Dumming Down of Edukashonal Channels

[kc0ltv]

Is it just me, or have others noticed how many of the commercial "educational" channels have been "dumbed down" in recent years?

Take for example, the case of Investigation Discovery. This channel was originally the short-lived CBS Eye on the People, which became Discovery Civilization around 2000. The shows on this channel were largely of a geographic or "social sciences" nature, though never too academic. Then it became Discovery Times when Discovery announced a partnership with NYT, and I remember from a few years ago the channel overplaying shows on the war. Now it's Investigation Discovery, which focuses on crime. I have nothing against crime shows, but I think most will admit that a show about an uncontacted tribe or a national historical site has a more intellectual character than one about who committed a grisly murder.

Likewise, The Learning Channel has devolved from an actual "learning" channel to one that features programming like "What Not to Wear" and the Miss America Pageant! Even the Discovery Channel has moved to a line-up with what seems like less "educational" subjects like it previously covered. Not that there's anything wrong with "Monster Garage" or tattoo shows. Animal Planet, one of Discovery's networks, recently changed its programming direction, with (quoting from Wikipedia) a director saying:

"The goal is to move from being perceived by viewers as paternalistic, preachy, and observation-based to being seen as active, entertaining and edgy. That means targeting adults 25-49, rather than full families, with less voice-of-God narration and more visceral imagery and sounds. Think of it as swapping a drab narrator saying that a lion is about to kill its prey for the blood-curdling scream of the doomed creature as it meets its demise."

And now there's news that Discovery Health, one of the good channels left with a lot of interesting shows, is going to become the Oprah Winfrey Network! Something just seems wrong about a network named after a living celebrity...

So....are these channels "dumbing down" to reach a less educated demographic? Does the coveted young adult demographic have less patience with narration-heavy, reflective programs, instead preferring the somehow more instant gratification of "entertaining and edgy" programming? What's going on? Surely this country is producing more college degrees than it did 15 years ago...

 

[jal41]

And don't forget the grand poobah of educational channels...PBS.

There is much educational value in the never-ending plehoria of pledge drives, learning to train your brain and cleanse your colon, the latest in popular music from the 60's through today, classic blockbuster hollywood movies, conservative and liberal bias (whatever the politcal flavor of the moment is of those in charge), religious propaganda, Bush administration propaganda, ballroom dancing competitions...and everything else wholesome and educational.

 

[Markxxx]

The more educated you are the less likely you are to be watching TV. Thus it's kind of a Catch-22. You want to produce channels that appeal to educated people but they probably won't watch. Thus you have a channel no one is watching because the information if flying over the head of the less intelligent and the one's it's not to much for aren't interested.

 

[KTN Corp]

Try the translation from metric units to the colonial units. The original is in metric units but ends up converted to an approximate, weird-numerical value (e.g. Distance from the sun = 149,000,000 or 150,000,000 km to 93,000,000 mi) Shouldn't this type of audience be familiar with the SI metric system anyway?

 

[dhett]

Try the translation from metric units to the colonial units. The original is in metric units but ends up converted to an approximate, weird-numerical value (e.g. Distance from the sun = 149,000,000 or 150,000,000 km to 93,000,000 mi) Shouldn't this type of audience be familiar with the SI metric system anyway?

You're dogging people for rounding the distance from the sun to some "approximate, weird-numerical value" in the English measurement system, while you round the distance from the sun to some approximate, weird-numerical value in the metric system, but that's OK? Please tell me I read that wrong.

 

[jsu5381m]

Sesame Street really dumbed down when it became the Elmo show. I swear it is all Elmo all the time.

 

[Jimme]

1.) This History Channel has been dumbed-down. A laughable real memo from the network got viewers' attention a few years ago. The executives were complaining there was too much black and white film footage being used. Also, still photos were seen as inappropriate because they didn't hold viewer interest in the show. Where possible, recreations should be used, instead. The memo also said there were too many World War II and WW I programs. The channel later explained these moves were intended to broaden the audience appeal. They wanted more people to watch while holdign on to their core audience of history buffs. I don't think the true history buffs minded the black and white film too much. There just isn't that much good color footage of Queen Mary LOL.
2.) Don't forget the dumbing down of game shows. Remember the flap that minorities could not pass the Who Wants to be a Millionaire test? The show switched to a call-in qualifying test involving sorting words aplhabetically or doing simple math. Instead of getting contestants who were attorneys or management types, we got giggly soccer moms who liked to go to the "booty bar"
2a.) Also to avoid losing on good and excitable people because they were too stupid to answer a question, we got game shows which never asked questions per se, but had only questions such as "according to a poll, which is America's favorite pizza topping". Greed and Your Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime are examples. Or, the questions were so lame, the producers relied on the excitement of winning big money. The game show "21" with Maury Povich asked, "OK - for $500,000 - quiet from the audience - (gib drama music and lighting) which tv show featured an overweight man named Norm?" The contestant was then given a multiple choice series of answers: Was it Bewitched, Cheers, or (shhh shhh no held from the audience) or Family Ties?
"21" lasted a few months.

 

[jegrant]

I totally agree with the original poster. I really enjoyed CBS Eye On People and Discovery Civilization, even the Discovery Times era wasn't too bad. All three networks played interesting, engaging programming that I could watch for hours at times. Of course Discovery Times had entire weeks where they got lost in war/related programming that didn't appeal to me, but at least once a week or three times a month, there was something watchable and original on.

The new Investigation Discovery seems to be a dump for rebranded Dateline & 48 Hours episodes that were laying around the tape vault.

 

[Jimme]

I totally agree with the original poster. I really enjoyed CBS Eye On People and Discovery Civilization, even the Discovery Times era wasn't too bad. All three networks played interesting, engaging programming that I could watch for hours at times. Of course Discovery Times had entire weeks where they got lost in war/related programming that didn't appeal to me, but at least once a week or three times a month, there was something watchable and original on.

The new Investigation Discovery seems to be a dump for rebranded Dateline & 48 Hours episodes that were laying around the tape vault.

Your comment about war programming reminded me of a cute thing Curtis Sliwa said about The History Channel. In discussing the interest in the WWII movie "Downfall", Sliwa said "The History Chammel is basically the all-Hitler channel."