Department of Ideas: Real Time TV Programming

by Brian Reich | 31 Jan 2010, 12:07am

I have an idea: television programming should reflect what is happening outside.

When a massive snowstorm hit the east coast the weekend before Christmas, everything stopped - planes were grounded, trains were delayed, the streets were (mostly) empty of cars and sidewalks (mostly) devoid of pedestrians.  Millions of people from Washington, DC to Boston found themselves having to fill an entire day’s worth of time without being able to venture outside.  I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing many of them turned on the television.

I was in our apartment in New York — my wife and son had driven to Connecticut ahead of the storm and were spending a few extra days with family before the holidays.  I had stayed behind to get some work done and spent most of the day in front of my laptop.  By mid-afternoon, however, I needed a break.  My brain was tired.  I sat down to find something to watch on television.

There was nothing.

Nothing?  Of course, there were plenty of things to watch on television.  There were hundreds of channels and shows to choose from.  I had a full TiVo as backup.  But there wasn’t anything good.  There wasn’t anything that would give my brain the needed rest.  There wasn’t anything I was willing to sit still and watch.  I was stuck in my apartment with nothing to watch on TV.

I was hoping for a Law & Order marathon or maybe some episodes of Criminal Justice or CSI.   I probably would have been satisfied with a marathon of any TV show - even an old cycle of America’s Next Top Model, or maybe a Family Ties retrospective.  I was out of luck.  Channels like TLC, HGTV and Discovery offered no relief.  MTV was blah, even for MTV.  The 24-hour news channels were mostly offering coverage of the snow (no thanks). ESPN could have saved the day with a PBA event, but instead were still looping Sportscenter.  It was bleak, let me tell you.

Were the television gods not speaking to mother nature that day?  Had the folks who choose programming hit play on a loop before heading out for the holidays?  Were the station managers not aware of the massive snowstorm that had blanketed the entire eastern seaboard and the need for quality television programming on a Saturday afternon?

The television world missed a huge opportunity when the snowpocalypse hit the east coast.  What a great chance to put the Freaks & Geeks or Sports Night back on the air for a day.  With people scanning the channels hoping for something good, why not trot out an old comedy like Fletch or Wildcats, even Ghostbusters?.  After surfing and surfing and surfing for something to watch with no luck I probably would have settled for a few episodes of the Golden Girls.  Seriously.  The television networks had a chance to show that they understood what we were going through - to recognize that the terrible weather would drive us to our idiot boxes in desperation.  But they couldn’t do it.  Millions of people were looking for help to pass the time and they found nothing.

The people running the television stations weren’t paying attention.  They didn’t seem to care. If the networks had changed their programming, they could have re-ignited the love affair that people have with their televisions.  Had even a single television network put together some snow-friendly viewing, the audience would have responded.  If I knew that a channel would adjust its programming to help support audiences when inclement weather strikes, I would have become a loyal fan instantly and tuned in regularly.

The people who run television networks spend millions of dollars each year trying to figure out what the audience wants, how to meet our needs.  But when presented with a golden opportunity to engage TV watchers, to tap into a captive audience (ever so rare these days) they blew it.  It was a no brainer than nobody thought of doing.

I think television programming should reflect what is happening outside.

Its just an idea…

TAGS : Department of Ideas