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Enough with the Presidential Prime Time Takeovers!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 11:01PM In 2009, probably when I was trying to watch an episode of "24" on Fox, "Law & Order" on NBC or "House" on Fox, my television viewing experience was interrupted my a Presidential Address to the nation. My frustrations prompted me to write a blog post about it but I did not publish it.
The written draft lingered among my unfinished writings as the days, months and years past of waiting until the right time to publish it. That time is now, after my television experience was interrrupted again....this time, watching "CSI: Miami" on CBS this past Sunday, May 1, 2011. At approximately 10:46pm EST, CBS interrupted the episode of "CSI: Miami," just as it was getting good, to announce that the President of the United States was going to make an announcement.
It seemed as though he was going to make an announcement within minutes but he did not do so. Instead, media figures discussed and analysed what was to come.....but it did not come, until well after 45 minutes. So, not only did the White House, the President AND CBS cause me to miss a very entertaining episode of "CSI: Miami," but they wasted time talking and talking until an eventual annoucement (or speech or whatever you want to call it) was made by the President.
The news comes on at 11 o'clock so based on that 45 minute delay, why couldn't CBS wait 15 minutes to cover the President's announcement, at a time when it would have been understandable to interrupt a program with "important" news or an "important" announcement? That would have allowed the recent "CSI: Miami" episode to continue airing until the credits rolled. I've had enough with these presidential prime time takeovers. They are annoying and, most of the time, unecessary.....as in the case of this past Sunday's "CSI: Miami" episode. I mean, man!.....he didn't even come on the screen until after 11:30pm.
There are many times when television viewing audiences could watch a NASCAR race and learn about the latest developments in local or national news, simultaneously. However, Fox is not the only network where you can watch multiple things on one TV screen. NBC, ABC and many other TV networks have the capability to do those multiple-screen broadcasts and for some reason, they choose not to.
Television viewers can watch two different programs and still learn about the weather at once in this day and age of technicalogical advancements. When has an identical setup ever occurred during one of Barack Obama's (or Bush's or Clinton's or any other President that has interrupted regularly scheduled television programming) speeches AND "Desperate Housewives"? Probably never.
This illustrates my point, that Presidential speeches and any related happenings take over the TV like those California wildfires in the summer. It is beyond ridiculous. I should be able to watch an episode of "House" without being interrupted by a Presidential address to the nation, especially when the topic is nothing new or of immediate importance.
What makes matters worse is the same content that is being covered during these Prime Time interruptions are nearly repeated during the ten o'clock and eleven o'clock news broadcasts. So now, TV fans not only miss their favorite shows but they get to relive the experience of being interrupted again, later at night when the news comes on.
Presidents should have their own special network or channel where they can broadcast all of the long, exhausting speeches that their hearts desire. The weather channel covers nothing else but weather and ESPN is all about sports so why does every Presidential conference have to take up every single broadcast channel?
Obviously, if someone is interested in watching the President talk for an hour or more, he or she will do it. Sure, there are more options for cable or satellite TV subscribers. That does not mean other TV fans should have to put up with missing their favorite shows by being overwhelmed with these annoying presidential broadcasts.
It is a shame that you have to pay extra money and buy Comcast, DirectTV or some other service just to escape the problem. Even then, you're still missing out on shows, especially if they are on broadcast channels. The public should be able to enjoy "Dancing with the Stars," "House," "24," "The Biggest Loser," "CSI," "Law & Order" or any other TV show with ease.
Disclaimer: None of this is to say that the recent announcement made by the President was unecessary or unimportant. This post isn't about that. It is about time management and wasting of TV space. Even today, when I tuned in to The Today Show to find out about the weather, they were discussing the recent events leading up to, surrounding and after the President's announcement on Sunday, May 1st. All of that coverage is unecessary. Also, I am not a fan of all of the TV shows mentioned in this post but I have seen an episode or two of just about all of them.
Technorati Tags: wordcount+blogathon, cbs, csi+miami, presidential+address, wordcount+blogathon+2011
Reader Comments (3)
I agree with you. It was a complete waste of time, to just keep reminding us that the president was eventually going to make an announcement.
Ella,
Ella,
Thank you for understanding my point. It's like.....is he going to make an announcement or is he not going to make one? Television audiences should not have to wait around for it to happen. If TV networks must interrupt a program, it's better to just do it when he is at the podium or wherever he is making the announcement.
We wouldn't be expected to watch all of the television actors rehearse their scenes, do hair and makeup and prepare for the show before the show comes on, so why are we subjected to an empty hallway or walkway along with the opinions of journalists who are basically stalling to keep our attention until the real announcement comes.
It's ridiculous.
Thanks for visiting, commenting and again for understanding.
Ella...you're the best!
They've been doing this forever, the important, we interrupt your programming schtick. I think it's more to make the announcement appear important. Like how cable news will saturate about a topic 'everyone' talking about' when no one is talking about it... until it's all over the news etc.
Thing is it works, people gather round the box in anticipation. If the movie trailer gets you in the theater, they don't care if it ruins the movie for you.