I suffered through something I haven’t done in years — watching an ABC primetime show live — with commercials and all. I don’t recommend it. I don’t know how anyone does it. With so many ways to record content and fast-forward through the commercials, watching live makes absolutely no sense.
The show was SHARK TANK. We were looking for some mind-numbing thing to watch to distract us from all the news channels (for the obvious reason).
It was an ordeal.
And again, it demonstrated to me just how totally clueless broadcast networks are today. Now, I should say I haven’t watched any of the other networks live during primetime so I can’t say that all networks do this. But ABC did.
The avalanche of commercials — that I expected. Any sponsor who pays big money to be the fifth straight commercial is insane. Everyone is in the kitchen, bathroom, their room to get the computer — anywhere but the TV screen. Take the tiny audience you have for the show itself and figure more people bail after every commercial. So if you have the fourth or fifth spot, the only one watching is the family dog. Hope you didn’t pay $100K for that privilege.
But here’s what I wasn’t expecting. A slew of ABC promos — in some cases the same promo. That’s fucking crazy! You could have five or six more minutes of program content. You could have made the commercial breaks somewhat more tolerable. Sure, networks need to promote their upcoming shows, but Jesus, how many times do I have to see THE ROOKIE? And the promos are usually buried in the commercial breaks. So even the family dog has left the living room.
Networks claim they’re working hard to enhance the “viewer experience.” That’s their excuse for cutting credits. Time is too precious to acknowledge the people who made the show, but not too precious to show the same damn ROOKIE promo over and over.
Are networks short-sided? Or worse, do they just not give a shit? Do they know the end is coming and they’re trying to squeeze every dollar they can? Is their focus so on the future and streaming that the broadcast networks are now just a foster child?
I’m sure only us Boomers care. ABC used to mean something. All the networks used to mean something. To someone born in this century they mean nothing. So I’m one of the few who is still pained by the way broadcast networks are hastening their own demise. I wonder if anyone inside ABC feels that way? I’m guessing no.
from By Ken Levine
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