Things i’ve grown to dislike…

Thank you Mr Bill Gates for pointing out that which has been so obvious to most hardcore internet users for years now.

“In the years ahead, more and more viewers will hanker after the flexibility offered by online video and abandon conventional broadcast television, with its fixed programme slots and advertisements that interrupt shows.”

“Certain things like elections or the Olympics really point out how TV is terrible. You have to wait for the guy to talk about the thing you care about or you miss the event and want to go back and see it,”

Yeah, look it might be stating the obvious, but TV Stations still don’t get the idea that there is this medium out there that rather than shunning, they should be researching on how they can use it to their advantage. I’ve long sinced stopped watching TV on the Television and started getting shows from other people, without ad’s and ON TIME. The mere fact that the number of people doing this is increasing steadily should be enough of a sign for TV Networks to let go of their inflexible programming schedules and embrace online content.

It’s quite simple really:

- People have more to do nowadays: sport; work; dinner; pubs; clubs; any number of events that they choose to engage in with higher disposable incomes and an increasing number of options available, I don’t see TV gaining any ground. I for one cannot watch tv in prime time on tues, wed, thurs and fri due to sport and work drinks and even mondays are touch and go depending on what time my indoor soccer game is.

- I don’t want TV stations dictating to me when I should watch TV, why should I have to free up 7:30 - 8:30 on a monday to watch Top Gear (a show which i love), just cos you tell me to. I really don’t like investing time in a show when I don’t know if I can watch every episode, an issue which is probably more relavant to shows that have a continuing story line.

- TV stations are forever changing tv show times. Usually is either the case that a TV show you like becomes popular so they try and put it in a prime time spot on another day in the hope it will beat the rivals stations program, both Smallville and Survivor were pushed to weekends after being successful on week nights. The other case is when a brilliant tv show is either not publicised enough or the TV stations just dont get it and the show is pushed to a late night slot after it doesnt become an instant hit. Scrubs, Arrested Development and Buffy are evidence of this attitude, little advertising and a demographic that is probably out doing other things during prime time has meant that they were all pushed back to late night slots and often taken off air without warning. I think the example of futurama and family guy are prime instances where they were good shows that became more famous over time and once the Australian public got to watch them, they liked them and they were eventually put back on air in normal time.

- TV stations also have the bad habit of lying about a shows episode order. I always watch smallville before it comes out here, so it struck me as odd that half way into a 26 episode season the TV station was advertising the next episode as the season finale. They’ve also announced the second last lost episode as the last episode at the end of season 1. This shows a lack of respect for their viewers. Often other shows have been shown out of sequence or series have been replayed out of order just to fill time.

- My biggest beef is with us showing TV series out of whack with the US or UK. SBS started showing the last season of TOP GEAR the day that BBC started showing the next series. The Amazing Race had shown series 7 then 9 and started 8 when season 10 was starting in the US. The next season is starting soon and no doubt they will show season 10 during season 9.