The Geniuses at the T.V. Networks.

Here's a business model that ought to work!

1.) Change my hours willy nilly depending on what my competition does.

2.) Stop selling some product completely, if the competition is doing something particularly strong.

3.) Either not buy new product or try to sell something completely different than the customer came in for.

Do this at random.

Then I'd be as smart as the geniuses at the networks....


Apparently, the Olympics beat Idol in the ratings. First time Idol has lost it's time period in years.

Oh, oh. Oh, dear. Oh, my....

The head of programming at Fox's brains just splattered all over the control room. And every other programmer at every other network just let out a blood-curdling scream.....

I'm sure that's just going to accentuate a trend that's been going on for several years now.

Every time there is a major event; the Oscars, the Olympics, Christmas, Halloween, Lent........whatever...., the network programmers go fluttering and squealing into the night......

And we get reruns. Lots of annoying reruns. (Usually, not in order, which might actually be useful...)

Holidays = reruns.

Oscars = reruns.

Superbowl = reruns.

ANY unusual event = reruns.

Ironically, Summer, which always used to = reruns, now has 'new' shows.

Cable's even worst -- I have no clue anymore what their "seasons" are supposed to be. They seem to be nearly arbitrary.

Now, you have to understand, I'm a pretty consistent schedule browser. I'm a person who actually checks to see.

Even so, I miss stuff on a constant basis. It has to be a damn good show on cable, anymore, for me to even try -- like Battlestar Galactica, and even then I missed some of them.

It used to be, the networks were to only stable place left. You could count on C.S.I. Las Vegas being on at 9:00 on Thursday. You still can......

.....unless it isn't. Unless it's been pre-empted. Unless......arrrrggghhhh!!!!.... it's a rerun.

So what will American Idol do the next time there is a 'Big Event'? Somehow I doubt they'll schedule a new episode of Idol. (I don't watch Idol, just saying that this is only going to make this little squealing girl behavior worse...) No, the programmer who made that ghastly mistake, has crawled to his superiors and begged for forgiveness and slithered off to throw some patsy of a program into the breach next time.

Ironically, it seems to me that just makes the Big Event even bigger. I mean, if your choice of programs is the Super Bowl or the Doggy Bowl,( well, bad example, actually I'd watch the Doggy Bowl for 10 minutes for light relief, then back to the game) the Super Bowl is going to get all the viewers. But....really, if you remove all the competition the other guys wins without a fight. You're MAKING me watch the 'Big Event.'

Or...as more and more I'm doing, avoiding it altogether, Tivo-ing what I want to watch; then reading or going to the movies or playing games, and watching what I want to watch at my leisure.

That is, if I can find what I want to Tivo.... Which makes me have to search, which still makes it a problem. Oh, sure. I can hear you tech savvy guys. I can program it. But Granny can't and neither can Uncle Louie, and, you know? They may be the networks last viewers. And you've just made watching television the equivalent of programming a microwave or formatting the the answering machine -- tasks which totally stymie Grannie and Uncle Louie.

Anyway, the one thing I think networks could and should provide is a consistent schedule of shows at a consistent time period for a consistent season -- no matter what else is going on.

Anything less than that, and screw them. They are just one more part of the jumble of 100's of confusing channels and time slots and reruns -- and nothing to watch.

So I'll just repeat this for the geniuses at the networks.

"Provide a consistent schedule of new shows at a consistent time period for a consistent season!!!!!!!!!"

O.K?