Sunday, May 24, 2009

WCBS

Channel #2 on the box
Known for years as the old folks network even if the rating did not show a significantly older demographic. They got this reputation for hanging out with the elderly. Angela Lansbury, Andy Griffith, and Dick Van Dyke all had hit shows on the network for years.
Trying to break the stereotype CBS picked up failed shows from other networks like a Golden Girls spin-off(NBC) and Family Matters(ABC) hoping to attract the faithful viewers. Despite this soap operas like The Young and the Restless and As The World Turns kept the mornings full of youngster and the housebound. The Price is Right became a fixture for decades and only contributed to it's old feel even with Drew Carey as the new host.
It wasn't until Survivor appeared along with The Amazing Race that a new adventurous side started to emerge. Soon new edgy sitcoms, dramas about the supernatural, and crime shows flooded the network. They did a rare thing of revamping their image but what of the elderly. Shouldn't they have their own place on the TV landscape?

History
Started in 1928 on the radio.
In 1937 Guiding Light premiered on radio.
By 1940 a color television signal was being broadcast.
From the 50s to the 80s CBS made ratings history with, "Who Shot J.R.?" and the final M.A.S.H episode.
Due to its antenna location CBS is one of the few stations unaffected on September 11, 2001. They lent their broadcast to UPN channel 9 and many South American networks.
2009 sees the cancellation of Guiding Light due to poor ratings and high costs.

Highlights
Monday night comedies - Granted they quickly become annoying but they are still good for a laugh or two. The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men are among the better.

Forensics
- Occasionally I watch a few of the CSI, NCIS, LOL$%$OMG*, etc. Great science but horrible acting.

Friday dramas
- Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs are worth watching yet the constant cast changes are disturbing.

Football - Real American Football games carrying the Giants or Jets with extra games when possible. NY has some ridiculous laws about how many games can be shown at once so often overtime leads to problems.

Lowlights
Reality - I did see the first Survivor and it was okay. Two minutes after watching the second season I realized the contestants were all acting, not scripted but being fake. It stopped being about survival and was an hour long audition tape. Never got into Amazing Race because I don't get the concept, are they running or playing games, and is the whole thing a setup or can you jump borders and dodge bullets?

News - The weakest of all the news providers they replace Dan Rather with Katie Couric. This is the equivalent of replacing a ladder with a pogo-stick. They play down every story and even if 60 Minutes got an interview with Bin Laden live there is good chance I would fall asleep through it.

College Sports - I hate college sports and every year two weeks of regularly scheduled programming gets interrupted for team spirit and athletes that we will never see again.

Advertising
National ads, the logo is not always seen on screen, and few noticeable in show product placements. CBS did start a trend on the soap opera As The World Turns by revolving a storyline around one female lead who was feeling old and decided to get her hair colored with an in-home hair treatment product. It was forced and awkward and I can't fully recall the product so it was also ineffective. During sports event the ads are overwhelming, now with computer generated ads the grass and walls of different events carry commercials only the viewer will see.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to read there is at least one channel that doesn't have the logo on-screen 24/7!

    So far, our soon to go UHF channels; BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and Channel 4, are the only ones still without logos. With their digital and satellite versions, they are all logo'ed up as bad as the others already... :-(

    ReplyDelete

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