From: John Tserkezis 
Reply-To: Fidonet AVtech Echo 

Bob Lawrence wrote:

>        is there a conspiracy to stop us watching TV? Has a new form
> of home entertainment arrived, and I missed it?

  Perhaps a little insight as to how they choose their programs might answer 
some of your questions:

  A friend who works for Canon (the photocopier people) had a job at Ch10 some 
time back (many years actually, but I don't think the situation has changed any).

  While he had the copier in pieces and working on it, he overheard the 
programmers planning the following week's programs (a complex sequence of 
program evaluation, demographic evaluation and a complex determination to place 
programs based on that:

  Prog1: "Waddle I put on tuesday night?"
  Prog2: (Remains silent, probably doesn't give a toss).
  Prog1: "I'll put 'Conan the Barbarian' on".
  Prog2: "Wasn't that on a couple of months ago?"
  Prog1: "Naw, I'm sure it wasn't".
  Prog2: "Yeah, I remember seeing it"
  Prog1: "I'll put it on anyway".

  If you thought program placement was for the benefit of viewers, you are 
sorely mistaken.

  It's interesting to watch the placement of regular quality television like 
Jerry Springer.  They skip days like public holidays, school holidays, and 
non-ratings periods.

  Not because they care about defiling the minds of our youths- drugs are doing 
that just fine.  It's because Jerry Springer is an expensive program.  They 
don't play it on days when the bored housewives are out trying to entertain the 
kids rather than stay home.
  It'll never pay for itself if they don't get the chance to play high-income 
sponsor ads, like the magnet woolen underlays, and wonder stain removers that 
remove stains that nothing else in history has manged to do before, and 
ultrasonic pest repellants.


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