IF YOU'RE IN Cape Breton, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Moncton N.B., Gander NFLD, Sudbury ON, Victoria B.C., Tronnna, Kelowna, B.C. or Fredricton, N.B. and you listen to CBC Radio, you might have heard me pop up on your Radio this morning talking about the current CRTC Broadcasting framework review, which is currently starring a WWE style smackdown between Canada's broadcasters and cable/satellite co's.
Hopefully through my haze of sleepiness, I managed to direct you to a couple of edifying posts that could be accessed through my blog. Here they are. The first is from my friend Jim Henshaw, a proud Saskatchewinian, TV Writer and Producer, who's worked in this industry longer than I've been alive. He's also seen a thing or two, and has a way of framing the problem of Canadian TV with a lyricism I think you're really going to enjoy.
You can also check out this piece by Will Dixon, a writer, director, and educator who currently lives in Saskatchewan. It chronicles a bit of the spin he saw when he went to the "Save Local TV" info session.
But before you do go there -- do me a favour and watch this here video from the WGC (that's the Writers Guild of Canada.) That's the organization that I belong to that reps close to 2000 writers of drama, comedy, animation, childrens and documentary programs.
As I may have said this morning, we're kind of on the leading wedge of the 600 000 people employed making TV in this country. We're also consumers, like you. We pay taxes, like you. And besides the fact that our cable bills might go up too, we also are in a bit of limbo while we wait for these behemoths to stop their silly fighting and come to some solution that doesn't send our whole industry into the toilet.
Anyway, if you've been thoroughly confused by the half truths in the "Save Local TV" and "Stop the TV Tax" Campaigns (and I don't blame you if you are) here's a video we made trying to give some context to the whole thing.
I've written my own takes on why Canada's creatives feel a bit held hostage by this silly fight -- and also about how the "Save Local TV" cry rang a bit hollow this summer when a storm raged through town.
Believe me. I hate having to write about this stuff. I'd much rather be writing things I care about, like, oh, Starbucks holiday cups, and Remembrance Day tributes, and even nifty ways of focusing your day and avoiding procrastination. (That last link is even great if you're not a writer!)
I'd also rather be trying to write something entertaining for you to watch on your TV. You know...if you want to. Ah well. Maybe somebody will come to their senses. Maybe.
Thanks for your interest, and thanks for stopping by.
Denis McGrath
4 comments:
Well spoken on the radio this morning. I look forward to reading more of the blog. I'm always looking for more information from people in the industry.
Hi Denis,
Like Jorden, I too was impressed with how well spoken you were on CBC Radio this morning, particularly your take on how much of what is being said to the public is a 'framing the message' spin.
My reason for writing is twofold:
1. I had a .blogspot.com address that I found cumbersome to spell. When I heard you give your blog address, I thought I'd pass along how easy (and inexpensive) it is to roll your .blogspot.com into a simple .com address. I started the hamletofcolumbus.com web page as columbuscommunity.blogspot.com, but for $10 last spring I found a simple way on Google to convert it. Likely you may already know this, but in case you don't I'm passing it along. You still keep the link to the blogspot address for all your current followers, in fact everything is the same - the way you post your entries, the look of your pages etc., and you keep all your history, but you can get rid of the .blogspot. part of your address. With the shorter, simpler address it is much easier to tell people about your web page/blog.
2. If you ever find you have time to check out our community webpage/blog www.hamletofcolumbus.com
there is a short one and a half minute video we made recently that indicates what we are attempting.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2472823/Columbus%20Community%20Video.wmv
I would be grateful if you could possibly pass along any pointers on how we might improve on getting our message out.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Rosemary
Well, I've finally been spurred into action, even though that action is limited to commenting on your post. In your interview this morning, you were clear enough that I finally got the gist of what this storm in a tea cup is all about. I have been mildly annoyed at the ads on TV from the protagonists, probably because they seem to me to be one-sided and whiney. They remind me of that attack ads that the political parties were running before the elections, juvenile and tasteless.
I'd like to offer up the following:
1. Again, what is local TV, and why do we need it? Is it the CTV's of the world, reporting on local events, weather, traffic and the like? If so, then radio can cover that, and important-enough news can be covered on national TV news. If it's local content like the quintessentially Canadian Corner Gas, then I still don't think we need "local" TV to produce shows like that.
2. I live in rural Manitoba. What does local TV mean to me? Nothing. Is there a CTV Winnipeg? I don't know, and I really don't care. It's not relevant to me, and probably not relevant to the majority of Winnipeggers. The larger centres, like Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, etc. might be able to support local TV stations. There is not enough local content for most of the CTV stations to fill a couple of hours a day, let alone twenty four (have you heard some of the inane babble that goes on on some of the local morning shows?).
3. I suspect it costs a lot of money to run a TV station, and somehow that has to be paid for. If ad revenues no longer do that, likely because of flagging viewership, then there is probably not enough demand from the public for the service. So why do we need it?
4. The cable/satellite companies are, I think, public companies, and it is their duty to their shareholders to maximise profits. In this argument, it's irrelevant how much money they make. If we won't pay for a service, why would we expect them to pay to carry a service for which there is little demand.
Anyway, now I'm tired and bored, so I'm going to bed. But before I do, is there a blog or forum about TV advertising? Because I have some things to say about it!
Lance
Post a Comment