod, as they call it, includes a status bar that shows how far along in the segment the viewer is: a clear nod to the iPod. Design is clearly one of the strong suits of the station, everything looks good.
So what?
Current is trying to be the station millions of Myspacers have on in the background. They are a television station created for a multitasking world. Short segments allow viewers to tune in and out. Beautiful design makes the station feel like a good thing to leave on as background art. Viewer created content bridges the gap between the web and the television and encourages people to spend time on the site. In essence, Current has thrown out the old ideas of television and actually embraced some of the changes the internet forces.
On top of that, they're trying to rethink advertising. Instead of running regular commercials they already allow advertisers like Sony, who's video cameras would be appealing to content creators, to sponsor segments. They're now taking the idea a step further by allowing viewers to create the ads. According to Multichannel News, Current is asking viewers to create ads for companies including Sony, Toyota, and L'Oreal. If a viewers ad airs they will be paid $1,000, which is damn cheap for a commercial. If the spot goes beyond Current the producer will ear from $5,000-$50,000 depending on distribution.
Anyway, give it a watch and see what you think. I expect you'll be pleasantly surprised.
FYI, here are some of the more popular cable carriers and the corresponding channel Current can be found: DirectTV (366), Time Warner NY (103), Time Warner LA (116), Comcast SF (125).
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Just a quick update on the
mention of A9.com on the OC.
Here's the actual quote from the scene according to Google Video:
Lindsay: Uh, you were right. Caleb Nichol is not a good Guy.
Ryan: Why, why happened? Did he call you?
Lindsay: No, but I a9.Com'd him last night, and according to the O.C. Weekly, he's pretty much everything that's wrong with Western civilization, all wrapped up in one Guy. (Phone ringing) so, even If he did call me...
In further news, Amazon is swearing they didn't pay for the mention. According to a
BetaNews article titled
"A9.com Finds Promotion in the OC, "Amazon says it did not pay for the television placement, and was pleasantly surprised by the exposure." The article goes on to quote the CEO of
A9:
"This placement was not paid for by A9.com or Amazon.com. We didn't even know it was going to air," A9.com CEO Udi Manber told BetaNews. "We do think it's great to see this happening though, because it shows people like the experience A9.com offers and that they are telling their friends and family about it."
So there it is, everything you wanted to know about three letters and a number.
Update: Waxy.org has a new entry talking about this mystery and has posted a video of the scene.
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Yesterday I
whined that
Fox's new Family Guy blog was hardly a blog at all. Without RSS or permalinks one hardly deserves the esteemed title of blog. Well folks, it appears that someone out in the ether is listening. Check out this
latest post from the Family Guy site (now a blog):
Apparently some of the top bloggers on this information super highway have found our little House-O-Guy and pointed out that we’re slightly behind the curve in this digital age of time efficiency. So The Baron has done what any good blogmaster does and kissed their @$$*$ by adding a RSS Feed and permanent links at the bottom of each post for quick reference. Because, really, who would want to actually visit and read through sites? May your worn hands be set free from the unwarranted tyranny of repeated clicking...
There you have it. A bunch of people complain and things get done. It's amazing how this stuff works. And congratulations Fox, you're not as dumb as you look and you just earned yourself a lot of readers whom also happen to write.
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While most websites have been analyzing the performances of the two candidates in Thursday's debate, Jay Rosen, head of the NYU Journalism Department, has decided to analyze Lehrer's performance as moderator on his website PressThink. He has asked his readers to comment on what they saw and it's created quite a lively discussion with some very insightful, and generally postitive, thoughts about Lehrer's performance. Here are a few that jumped out at me:
In response to: "Your favorite Jim Lehrer moment from tonight?"
Rebecca Blood: "I liked it very much when he stopped the debate twice to clearly restate the candidates' positions on an issue and to ask if that accurately relected their position. I felt as if he was making an honest attempt to help the viewer make sense of a point that might otherwise have been muddied."
In response to: "Does Jim Lehrer of PBS have a style and what are the consequences of that style in a presidential debate?"
Jay Rosen: It's harder than it looks to do what Lehrer does. Just to be cool and alert in the situation is a feat of professional discipline. Lehrer was that: he was disciplined. I think Andrew is right that his great skill is his ear. But you have to be calm and confident enough to relax in a very tense situation and just... listen. Kerry says Bush made a colossal mistake. "Colossal misjudgments," says Lehrer, "what colossal misjudgments, in your opinion, has President Bush made in these areas?"
This invites Kerry to swing away at Bush and in that sense is not a "tough" question. On the other hand, it increases the pressure on Kerry: now he has to convince us that "colossal" is the right word, or he loses some of what tried to gain. Lehrer would never say, "it my job to increase the pressure on the candidates," because that wouldn't fly, politically. Still, it's what a moderator in that situation does.
I personally thought Lehrer performed quite well in what must be an incredibly difficult job. I know personally that as hard as I tried to stay focused on everything each candidate was saying on more than one occaision I found myself tuning one or the other out. 90 minutes is a long time to be at your peak of concentration and Lehrer never seemed to waver from that. I, as the comment from PressThink, think that he was at his best when he actually stopped the debate those two times and attempted to clear up what the candidates' positions were on specific topics. I'm excited to see the debates to come.
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According to my ALF Season One DVD (which I just recieved in the mail), here are some ALF facts:
Real Name: Gordon Shumway
First Job: Apprentice Lint Brush
Marital Status: Single...but still looking!
Birthplace: Planet Melmac (Lower East Side)
I wasn't aware of the Apprentice Lint Brush, but it's good to know.
Check out Stephan's ALF-Page for all your ALF info.
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In more non-RSS/blog related news, ALF is offically returning to television. ALF's Hit Talk Show will begin airing in October on TVLand. Although I admit that I was less than impressed by the first episode which aired a few weeks ago, I expect ALF will grow in to his role as talk show host. On top of the new talk show, ALF Season One DVD comes out next week. Life is good.
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I was informed today that ALF, the furry alien from Melmac, will finally be coming to DVD (it's going to be four discs of cat eating wonderfulness). This is some of the most amazing news I've heard since they announced ALF's Hit Talk Show on TVLand (which was really terrible, a fact that pains me as an ALF fan). Anyone looking for more ALF info should head towards Stephen's ALF Page.
By the way, is there anything better in the world than the full body ALF shot? Come on, when you get to see ALF waddle around like a midget in a furry suit, it's so good. I love that show.
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