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May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Newspapers will survive, but network TV?
By
Jim Mullen
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The nightly news just ran a story about the financial crisis that newspapers are going through and how they are jumping through hoops to figure out a way to beat or join the Internet. After this feature, they went to a commercial break. The commercial was for ShamWow, the self-proclaimed absorbent cloth you have lived without for many, many years. It's an advertisement you wouldn't have seen during the network news a few years back.
Not that long ago, like all "special TV offer only, call now, but that's not all" commercials, it would have run at 4:30 in the morning between a rerun of a Gene Autry oater and "The Return of the Return of the Living Dead." Now it's running in the middle of the nightly news.
And network television thinks newspapers are in trouble? They'd better start looking over their shoulder. On shows during which the only companies that could afford to advertise made automobiles, mass-produced fast food, or beer, now you see commercials for cloak-like blankets with armholes, and pitches for Head On. Networks won't be able to hire any more 5-million-dollar-a-year anchors on that kind of scratch. The death spiral begins.
One primetime show is bragging that they had 6 million plus viewers last week. Twenty years ago, having that miniscule of an audience would have gotten them kicked off the air, and the executive who OK'd the show would have been tarred, feathered and displayed in the town square for children to laugh at.
You will never see another "Cheers," "Seinfeld," "Cosby Show" or "Friends" on network TV again. They are too expensive. After a year or two of a hit show, the once unknown stars want more money, and the advertisers want to pay less. The last season of "Cheers" Ted Danson was getting $450,000 an episode. The six stars of "Friends" were getting $1 million an episode by the end of their run, while the grand prize after an entire season of "The Amazing Race" and "Survivor" was exactly the same. (We should all work in a business where the words "only" and "1 million dollars" go together. Like politics.)
That's why reality shows are on network TV to begin with -- they are the ShamWows of entertainment. Reality shows, game shows and talk shows are so much cheaper to produce than programs that require scriptwriters and performers, that you don't need huge numbers of viewers to make them profitable. It may work in the short term, but who is going to watch a repeat of "Survivor" five, 10, 20 years from now? Or "Dancing With the Stars" or "The Bachelor"? There is no pay-off, and network television's decline continues. Less money coming in, cheaper shows, fewer viewers and on it goes. So what is network TV's answer to this inevitable decline? Better shows? No more office Christmas parties?
This weekend I watched a movie from Netflix instantly, as it streamed onto my desktop computer. No DVD, no mail, no commercials. I could pause it, do something else and come back to it at my convenience. For less than nine dollars a month, I can watch as many movies as I have time for. Imagine what they'll be offering to download two years from now, five years from now? That's how fast TV will change.
It wasn't that long ago that video rental places charged a stiff membership fee before they would rent you a VHS tape for three bucks a day. What happened to that business model?
Newspapers will adapt, they'll slowly figure out that they're sitting on a goldmine of back issues and photographs that they can sell on the Net over and over again until the end of time, they'll see that they can easily self-generate columns like "A Hundred Years Ago Today," "Today in the Blogosphere" and "Celebrity E-mails." The opportunities are here and now. Any business that is waiting for the future won't have one.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
Jim Mullen is the author of "It Takes a Village Idiot: Complicating the Simple Life" and "Baby's First Tattoo."
Previously:
A really big show of generation gaps
When pigs flu
The reports of our decline have been greatly exaggerated
Mergers and admonitions
Invest in gold: little, yellow, different
Stuck in Folsom Penthouse
Collecting karma
Setting loose the creative juice
It's all in the numbers
You're damaging your brain with practical skills
The real rat pack
The unspeakable luxury of the Park-O-Matic
Gross-ery shopping
© 2009, NEA
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