Category: media

How low have NBC’s TV ratings fallen? Last week the network’s once golden Thursday night lineup was beaten by Univision, the Spanish-language network.

The prospect of a terminally-ill woman choosing who should receive her kidney from three contestants on television is the latest ethical boundary to be breached by reality television.

“Fueled by a growing sense of desperation, networks are inserting games, quizzes and mini-dramas into commercial breaks. They’re incorporating more product pitches into programming. Two experimental programs without traditional commercial breaks will premiere this fall. NBC has even called on Jerry Seinfeld for help. This is all being done to stop viewers with DVRs from fast-forwarding through advertisements, or to circumvent those that do.”

This past year, 6 of the top 10 shows on American television were talent shows — American Idol or Dancing with the Stars. “Five years ago, 5 of the top 25 shows were comedies; today, just two are. Reality shows, as you’ve probably heard, are also on the decline: this past season only Survivor broke the top 25, and it’s nowhere near the top 10.”

“The message from the Cannes Film Festival juries was clear: Romania rules. In its closing ceremony on Sunday the festival bestowed two of its most important prizes on Romanian films, affirming the vitality of this recently emerging cinema.”

“Obviously, 3-D is not exactly a post-modern idea, and for most people it first brings to mind thoughts of wacky, red-lens-blue-lens cardboard glasses –or even of the headgear that Imax offered when it started showing 3-D flicks on its giant screens in the 1980s. But 3-D is clearly coming into its own, and its cinematic aspect is just one element of technology’s broader march toward a new era of make-believe super-realism.”

Pirates of the Caribbean might not have broken American box office records, but worldwide? It’s a winner. “Walt Disney executives said that they had broken out in high fives on Monday morning in their Burbank offices as they learned that “Pirates 3″ would surpass $400 million in ticket sales around the world in its first six days of release.”

“If all goes as planned, Scranton would not only be home base to Paul Sorvino’s own Miranda Films but also offer other filmmakers a full-service production house with soundstages, editing and looping rooms and a recording studio. All with costs a fraction of those in Los Angeles or New York.”

“Audience share for music is eroding, as listeners bolt bland formats and canned disc jockeys. Some listeners end up plugging in their iPods or getting satellite radio. Others are migrating to talk radio. The rise of FM in the 1960s was supposed to signal the death of AM. In 10 years, it might be the other way around.”

“Children are regarded by broadcasters as a marketing opportunity at best, a dangerous and feral threat at worst, and an expensive nuisance otherwise. Social poison goes much deeper than broadcasting, of course, but it’s particularly visible there.”