Weekend Television/ Radio
I don’t know about the rest of the US, but here in SC, the local television and radio programming here leaves a lot to be desired on the weekends. Otherwise, they do a very, very GOOD job.
Television consists of horrible educational morning cartoons, religious themed shows, and infomercials in between sporting events. This is especially bad in the afternoon hours. Radio has become one big infomercial with local real estate guys yucking it up and giving marginal real estate advice. We DO have a great local auto repair/info show on our ONLY major AM News/Talk radio channel here. It’s not hard being voted “the Best in the Upstate” when there’s little or no competition. That’s not a knock, that’s just what happens when you’re the best as what you do I suppose. I mean, may the good Lord help us if a major local event or accident occurs after 6pm on the weekdays or anytime during the weekend. Though I’m sure such measures are in place in case something DOES happen. I’m not preaching the highly unfair “fairness” doctrine or anything, I’d just like to see better alternatives locally that aren’t canned or produced elsewhere national content.
I'm of the opinion the local stations should open this time up for local variety programming. I don’t' mean infomercials for the local car lots or latest exercise or diet fads. Let the dozens of students at local broadcasting schools "intern" on these shows towards credit or just to simply hone their skills. Like an expanded version of both Kimberly Kelley’s daily shows.
I’d like to see some comedy/ improvisational shows or local comedy and drama put on by local groups or playwrights. Not just snippets to whet the appetite. The Greenville Little Theatre, the Warehouse Theatre, and The Café and Then Some Players, or other groups of people would be PERFECT for this. I’d LOVE to see local music shows. Personally, Gene Berger and Horizon Records could produce a GREAT weekly show. The Handlebar would be a good setting for local music as well. Shows featuring “Greenville After Dark” or something else cheesy could and would be fun. I understand that there are pretty much a couple of local cable TV channels dedicated to local public affairs programming, I’m writing about local “entertainment” programming,
It seems that the local broadcasting stations are trying to implement a lot of viewer content into their websites or news broadcasts. I’d like to see this broaden. For example: Channel 4 ‘s High School Playbook, while a more comfortable format with the intent of utilizing more local reporting, it lacks the flavor of the original or former “Friday Night Hits” in my opinion.
Other local channels like My40 or the CW- Channel 62, are making gains in the public promotion and information arena- I’d like to see them to more local entertainment. I love seeing the the Greenville Drive games..
But alas, the almighty dollar speaks loudly like it or not and the bottom line is advertising revenue for the local broadcasters. They can’t pay their bills or operate on “good programming” alone. I find it hard believe that advertisers would rather pay for a movie of the week or extreme bicycling in Thailand than local stuff. Of course, these commercials are probably just satisfying other contractual commitments for or by the networks. Until I win the lottery and get a chance to sposor a locally produced show, I’ll have ot be content with the “To Be Announced” or old sponsored movie of the week on Television or the usual infomercials on the radio on the weekends.
No wonder people are going to the internet in droves!!
You know, I was thinking about that very topic this week. I've been a big internet radio supporter since the late 90s (remember "the rack"?). To me, local radio just doesnt cut it anymore. I'm mainly a rock guy and I've listened to 93.3 since they were a start-up, but lately, they have just been annoying. Yeah, I realize that rock is overshadowed by the pop/rap music that is out there, but there are a lot of good groups producing great music. But instead of playing "new rock" like they advertise, 93.3 mostly play 90s alt music. While I don't mind that genre, there are only so many times that I can hear the same Metallica song before I go nuts. I really blame that on the station manager for that though. He could push for newer rock, but seems content with playing older stuff. Don't get me started on their morning show, they are like Howard Stern wannabes. The DJs are good guys, they do a lot of good for the charities out there. But for a while there, they were pushing for syndication and it really showed. On saturday, they do a "worst of the rise guys" that caps the week's pranks. Little or music, just 5 hours with one of the morning guys recaping some of their lame jokes, interviews and pranks. Why not put an intern on, give them some experience and play some music? My guess is... its another push for the Rise guys to get syndication.
ReplyDeleteEnough of the rock station, the main problem with being in SC is just the pure lack of variety. One afternoon, I was bored, so I flipped through the stations one day and counted the number of genres. We have 2 rock stations, 2 pop stations, 2 easy listening stations, one urban station (r&b), one latino station, about 5 country stations, a smattering of talk and enough religous stations to choke a camel. Yes, I know we are in the south, but for the love of pete, the market is just saturated with country and religious stations.
I feel that local radio has given up on me. I don't have a voice in what music is played and what genres are out there. Like many people, I can find a channel that I like, that plays more of the music that I like with little or no talk on XM or the internet (Octane on XM and Chronixradio.com). I know Intercom and Clearchannel have stock in XM, so I know they get it... why they don't do it for local radio is beyone me. So, I've given up on local radio. The only time that I switch from my XM or CD player is to catch the local traffic reports (shameless plug for Terry Crawford or his twin brother Capt. "flaps" Jackson).
things are pretty much the same here in the Pittsburgh metro area as they appear to be down south. We have tons of local radio stations with a great variety- even on AM- that you can't get from Sirius/XM or online. Every now and then I turn it to the cheesy elevator music station.
ReplyDeleteyou know, I've never SEEN Cap'n Flaps and Terry Crawford in teh same room....
ReplyDeleteyou tell em, big guy!!
ReplyDeleteYep, in a nutshell, local programming here simply sucks for all the Johnsense reasons and probably more. It's so bad that i haven't seen "TV" since the Great Analog Shutdown. During my travels back in Nov-Dec, I had the rare opportunity to sample "local" radio from SC, GA, AL, LA, and TX last December. Most of what I heard was ho-hum. Couldn't find any liberal talk radio. I found one to be stereotypical in Columbia, considering their demographics. It seems one has to be near a major city to get real variety. But radio morning shows are so cookie cutter clones that I swore I was listening to the same people with different names in those states. The Rise Guys morning show is so lame that it is painful for me to listen to. I can actually see tendrils of my well being leave my body with every passing moment if I am in hearing distance of their ramblings. For things to improve there has to be enough public support for it to garner the needed ratings to show advertisers that "hey your money is well spent here".
ReplyDeleteyou guys should seriously check out XM/Sirius - pay radio is so much better than terrestrial or so called "free" radio.
ReplyDelete