Category: media

Broadcast network newsmagazines are at a low ebb — with likely even fewer hours on the air next season — and the popularity of reality television is chiefly to blame.

“Diversity on broadcast network television has been an issue for years and though each network has promised to better reflect the viewing audience — and in some cases delivered on those promises — UPN has been the only network to actively program for an African American audience.” With the merger, however, 23 hours of programming — 13 from the WB and 10 from UPN — will be lost.

Talk about your product placement. “Lost, in just two seasons, has perfected the art of gleefully leading the audience around by their dangly bits, sending viewers scurrying into chat rooms to hash out possible theories. Are the characters dead? Are they in Hell? Is it all a strange drug-induced experiment? Obviously not satisfied with the self-generated fan obsession, Disney decided to give it a little push with the publication of Bad Twin. Bad Twin is written by a fictitious dead Lost character.”

The company is commissioning new shows and making partnerships in Hollywood. “To harness the Web’s attributes, many of the shows and applications will wrap around them community offshoots, commerce opportunities and the ability to dig deeper for related segments or information. Product placement will also be an integral part of the programming.”

Visual art is unlikely ever to be a ratings success on TV. “The problem is that there is only so much footage of paintings an audience will tolerate, so TV tends to turn art history into a series of easily digested dramas. Tales of struggling artists, eccentric collectors, sexy models and huge prices are the staples of art telly and can overshadow the art. But maybe part of what makes a work of art great is its story.”

“The Ann Arbor Film Festival could lose its state funding under a legislative amendment that singles out the annual event, and one lawmaker is accusing the festival of showing pornography.”

“Everyone has always had an opinion, but now those opinions find ample display space on the Web. As for movie marketing, the dynamics haven’t just changed, they’ve been transformed — by the Web and TV, as well as the pervasive and pernicious use of focus groups (thank you for that, marketing consultants), and by stupendous marketing budgets, justified by the global economy, that pound every head in the cosmos with news of the latest studio release. What these writers neglect to mention, however, is the awkward issue of quality.”

“For those who have closely followed the steady progress of Spanish-language media in the United States, the agenda-making potential of broadcasters and, lately, of radio show hosts, comes as no surprise. ‘Radio is very big now. But when you talk about Spanish-language media in this country, you’re mostly talking about television, and when you talk about television, you are mostly talking about Univision, which means you’re mostly talking about Jorge and María Elena.”

Some independent American filmmakers are making movies that don’t look American. Is this the beginning of a globalized movie aesthetic? “The idea of national cinema doesn’t make sense the way it used to. I find it frustrating when people expect a certain country to produce a certain kind of cinema. There’s economic and cultural globalization, but also physical mobility. People move around more.”

“People don’t seem to gather (in public) as often as they did 50 years ago. I think that’s a gradual thing that’s been happening since World War II. But amusements at home — the web, DVDs, satellite television, video on demand — must be outdone as an experience, via comfy chairs, friendly staff and top-notch presentation.”