Being Frank About Media

Have you seen "The Flash," the new TV show from Marvel comics? It's on the CW network and it's about a man who becomes a super fast superhero following a laboratory accident.

I wonder where I will see "The Flash" in January when WTTV becomes the CBS affiliate. My local cable company doesn't carry WISH-TV so, unless something changes we will have two CBS affiliates on our cable and no CW and no Flash. 

This is hardly worth mentioning except it illustrates what has happened to the media in recent years. 

Media is so fractured with Internet services like iTunes that traditional media such as newspapers, TV stations and radio stations have more competition for advertising revenue. It was this situation that undoubtedly led to CBS and Indianapolis' WISH-TV to part ways. According to information released a few months ago, WISH-TV and CBS could not come to a financial agreement and after 40-some years, WISH-TV will not be a CBS affiliate come Jan. 1. Instead, WTTV will become the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis and my buddy, "The Flash" will have to run somewhere else for a Central Indiana audience. Andy maybe run faster than ever. 

Media is business. Larger audiences allow media outlets to charge more money for ads. It is that simple. So, the challenge for each media outlet is to attract larger audiences. 

The first radio station broadcast was coverage of a live event.  Live events are expensive unless someone picks up the bill. Stations soon learned it was much cheaper to pay someone to play records than to broadcast live events.. Soon, licensing organizations were formed that charged radio stations to play the records and the money was distributed to the talent and record producers. 

WLS, Chciago, and other ABC-owned radio stations learned to combine records and personality to attract larger, younger audiences with spendable income. WLS replaced live broadcasts of groups like The Maple City Boys with popular records.
WGN, Chicago managed to produce the personality format without paying licensing organizations to play records. So, Wally Phillips and Bob Collins became household names in the Midwest.

What will media do in the future to attract larger audiences?  

Some local newspapers are running fewer wire stories in favor of more local coverage. "If it  happens today its in the paper tomorrow."

But that works only if most readers care about what happens today. So local stories have to be presented in a way that's appealing to readers.

It's all about the reader/viewer/listener. Just because it happens in your hometown doesn't mean a lot of people will want to know about it. 

So will I get to watch "The Flash" in January? It might be on at the same time but not the same station.

Frank Phillips is a reporter for The Brazil Times. He can be contacted at frank.phillips@gmail.com. 

CBS' 'Early Show' needs major changes

My wife loves CBS' "The Early Show."
She is in the minority.
While the show's producers may tout it as the fastest growing early morning show, viewers are paying much more attention to NBC's "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning, America."
After being involved in media professionally since 1972, I have a few suggestions.
If CBS wants to do better in the ratings with their morning program they are going to have to do one thing. They must focus on the viewer instead of the hosts.
The absolute worst segment on network TV was aired in the midst of massive job layoffs around the country. What did "The Early Show" do? They sent the three hosts off on extravagant trips.
I realize the idea came from "Today's" segment on "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?" But the "Today" segment was based on a educational computer game, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"
CBS' version had no point, other than to say, "Look how special we are!"
I wanted to scream at the TV, "It's not about you!"
Another segment that illustrates the point was the mini version of "This is Your Life." Who were the subjects? The co-hosts, of course.
"It's not about you!"
Until recently, the bumpers around commercial breaks were all about -- you guessed it -- the hosts.
Who cares?
Now the bumpers seem to focus more on candid shots of their celebrity guests and that is an improvement.
I could mention the time Rodriquez insisted on quoting her banker as an authority when interviewing the head of the FDIC or some other real banking authority.
It's REALLY not about you, Maggie.
Recently Rodriquez and the other female host were "on assignment" which probably means someone decided to fix the show's network problems by tweaking the appearance of the women.
You know a show is in trouble when the substitute hosts do a much better job than the regular hosts.
It wouldn't hurt for the show to focus less on celebrity journalism. I really don't care about Jon and Kate and their eight kids. If I did, I would watch them on TLC.
When the show focuses on something newsworthy, it does a credible job.
While CBS has fallen from its height in TV news, it still has a few good reporters -- young and more mature reporters.
No one wants a morning show to be all hard news, but you should at least thing the hosts care about you. Harry Smith acts as if he cares about the viewers. I wish he could instill that in the producers and his co-hosts.
OUr local CBS affiliate, WTHI-TV, Terre Haute, does a wonderful job with local news, even in the morning.
They seem to care about the viewer much more than the "CBS Early Show" -- even when WTHI-TV completely misses a local cut away or the anchor hiccups through a news break.
Come think of it, I want to scream at here, "It's not about you." Maybe she belongs on the CBS "Early Show."

What th- ? Drew Carey new host of 'The Price Is Right'

According to CBS.com, Drew Carey is announcing he has come to an agreement with the producers of "The Price Is Right" to be the new host when the show's 36th season begins this fall.
Carey will replace Bob Barker, who retired after 50 years on TV.
You know, Carey is a great choice! He has a great sense of humor, he is from the Midwest and there is probably nothing offensive about him.
We won't even discuss rumors Rosie O'Donnell was Barker's first choice.
Congratulations, Drew! Best wishes!!
I couldn't think of a better choice, though he certainly wasn't an obvious choice.