Category: media

In the UK, as in America, reality TV has taken over the small screen. “Drama, lifestyle and documentary programmes have all been crushed by the alluring mix of multi-camera, multi-star TV. Reality TV, it could be argued, has now established itself as a mainstream format, alongside drama and sitcoms, and if anything, is going through a mature phase. Perhaps the enduring appeal of reality TV, whether in celebrity or ‘ordinary people’ guise, has nothing to do with our appetite for the formula but more to do with gossip columns and the need for showbiz news.”

TiVo has been a big hit with TV viewers. So why not a TiVo for radio? “These digital radio recorders, which can be preset to record a program at a certain time, enable customers to record any radio program they want and have it converted into a digital format. They then can listen to the program or upload it onto a PC in a transferable file. Like TiVo, the audio recorders will let customers fast-forward over commercials – although this isn’t a feature the industry is actively promoting.”

“The glamor of special effects technology may still lie in cinematic spectacles like ‘Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones,’ created by celebrated houses like the Industrial Light and Magic unit of Lucas Digital, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain. But television is where much of the business of special effects takes place these days, saving considerable money for the studios.”

It’s looking more and more like the Federal Communications Commission is going to further ease restrictions on media ownership, allowing companies to own TV, radio and newspapers in the same market. Critics are upset: “We’re going to have a handful of people providing the news for the entire country. We will be losing the diversity of intellect and ideas and opinions. We’ll be cutting off minority opinions and dissent, and it’s not our founding fathers intended.”

Canada has been able to attract lots of film and TV production from south of the border because of a cheap dollar and government tax incentives. But the Canadian dollar has been on the rise compared to the US. “After the dollar climbed to 71.80 cents (U.S.) last week, industry and provincial officials are worried that U.S. film makers will look to other locations such as Australia and New Zealand.”

Is the TV sitcom dying? “For the fourth year in a row, when the television season ends this month, there will be only two comedies among the 10 most-watched network shows in prime time: ‘Friends’ on NBC and ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ on CBS. Only in the late 1950’s and the early 1980’s have there been such prolonged periods with so few mass-appeal television comedies.”

Has anyone noticed there seem to be more trailers at the movies these days? Yes. “It’s the strongest marketing tool at a studio’s disposal. They’ve done surveys that indicate that moviegoers absolutely love trailers. But there is a point at which it becomes too much. What is that point? What number of trailers is optimal, and what number results in trailer fatigue?”

The BBC will attempt to launch new arts programming later this year. Good, but “why should arts television need relaunching? Whatever happened to the arts on television? What happened was, in part, a loss of nerve. This has taken various forms. First, expelling the arts from the main channels. We have seen the almost complete disappearance of the arts from BBC1.” Second, the tone of TV arts shows in recent years has shifted dramatically. “The heyday of arts television was the product of an era with different values and assumptions, reflected in several great landmark series.”

“Romantic comedy used to mean grown-up sex appeal, dazzling wit and fizzy, sparring dialogue, typically delivered at a breakneck pace.” Not anymore. And why not? A lack of male actors who are good at it. “Few seem to want to risk playing romantic leads, and one suspects few could pull it off. In part, this is because film acting styles have changed over the past 30 or 40 years. The long shadow of Method acting hangs over actors today. Men need to look deep inside themselves to plumb their characters’ motivation; it’s a serious business, and hard to square with classic romantic comedy, which calls for deadpan devilry, a barely controlled madness, and a willingness to don a tuxedo and look suave and silly simultaneously. Who’s up to it?”

Increasingly, American TV networks buying shows are the same people who produce the shows, and the complicated relationship is changing the rules of the business. “Such incestuous discussions are increasingly common in the industry, where a handful of giant companies occupy both sides of the negotiating table, produce much of the programming on the air and increasingly play financial hardball to offset their ratings losses. The squeeze is being felt not just by talent but also by the agents and managers who represent them. Independent producers, meanwhile, have been pushed to near-extinction. Only 11% of last year’s new prime-time programs came from companies other than major studios – and most of those were low-cost reality shows.”