Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Maybe We ARE That Shallow .....

An actual gathering of virtual acquaintances, last week at a Midland coffee shop, included a free-wheeling and wide-ranging discussion of various topics in various directions over the course of a couple of hours ..... not surprisingly, one of the topics was "Making News: Texas Style,"the reality TV series that focuses on the news department of a West Texas television station, KOSA-TV/CBS 7 .

Having left the television business just a few months before, it was suggested, my blog might offer some insight into the program, and just how much 'real' can really be found in this reality program ..... I had my say on the subject, and didn't plan to return to it, at least virtually.

But at the gathering, I relented, and said I would watch another episode ..... and I have ..... and I'm sorry I did ..... I just didn't see much that reflected well on a profession that I respect, or on those who have chosen this field for their vocation - contrary to what I have seen in the real world of West Texas television news.

And even if I did find the story appealing, the production/presentation of that story leaves a lot to be desired.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, "I don't plan to watch the show any more" ..... and this time, I mean it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jeff,
I wasn't that happy with last night's episode either -- but it strikes me (to give the show the benefit of the doubt) that the show is really setting up characters at this point, and that next week the action will start to take off. We've met Bill now, we've met Melissa and Kara and Jay, and now we'll start to see them really do their thing. I'm curious to see what Kara says about salvia, which so far as I can tell is a legal drug that ought not to be. I sure hope she doesn't pass the whole thing off as a joke.

I'm gonna give it another shot (on tivo, so I can fast-forward through the recaps), suggest you do the same, will respect your decision either way...

Jeff said...

Rufus, thanks for the input ..... you've made some good points about the show finding its stride.

Unfortunately, the format of the show - the many long commercial breaks, the intros/outros to those breaks, and its general level of production - would still make it difficult for me to watch, even if could suspend my sense of belief enough to just sit back and enjoy the story, such as it is.

Anonymous said...

Here’s the Nielsen viewing estimates of average viewing for May, 2007 for the entire West Texas viewing area (19 counties):

10:00PM (Monday-Friday):
#1 CBS-7 19,000 Households (25% of all Households using Television)
#2 KWES 17,000 Households (23% of all Households using Television)
#3 KMID 4,000 Households (5% of all Households using Television)

6:00PM (Monday-Friday):
#1-tie CBS-7 11,000 Households (18% of all Households using Television)
#1-tie KWES 11,000 Households (18% of all Households using Television)
#3 KMID 5,000 Households (8% of all Households using Television)

Jeff said...

Anonymous, in the 'For What It's Worth Department," that's all well and good ..... what we're discussing here is 'reality TV' - while you're discussing real world TV, and the two ain't necessarily the same ..... though it could be the start of a good, if separate, discussion ....