November 12, 2004
This Time, Ryan Didn't Need To Be Saved
Sitting in a restaurant a couple of hours ago, I read this column by Lisa de Moraes of the Washington Post that dealt with what looks to me to be a manufactured dispute concerning the Veterans Day broadcast by ABC television of Steve Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.
In a few cities across the South, a number of ABC affiliates refused to air the uncut and unedited version of the film, for fear of bringing down the wrath of the FCC:
"The Federal Communications Commission has changed its standards for certain content related to programming broadcast before 10 p.m.," Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications, said in a news release. Citadel's ABC affiliates in Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa, and Lincoln, Neb., are preempting the movie. . .
"Without an advance waiver from the FCC . . . we're not going to present the movie in prime time," Cole said. "Under strict interpretation of the indecency rules we do not see any way possible to air this movie. To be put in this position is unfortunate, and reflects the timidity that exists at the commission right now."
Sitting here in my living room, no more than five feet from me, is a DVD copy of Saving Private Ryan. No doubt, all across this great land of ours, there are literally thousands of copies just like it stocked on shelves inside local Blockbuster and Target outlets. And somewhere, I'm sure a local cable company or two must have the movie available to their customers on demand.
In light of that, why should anyone care whether or not the movie airs nationwide on ABC, or any other broadcast network for that matter?
Network television, whether it knows it or not, is dying a slow, but steady death. But instead of trying to be innovative, they seem forever stuck in the same old patterns, unable to break free and find a way to take advantage of the new technological landscape.
Here's just one example. I've owned a TiVo for about three years now, and there was a time when every Thursday night, it would record CSI at 9:00 p.m. on CBS and ER at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.
But then, something changed. All of a sudden, NBC started broadcasting ER at 9:59 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m. Not a real big deal, right?
Wrong. Because one of the advantages of TiVo is the fact that it lets you time shift programs quickly and efficiently. But because of that one minute overlap, the TiVo no longer recorded ER. If you're sitting in front of the TV watching CSI in real time when it happens, it isn't a big deal -- as you simply miss the opening teaser (annoying, but I can live with it).
But if you were away from the television, or were watching CSI even a few minutes behind, you could miss ER a large chunk of the program, or perhaps the program in its entirety.
But that isn't the only trick NBC has pulled. At times, they've actually shifted ER's start time to a minute or two before -- that action foiled TiVo customers who programmed their units to account for the NBC timeshift. At other times, NBC has actually published inaccurate start times to the TiVo viewing guide, something that would result in a TiVo unit switching channels to record ER, even though a few minutes remained in the program in the previous time slot, The Apprentice.
The real magic of TiVo isn't the fact that it can record programs. What was revolutionary about it was the fact that it made the process so incredibly convenient. Pump in a few commands, and you'll never miss an episode of your favorite program. Spend a few more seconds, and you can automatically skip seeing any re-runs.
With TiVo, it's as if they never even existed.
Needless to say, I don't have many warm and fuzzy feelings for NBC -- ironically an investor in TiVo. I've watched my last episode of ER, which as far as I can tell, may be the only NBC program I still bother to watch at all.
Will my departure make a difference? Probably not. Just think of it as another little drip of blood from a minor wound that NBC still hasn't bothered to bind. Then again, the network shouldn't be surprised if it wakes up one morning with a raging infection.
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My DVR has dual tuners, so I can record one thing and watch another or just record two things; you can also make manual recordings, although only the dual tuner sounds like it would help you here. It's the standard Scientific Atlanta box Time Warner's been distributing here in NYC. TiVo's got to have units like this now, no? Maybe it's time for an upgrade? I'm not suggesting a minute of ER is that important - but this thing allowed me to watch many a hockey game last season while recording a show in the background (and if I didn't have it, the show wins as I'm sure I'm not the only one who lives with a better half... :) ).
Anyway - while I noticed NBC started doing this for some shows. ER, Law & Order, etc., I never assumed it was to foil TiVo users. I assumed it was because those big shows pull in big advertising money, and if they can squeeze in just two more commercials in a top 10 show, that's a good amount of cash.
I'd assume it's only a matter of time before this is all on demand. Until then there's bit torrent...
Posted by:
at November 12, 2004 02:45 AM
NBC isn't alone in this strategy. ABC has taken to doing the same thing with shows like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." It's part of the, pardon the expression, desperate effort by the networks to prop up an obsolete business model. (Recall the Time-Warner executive who likened fast-fowarding through commericals to "stealing.") Far preferable, IMO, is simply going ahead and integrating the commericals, through things like product placement, into the show. This tactic was discussed on a recent episode of "Frontline" entitled "The Persuaders."
Posted by:
at November 12, 2004 09:12 AM
I have 2 tuners, so I doesn't matter to me either, but what does happen sometimes is that you wind up missing the end of a show. FX does this all the time with Nip/Tuck, so I wind up adding a + 5 minutes to that show. Not that i matters, because I still don't watch commercials.
FWIW, NBC doesn't mind lossing Tivo viewers because Tivo viewers don't make any money for them. No commericals = no money. Short-sighted approach, but there you have it.
Posted by:
at November 12, 2004 02:25 PM
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12:47 AM