In news that hits rather too close to home for my taste, and which may also be a harbinger of oncoming doom for the US market, the news is coming in that the British commercial broadcast network, ITV, might be acquired by one of the largest names in 'Reality' programming - Endemol.
Shares in the network - which has suffered dismal financial results recently - rose sharply when the news broke yesterday, and were boosted even further by comments made by Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the Chairman of Italian broadcaster 'Mediaset,' who own Endemol. He said the company are still debating whether to buy ITV, and had several other potential targets.
You'd better start praying that none of them are US-based.
Regular readers [Yes, both of you!] will know that I hate, loathe and detest 'Reality' television with a passion that defies measurement. The entire genre is a brainless, cold-blooded, profit-driven insult, designed solely to snare as many viewers as possible so they can be spoon-fed to the advertisers.
That being the case. the prospect of an entire television organization being owned and controlled by a group of people so intellectually myopic they actually believe 'Reality' programming is acceptable fare with which to burden your viewers' collective synapses should leave any sane being garnished in ice-cold sweat.
If that idea doesn't give you nightmares, try this: Given that a large percentage of US-television is comprised of ideas and formats that were originally British, can it really be long before the same thing happens here?
...Or considering the current output of NBC, is that already a rhetorical question?
Shares in the network - which has suffered dismal financial results recently - rose sharply when the news broke yesterday, and were boosted even further by comments made by Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the Chairman of Italian broadcaster 'Mediaset,' who own Endemol. He said the company are still debating whether to buy ITV, and had several other potential targets.
You'd better start praying that none of them are US-based.
Regular readers [Yes, both of you!] will know that I hate, loathe and detest 'Reality' television with a passion that defies measurement. The entire genre is a brainless, cold-blooded, profit-driven insult, designed solely to snare as many viewers as possible so they can be spoon-fed to the advertisers.
That being the case. the prospect of an entire television organization being owned and controlled by a group of people so intellectually myopic they actually believe 'Reality' programming is acceptable fare with which to burden your viewers' collective synapses should leave any sane being garnished in ice-cold sweat.
If that idea doesn't give you nightmares, try this: Given that a large percentage of US-television is comprised of ideas and formats that were originally British, can it really be long before the same thing happens here?
...Or considering the current output of NBC, is that already a rhetorical question?
No comments:
Post a Comment