Do TV networks seriously not take us slackers into consideration anymore? Are they too focused on drawing in teenage girls or the elderly with their endless parade of “reality” TV shows or singing or dancing competitions? Good quality TV? Where are you?
With the Music and Printed Press industries now “revolutionised” by the digital era, TV you would think would be the next target. The very rigid structure and limited on-demand functionality really doesn’t tie in with the way other digitised media works these days. Sure there is Netflix, but you need a home theatre PC, or Apple TV or PS3 or to fork out thousands of dollars for a Smart TV to be able to access this.
Lately all i’ve really had to watch is The Daily Show and Game of Thrones. Almost every other show is on hiatus or break, many of the most popular shows such as House, Weeds, Breaking Bad and Arrested Development have come to a finale or have been cancelled. I can’t for the life of me work out why a network would let a series that pulls in millions per week come to a close so prematurely. I guess they might be taking the advice of finishing on top. But where does that leave me? Where does that leave us?
Don’t the networks think about “Hey! We have just taken all these shows away, maybe we should give them something else decent to watch”…Nope… seems that the networks think something along the lines of “Hey, whats the cheapest possible way we can fill this empty timeslot?” and of course the answer continues to be “Reality TV”
I have to admit, these all-lanes closed carwrecks occasionally get me to rubberneck, but the format is becoming cliche and tired. But the future only seems to be full of even more reality based shows.
The gap between production on shows with actual storyline seems to be pretty wide. Top Gear in the UK (which is the worlds most downloaded show) will not air on tv for over 8 months between seasons..How long can it possibly take to film a bunch of old british guys driving cars that should be paired with a blonde trophy wife and a set of golf clubs in the boot?
Something the Americans (who are the primary demographic of fnx.network) don’t understand is the restriction of content to pay-TV also. Australia and “developed” countries has almost on purpose made free-to-air TV so poor you are almost forced into paying for overpriced pay TV services or you can illegally download content so you can join in the conversation about the latest hit shows around the water cooler. Regional blocking of online content also escalates this even further as sometimes content is not available in your region on ANY legal platform. So what are you to do?
With all these points in mind. How do we fix the staple of most home’s entertainment? Where is the future?
The holders of the keys to this future are the network execs… And they are not budging. It’s like an Oil Tycoon promoting an electric car. Freedom of choice with TV networks seems to be a dirty word.