News Cut: December 11, 2008 Archive

The final curtain

Posted at 6:00 AM on December 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (15 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Icons

From a news guy perspective, here's the thing about Dale and Jim Ed's (Tom's) show: The news stinks. Everyone knows the news stinks. Every morning we wake up and one of the first things we remember is times are tough and, oh yeah, the news stinks. Then you turn on the radio and someone is on stage singing "Getting to Know You," just as someone has been singing it since about 10,000 end-of-the-worlds ago. And suddenly you realize that just because the news stinks, life doesn't; it goes on and people sing and dance.

The cynics will call that denial -- that life is simply too crushing in its burden. I will deny that.

Long-time The Morning Show producer Mike Pengra signs "the wall" backstage at the Fitzgerald Theater. Performers and speakers at the Fitz sign their names to the bricks. "This is quite an honor," Mike said as he finished. "Don't worry, we'll paint over it," the theater manager joked.

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Same-sex marriage proponents try another verse

Posted at 11:44 AM on December 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Yesterday was the day gays and lesbians -- some of them, anyway -- were to stay home from work as a display of both their economic clout and their place within the community. It was called "Call in Gay Day." How did it go?

It fizzled, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Several gay and lesbian people said they couldn't afford to take the day off, particularly in a tightening economy where many are concerned about their jobs. And in the Castro district, business owners were livid that people were encouraged to not shop during the holidays, a peak time for retailers.

The day was intended to be another demonstration against Proposition 8, the California referendum that changed the state Constitution to elimiante the right of same-sex couples to marry.

In Chicago, many of those who called in sick attended a protest outside the Cook County Courthouse. But there were only about 100 people there and Chicago is preoccupied with other things these days, apparently.

In the Twin Cities, there were a handful of activities, but none that appeared to generate a significant (that is "newsworthy," apparently) response.

Opponents of Proposition 8 are not without ideas. A "viral video" spreading quickly is "Proposition 8: The Musical," featuring John C. Reilly, Neil Patrick Harris, Maya Rudolph, and Jack Black as Jesus Christ. It was written by Marc Shaiman, the composer of Hairspray.

In a week since its release, it's had over 3 million views, although it's unclear, of course, whether it's reaching anybody who voted for the measure in California. There's always the possibility that the choir is preaching to the choir.

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We now conclude our broadcast day

Posted at 12:51 PM on December 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (13 Comments)

MinnPost's David Brauer has a report today on a media panel he participated on regarding the future of the media in its various forms and one of the most fascinating tidbits was the notion of national networks "going dark" during certain dayparts.

(KARE executive producer Lonnie)Hartley noted that NBC is considering not programming Saturday nights. That could toss the time back to local affiliates -- who themselves are short on cash and aren't quite sure what they'd put there.

Obviously, syndicated shows are an option but they cost money. KARE wouldn't have to share ad dollars with the networks, but they might reap less from the syndie shows' lower ratings.

It's an intriguing possibility because it's one possible outcome of the media recession that few seem to be considering -- don't spend money broadcasting/publishing during those periods when there's no -- or little -- audience.

Crazy? Work with me here. It wasn't that long ago, whippersnappers, when TV stations signed off at midnight and then signed back on at dawn. How many people remember test patterns? They're the last remnants of non-24-hour service.

In the '80s, more stations started staying on the air around the clock. And few seem to be asking whether that makes monetary sense. Suppose NBC did give back Saturday night to the affiliates and suppose the affiliates simply shut the station off? So what? They won't lose advertising revenue; Saturday is the smallest audience of the week and, besides, people will still watch you when you resume broadcasting and have something worth watching. The 10 PM news? Come on, have you watched Saturday night local news?

I don't stop at TV. What if radio did the same thing? It wasn't too many years ago I ran a small "daytimer" radio station which was required to go off the air at sundown. Granted , in the dead of winter, it hurt to put the "we now conclude our broadcast day" announcement on at 4:15 in the afternoon. But there's not a lot of money to be made in night-time radio.

Newspapers? They'll probably be the first to stop at certain times. In fact, today the buzz in Detroit is both newspapers there will stop home delivery on certain days of the week.

There isn't a media company in America that isn't having big discussions about cutting expenses these days. But what if -- what if? -- one of the realities is we're not really the 24/7 society we thought we were?

(Aside: Not surprisingly, there's a Web site that hosts several videos of station sign-offs)

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Great moments in spontaneity

Posted at 3:16 PM on December 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Arts

Much has been written here and elsewhere about this morning's final production of The Morning Show at the Fitzgerald Theater. You can read the blog downstream and also find all sorts of goodies here.

In talking with folks today, we agree that this moment was the highlight. Peter Ostroushko sang You Are My Sunshine, and a theater full of people in St. Paul, and -- I'm guessing -- hundreds of others in cars and kitchens throughout the country joined in. (Listen)

It felt very much like people were comforting themselves and others, not only against the immediate sadness of the passing of a broadcast era, but against the steady drumbeat of bad news that we're forced to endure.

The closest thing that captured the power of music as today's moment did, it seems to me, was this:

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