Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote:
N2EY wrote:
Mike Coslo wrote:
Of course! Just in case you didn't see the "letter to Dr. Laura, I'll
post it he
Dear Dr. Laura,
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a
pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They
claim the odor is not pleasing to them. How should I deal with this?
I suggest moving. My neighbors never object to the aroma of barbecued
beef, grilled over an open fire, fueled with hickory.
Hey! Why can't we own Canadians? ;^)
They are on the endangered species list and are in short supply. There
is, on the other hand, a surplus of Mexicans.
When a person wants to have strong unshakable conviction, it is very
important that they don't know a lot about the subject.
There is a strong temptation to take this back into the morse code test
wars.
Deregulation has homogenized both of them. Neither is a big
moneymaker nor job-creator, because the markets are saturated and
there's a limit to advertising revenue. The receiver technology is
mature and there are no ongoing user fees. BC TV is in a similar state,
compounded by the limping move to HDTV.
AM broadcast radio is basically a wasteland. Spinning the dial in the
daytime from here shows wall-to-wall talk except for low powered station
in the Wheeling-Steubenville area which plays easy listening hits of the
'40s through the '70s. It can be heard here during the day but not at
night. The nights reveal a few music stations, including one in Canada.
Our local Clear Channel powerhouse, WWVA (which runs talk radio during
the day) sells its time to fundamentalist preachers except for Saturdays
when it airs the Jamboree.
I quit limping as regards HDTV last year. I went for it full bore.
Neither of the two local TV stations is using enough power to reach me
and I'm only 25-40 miles away. They aren't yet transmitting HDTV, just
digital TV. Remember that I'm at a little over 1500 foot though. I
installed a new TV antenna and modest preamp and use quality RG-6
coaxial cable. I receive Pittsburgh CBS, ABC and Fox affiliate HDTV
along with PBS HDTV from Cambridge, Ohio and Morgantown, WV. I get
sporadic HDTV signal from the Pittsburgh NBC affiliate. When it ups its
power, I'll have the major networks covered. The received picture is
phenomenal.
You left out an important part, Jim. Let us take AM for example. It is
now the purveyor of Cranky talk radio. While the people who want to
listen to that sort of thing are simply wild about their shows, most
people are not.
I like Glenn Beck, who mixes conservative talk with humor. I sometimes
listen to Rush or to Hannity to balance the left-leaning stuff from NPR.
So while the marketing drove itself in the new
direction, a lot of people simply stopped tuning in at all. Less
listeners. Bad idea to turn off half of your listener base, but there
you go!
There's room for both music and talk on AM and FM The AM band is much
better for cross country driving. Yeah, I know, there's always satellite
radio. I'm not paying to listen to the radio in my car.
It is the same thing as the reality based TV show craze. That was the
final straw in my shift away from network TV. Those who like REality
shows just LOVE them.
I find little of reality in them but much of stupidity. We find that we
watch perhaps four shows from the big three networks. We have Dish
Network here though if they keep jacking the prices, I'll investigate
their rival or scale back.
Many of the rest of us find it odd that people
would want to sit around and watch shows glorifying "average".
You'll remember my line as used concerning amateur radio testing,
"Strive to be mediocre!"
But now even these shows are wearing thin. The trend of less people
watching network TV will probably accelerate.
There's always a market for good drama, good comedy, good music and good
discussion. The trouble is, it is a small market.
Hey, I have an idea! How about some quality programming? Put on a few
science shows. Maybe some shows glorifying real heroes instead of crack
smoking entertainers. Don't show the same ten movies over and over again
- how many times do we need to see Kindergarten Cop, She-Devil, or Dirty
Dancing? Those movies are often on multiple channels at the same time on
any given weekend. My XYL is content to watch Dirty dancing over and
over, but I think she has a thing for Patrick Swayze. 8^)
There ya have it but who's going to watch it.
The audience is there, all they have to do is attract them with dome
decent programming.
I don't think the audience is there in large enough numbers, Mike.
Remember the "21st Century" show with Walter Cronkite? That commercial
with putting the baby chick in the insulating container, then dropping
it into the boiling water, after which it was retrieved unharmed,
entranced me as a child.
I'm old enough to remember "Omnibus" and "Wide, Wide World". I was
enthralled with "Watch Mr. Wizard"--enough to whine my parents into
getting me two of Don Herbert's science experiment books.
There's some quality television available today though. Philadelphia
vs. Atlanta and Pittsburgh beating the Patriots for the second time.
Dave K8MN