Theunicornhunter

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Posts posted by Theunicornhunter

  3. Posted

    When I lived in Utah - nothing stopped for the snow - except once - a freak early snowstorm caused a lot of downed power lines and the lack of electricity closed some things (the snow fell while the leaves were still on the trees and the weight was too much). You woke up to the hum of snowplows, snow blowers and shoversl. By rush hour the snow plows would have had the roads cleared (at least major ones) and some people on side roads would ski cross-country to the bus stop. It was beautiful too.

     

    But, then I moved to the Virginia side of DC - and this is scary - our seat of national government was literally paralyzed by the first snowflake - government offices would close early; the roads were a nightmare and when you finally did get home - you just wanted to get down and kiss the ground. If I ever have to live in snow again - it will be out West. And it still terrifies me to think of how vulnerable our capital is.

  4. Posted

    Global warming..........yeah........riiight.....

     

    From merely a scientific perspective - increased average global temperatures can indeed result in some areas becoming colder - the melting ice cools down traditionally warm ocean currents.

     

    But feel free to complain for other reasons :lol:

     

    I just hope more people don't start moving to Florida

  13. Posted

    Here's another game idea.

     

    Person one names a city (or state) - the next person names a TV series (current or retired) that was located in that city (even if not actually filmed there). Then you pick a new location for the next person

     

    Example:

    New York City

     

    Answer

    NYPD Blue

     

    or

    Example:

    Kansas

     

    Answer:

    Smallville

     

     

    Okay Let's Begin,

     

    San Diego (CA)

  16. Posted

    I agree, George Clooney isn't my ideal man either - although I can see why people consider him good looking.

     

    However, films like Michael Clayton, Syriana, Good Luck and Good Night show he has some substance as actor.

     

    Unfortunately, Solaris was one of the worst movies I've ever seen but looking forward to Men Who Stare at Goats.

  18. Posted

    [ You seem to have answered your own question, really. What you're basically advocating is TV on Demand, which I believe is available.

    No it's not - if you watch tv you have to watch it when it airs (or after if you tape or tivo)

     

    But since you watch CSI on the Internet when you have insomnia, you can't say CBS is necessarily losing viewers. The networks are still getting their shows to the most people--via their website. The networks aren't losing viewers, the viewers are just changing the way they get what they want from the networks.
    The Nielsen's don't count internet viewers and if Nielsen doesn't count it it doesn't exist - so from the Networks perspective they're losing viewers. And Nielsen's only count Tivo if it is watched within 24 hours and with the commercials. And the Nielsen's are what determine if a show survives - remember ENT? Seriously, were you posting here when we had all the discussions about Nielsens and how they didn't accurately reflect actual ENT viewers - if so, this discussion should make more sense.

     

    So a show such as Jericho or Enterprise could be very popular with the very target audience (males 18-39) that networks want but they don't watch during original airing in primetime so they don't get counted and the show gets cancelled. It has nothing to do with where you watch it but when - my point was that the people who have nothing to do but sit home and wait for a show to come on are not the target audience networks are looking for (ie bored old people) but they are the very ones ruling the ratings.

     

    Personally, I'd like to see an end to primetime line-up and Nielsens altogether. Every Sunday night at midnight all the networks should make the coming weeks episodes available for viewing and people could queue up what they wanted when they wanted during the week - and actual numbers would determine what stays in production or what gets cancelled.

     

    Eventually things will change but it will probably be like the music industry - the networks will try to enforce that old way of doing things until they just can't anymore instead of getting ahead of the game and offering something to people who are ready for change.

  19. Posted

    YBHYR - I think you're overthinking this and getting off topic - people watch tv on the internet for several reasons - one of which is that like myself they can't fork out $60 a month for cable. I watch the same shows that people watch on tv, Fringe, Psych, Leverage etc. they're all available online on the network's website. A few shows aren't but they can be purchased - there's just a few network shows that aren't available at all.

     

    The next reason people watch the internet is because they're not at home when the show is on; they're working, attending class or taking their kids to a soccer game etc. I usually catch CSI at about 3:00 am when I have insomnia.

     

    All your other points may be valid but I'm not talking about alternatives to regular programming tv I'm talking about getting access to the same shows and how the "primetime schedule" just doesn't work.

     

    And the question remains how can the networks best get their shows to the most people - my solution is still merging internet and cable so you can access the latest ep of a particular series when it is convenient to you - rather than them expecting you to plan your life around their schedule. If they don't change they will continue to lose viewers

  20. Posted

    You've also got to break that demographic down by things like gender, race, disposable income, relationship/family status, sometimes even religion and political affiliation.

    Why?

     

    The only factor advertisers care about is how likely you are to spend money on their products and older people tend to be more careful with their money and younger are more reckless or are more prone to spend on intangibles (like cell phone service) rather than products with tangible value.

     

    CBS does not target "older" viewers - it's been actively trying to change that image and has dumped shows that appeal to older viewers. With one exception (Ghost Whisperer) CBS isn't the supernatural channel I think that's Fox or the CW and supernatural shows - Angel, The Supernatural, Lost etc appeal to young viewers not older viewers.

     

    CBS has a lot of crime dramas (but they're not mysteries) but those are popular with the right demographic (ie not older viewers) so they keep them. CSB has Eleventh Hour and Fox has Fringe - Fringe is far more into the pseudoscience, mysterious element, government conspiracy etc than Eleventh Hour.

     

    But all of this is off topic - my point was - the very people that they want to watch are the people more likely to watch in alternate methods and the question was how do you think tv should be presented in the 21st century?

  21. Posted

    It's all about money. Trek makes me yearn for the day when we are not bound by monetary units and no longer judge our self worth by monetary value. Unless you’re a Ferengi in which case your exempt. Unfortunately however I know I will not live to see this happen which doesn’t scare me nearly as much as the thought that planet will not live to see this happen.

     

    Money in and of itself isn't evil - and there is nothing wrong with earning one's keep by honest labor. These people would have done the same if they lived in a society that bartered rather than used currency.

     

    They didn't do what they did because money is evil - they did it bacause as individuals they lack basic respect for humanity; in other words they lack personal morals. Taking away people's money won't eradicate vanity, selfishness or manipulative behavior - those traits will just manifest themselves in different ways.

  23. Posted

    A few years ago we had a discussion on this site about television programming and schedules and the need for change. Part of that was fueled by the cancellation of Enterprise because of ratings - with no accounting for the fact that all locales didn't carry UPN or that many had to watch on the weekends.

     

    Since that time many networks have begun offering their shows online, others are available for purchase at iTunes or Amazon etc. (and UPN has tanked much to the joy of some of us.) I wonder if ENT were on the air today rather than a few years ago how it would fare.

     

    If it were on a network like CBS it would still suffer. In the interest of disclosure I am a disgruntled Jericho fan - a show that was in the top ten in legal downloads and rated high in online viewers but didn't score so well in the obscure timeslot. Which raises the question - who do the networks want watching their shows? It's the 21st Century - most younger people are both technologically savvy and busy leading active lives that don't lend well to sitting home and scheduling your life around network programming schedules. Most adverstisers covet the 18-49 group - the very group less likely to be sitting home. In self defense the Nielsens have started counting Tivo if watched within 24 hours but that still misses online viewers and downloaders.

     

    Surprisingly more cable channels (paid access programming) seem to offer their shows online than networks programs. USA puts up most of its shows within 24 hours, TNT within a week but some network shows like Eleventh Hour or Law and Order are never online and in the case of the Mentalist or Eleventh Hour - not even available for download.

     

    I just wonder how long the networks will continue to try to hold on the old model of people planning their lives around a tv schedule.

     

    Personally, I would love to see cable and internet merge so you could simply pull up a show's episode for the week and watch it at any time that was convenient whether that was 3 am or 6 pm.

     

    What would you like to see happen?