The Bottom of the Barrel

[youtube=[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vg4BTPIqbI&hl=en]

If there were an Emmy for dumbness, this one would win.

While newspapers embrace video and we debate whether the revolution that Leica brought to photojournalism can be translated to small video cameras, there is another revolution going on.

The advent of 500 or 1,000 video channels, and more to come for sure, means that there is a continuing race for dwindling audience share. More channels spread over the same population means fewer viewers per channel, no matter how you slice it.

As we are a business driven by ratings, there will be an unceasing competition for eyeballs, no matter what it takes.

Here’s a look at Fox Reality’s latest line thrown in the water in an attempt to garner a niche we shall call ‘sexually repressed 14 year old male nerds in testosterone overdrive’.  (In the future, everyone has a channel).

Of course, they have buried the premier at 1am EST on the Fox Reality Channel.

Battle of the Bods. Women strip down to their skivvies and a panel of men rates their T&A. Literally. Best T. Best A. The women line up in the order of what they think is the best T… best to worst, and then we reveal(!!!!) what the men thought.

The tension is palpable….

Why don’t we just cut to the bottom line and drop the skivvies entirely? This is, after all, cable. And it is, after all, after 1am.

We often talk about the vast potential that video presents as a creative medium – the ability to tell a story in pictures, sound, writing, graphics, music, text…

Battle of the Bods tells a story too.

But it is not an encouraging one.

As Ed Murrow said, “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”

tune in. Fox Reality Channel. 1AM – Lights in a Box.

Michael Rosenblum

For more than 30 years, Michael Rosenblum has been on the cutting edge of the digital video journalism revolution. During this time, he has lead a drive for video literacy, and the complete rethinking of how television is made and controlled. His work has included: The complete transitioning of The BBC's national network (UK) to a VJ-driven model, starting in 2002. The complete conversion of The Voice of America, the United State's Government's broadcasting agency, (and the largest broadcaster in the world), from short wave radio to television broadcasting and webcasting using the VJ paradigm (1998-present). The construction of NYT Television, a New York Times Company, and the largest producer of non-fiction television in the US. Rosenblum was both the founder and President of NYT TV, (all based on this paradigm (1996-1998). The President and Founder of Video News International, a global VJ-driven newsgathering company, with more than 100 journalists around the world. (1993-1996). Other clients include Spectrum News, Verizon and CBS News.

1 Comment
  • John Hatch April 06, 2008

    Apparently, there is something worse than tripe at the bottom of the barrel.
    When I look at what passes for entertainment these days, (sorry if that makes me sound like an old fuddy-duddy), it makes me realise how desperate for content these people are, and I’m actually encouraged to pursue my own projects, and yes, you can all tune into MY channel, in the future. I’ll be there, waiting.