Fewer viewers in 2007 compared to the previous year. With the worthless junk and endless commercials (that leave about five minutes of viewing in a thirty minute show) it's no wonder people are looking elsewhere. There were discussions about this the other day in the comments, where some are also rejecting the system and just looking for a DVD or online when they want to watch something. It's an archaic model that will die on the vine if it doesn't modernize. There can be some good programs, but they're often lost in the mix of junk piles.
Even with TV being included with my internet/phone service (€30/month for everything including unlimited land line calls around the world), we just stopped watching. We know others who have done the same because they too became fed up with the rubbish on offer. The TV networks became much too greedy with their commercials and mindless junk so they have no one else to blame besides themselves. Who could have imagined this change happening just a few years ago?
Fantastic. I was almost getting worried that we might have competition and too many news sources. Those ideas are so old fashioned and out of date. The Bush administration is loving this move, which should say enough about what this means to everyone outside of media conglomerates such as News Corp. This administration never saw a plan to destroy competition and diversity that they didn't like.
The only bright news here is that there are at least a few Republicans in the Senate who are joining a handful of Democrats who are vowing to overturn the FCC if they vote to allow consolidation. Whether it will be enough is hard to say, since most in the GOP are afraid of competition these days.
After six years of George Bush, right-wing control of Congress, neoconservative dominance, endless liberty-infringement and lawbreaking at home, and the Iraq War, what is the most disliked institution in America? According to the new Pew Poll:
Notably, there is an erosion in the favorability of virtually every political and media institution in the United States, but the Republican Party is at the very bottom -- lower than the press, the judges, the liberals, the Congress and all of its other Evil bogeymen. Yet the Democrats continue to give them whatever they want, dreadfully fearful of their great power and popularity.
The Pew report is primarily about the public's view of news organizations. It included these nuggets.
Fully 63% of Americans who count Fox as their main news source say news stories are often inaccurate – a view held by fewer than half of those who cite CNN (46%) or network news (41%) as their main source.
...Further analysis of the data shows that being a Republican and a Fox viewer are related to negative opinions of the mainstream media. The overlapping impact of these two factors can most clearly be seen in the favorability ratings of network TV news, major national newspapers, and the daily newspapers that respondents are most familiar with. For all three, Republicans who count Fox as their main news source are considerably more critical than Republicans who rely on other sources.
Ick. I decided to watch MSNBC today for a change of pace. Not good. There were two major presidential forums over the weekend: The Democrats were at Yearly Kos and the Repubs. were on ABC. Major issues were discussed. The Republicans pledged fealty to Bush's failed war agenda. So, what's MSNBC been covering all day? Sex. And, they brought in Chris Cilizza from the Washington Post to join the discussion. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. So while the bloggers are busy discussing the war and the economy and gay rights, the traditional media is obsessing about "Sex & the Candidates":
