E/I Madness In San Diego

[dave73]

I don't mind the fcc wanting some completely safe childrens programs run. No parent wants to have to explain the ed/Viagra commercial to their child on a Saturday morning. This law is just plain bad and nonsence. Every digital subchannel has to run E/I?

EVERY digital subchannel of a Full Service TV or Class A station has to run three hours of E/I programming. I don't think ION Life carries E/I because every show on Qubo is classified as "E/I Compliant," and I believe (I'm not 100% sure, though) there is a loophole that allows ION to classify every E/I program they air on Qubo as a combined total of E/I shows on every one of their subchannels.

Ion TV is showing some of the Qubo shows on the Ion TV network, just so that quota is added. There is a loophole that allows Ion Media to exempt Ion Life from the E/I requirements, just so they can carry their crappy lifestyle programming. PBS station WTTW Chicago does this as well. They air over 60 hours of E/I programming during the week on the main channel, that they're able to be exempt from E/I programming on WTTW Prime & Create. V-Me operates independent of PBS, & has their own E/I programming.

While Mhz Worldview claims to have their own E/I programming (so they claim), WYCC moved their college instructional programming to the overnight hours, just so they could exceed the E/I requirement by airing more childrens programming during the week, just so Mhz Worldview is exempt, if their programming isn't really E/I programming when showing E/I on the screen.

 

[nathannah]

The Country Network is a digital multicast broadcast network. You might be thinking of CMT or GAC, which are cable-only. TCN has to air E/I just like all Me-TV, ThisTV, LWN, etc.

Gee, it's even worse than I thought. You mean stations MUST run this dreck on the main channel AND the sub-channels, too? Sub-channels didn't even exist when this went into effect.

'Fraid so. My classic TV (MeTV, Antenna TV) has such blocks.

The original law mandated three hours of E/I per station, but after stations began to take advantage of subchannels, it was changed to three hours per feed on that signal, later on allowing stations to trim E/I time off one subchannel by adding E/I onto another.

WBAY in Green Bay has done this beginning in September. They used to carry Jack Hanna and Go For It weekdays and weekends on their DT2 weather subchannel when the station carried their newscasts on the main channel to get in the three hours there. But now that the DT3 carries Live Well and its absurd load of infomercials and amount of repeats, they moved those three hours over to LWN on the weekends in addition to LWN's own three hours, so the weather subchannel can now be 24/7. In that case I definitely don't mind the bumpover at all.

 

[mjlarochelle]

I just had a look at KFMB's Facebook page, and they have completely dropped the ball in responding to viewer complaints, or should I say, not responding to them at all. I work in online marketing and social media, and this is a textbook example of how not to handle a social media PR nightmare. If there's a social media firestorm, you do not ignore those who are complaining, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter. And not answering your phones is just as bad.

I'm taking note of this case, as I know several people who teach business and marketing at various colleges and KFMB's poor social media managment could be an excellent learning opportunity for their students when they cover social media marketing and PR. I'm guessing KFMB either has someone running their Facebook page who knows very little about social media, or they have someone who knows social media working for management that doesn't understand social media.

 

[crainbebo]

The Country Network is a digital multicast broadcast network. You might be thinking of CMT or GAC, which are cable-only. TCN has to air E/I just like all Me-TV, ThisTV, LWN, etc.

Gee, it's even worse than I thought. You mean stations MUST run this dreck on the main channel AND the sub-channels, too? Sub-channels didn't even exist when this went into effect.

'Fraid so. My classic TV (MeTV, Antenna TV) has such blocks.

The original law mandated three hours of E/I per station, but after stations began to take advantage of subchannels, it was changed to three hours per feed on that signal, later on allowing stations to trim E/I time off one subchannel by adding E/I onto another.

WBAY in Green Bay has done this beginning in September. They used to carry Jack Hanna and Go For It weekdays and weekends on their DT2 weather subchannel when the station carried their newscasts on the main channel to get in the three hours there. But now that the DT3 carries Live Well and its absurd load of infomercials and amount of repeats, they moved those three hours over to LWN on the weekends in addition to LWN's own three hours, so the weather subchannel can now be 24/7. In that case I definitely don't mind the bumpover at all.

Jack Hanna gets aired a LOT, on low-budget stations. Sometimes some very low budget (think America One, AMGTV, etc) stations air Jack Hanna five times a week for E/I.

Interesting rule that the FCC is doing now, with putting Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures and Go For It TV on WBAY-DT3 along side 3 more hours of LWN E/I. That's the first good step I've seen with stations and E/I on subchannels...

-crainbebo

 

[Morgan Wick]

I just had a look at KFMB's Facebook page, and they have completely dropped the ball in responding to viewer complaints, or should I say, not responding to them at all. I work in online marketing and social media, and this is a textbook example of how not to handle a social media PR nightmare. If there's a social media firestorm, you do not ignore those who are complaining, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter. And not answering your phones is just as bad.

I'm taking note of this case, as I know several people who teach business and marketing at various colleges and KFMB's poor social media managment could be an excellent learning opportunity for their students when they cover social media marketing and PR. I'm guessing KFMB either has someone running their Facebook page who knows very little about social media, or they have someone who knows social media working for management that doesn't understand social media.

Or they don't have anyone running their Facebook page, which would suggest management really doesn't understand social media. (Disclaimer: haven't seen page myself)

 

[EricStein]

Jack Hanna gets aired a LOT, on low-budget stations. Sometimes some very low budget (think America One, AMGTV, etc) stations air Jack Hanna five times a week for E/I.

Interesting rule that the FCC is doing now, with putting Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures and Go For It TV on WBAY-DT3 along side 3 more hours of LWN E/I. That's the first good step I've seen with stations and E/I on subchannels...

-crainbebo

Actually, Jack Hanna is one of the better E/I shows in production. It's just that Litton doesn't enforce Syndex for many of their programs. Same goes with the producer/distributor of "Real Life 101," which seems to be on a handful of the same networks too.

 

[EricStein]

KPHO is owned by Meridith Broadcasting
The only CBS O&O that have subchannels are NY & Philly (and soon LA) with a 24/7 news/weather thingy

Meredith pretty much doesn't care about trying to monetize the few subchannels they have, outside of the MyNetworkTV affiliate they have in Flint/Saginaw. They're not as anti-subchannel as, let's say, Nexstar, but they try to balance the fine line of pleasing the videophiles with higher primary channel bandwidth and adding mobile DTV (more like mobile DOA). This comes from personal experience from what KPHO has told me why they wouldn't consider flipping the weather .2 to Antenna TV.

 

[crainbebo]

Another thing to add - it seems that many E/I programs have episodes that are YEARS old! For Animal Rescue, we never know if Alex Paen's tape is from 2010 or 2002 - it could be any of those dates.
Jack Hanna still is airing episodes from 1995, 96, 97, etc. and Missing sometimes has four to five year old episodes played back for FCC guidelines.
For the few DT2s and DT3s still airing reruns of Go For It (like WBAY-DT), that is reruns of the old HealthSouth kids game show back in the early 2000s, and aired in syndicated reruns for a couple years on many stations in the mid-2000s. Just a few examples of how outdated these shows can be.

-crainbebo

 

[cd637299]

Another thing to add - it seems that many E/I programs have episodes that are YEARS old! For Animal Rescue, we never know if Alex Paen's tape is from 2010 or 2002 - it could be any of those dates.
Jack Hanna still is airing episodes from 1995, 96, 97, etc. and Missing sometimes has four to five year old episodes played back for FCC guidelines.
For the few DT2s and DT3s still airing reruns of Go For It (like WBAY-DT), that is reruns of the old HealthSouth kids game show back in the early 2000s, and aired in syndicated reruns for a couple years on many stations in the mid-2000s. Just a few examples of how outdated these shows can be.

-crainbebo

As far as E/I game shows, I would assume (unfortunately) that "Wheel 2000", the CBS weekly version of "Wheel of Fortune" for kids in 1997, would qualify as well. After a puzzle was solved, the host asked "Cyber Lucy" (a computerized Vanna type) to give a little history about whatever the puzzle was (in one instance, L A P T O P C O M P U T E R). A sneaky way to qualify for E/I.

cd

 

[justthenumbers]

I just had a look at KFMB's Facebook page, and they have completely dropped the ball in responding to viewer complaints, or should I say, not responding to them at all. I work in online marketing and social media, and this is a textbook example of how not to handle a social media PR nightmare. If there's a social media firestorm, you do not ignore those who are complaining, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter. And not answering your phones is just as bad.

I'm taking note of this case, as I know several people who teach business and marketing at various colleges and KFMB's poor social media managment could be an excellent learning opportunity for their students when they cover social media marketing and PR. I'm guessing KFMB either has someone running their Facebook page who knows very little about social media, or they have someone who knows social media working for management that doesn't understand social media.

Their response (or lack thereof) is absolutely inexcusable for what is generally regarded as the top broadcast TV station in the San Diego market. The fact that they have both -AM and -FM sister stations only increases the spotlight and makes this situation even worse.

 

[nathannah]

Another thing to add - it seems that many E/I programs have episodes that are YEARS old! For Animal Rescue, we never know if Alex Paen's tape is from 2010 or 2002 - it could be any of those dates.
Jack Hanna still is airing episodes from 1995, 96, 97, etc. and Missing sometimes has four to five year old episodes played back for FCC guidelines.
For the few DT2s and DT3s still airing reruns of Go For It (like WBAY-DT), that is reruns of the old HealthSouth kids game show back in the early 2000s, and aired in syndicated reruns for a couple years on many stations in the mid-2000s. Just a few examples of how outdated these shows can be.

-crainbebo

As far as E/I game shows, I would assume (unfortunately) that "Wheel 2000", the CBS weekly version of "Wheel of Fortune" for kids in 1997, would qualify as well. After a puzzle was solved, the host asked "Cyber Lucy" (a computerized Vanna type) to give a little history about whatever the puzzle was (in one instance, L A P T O P C O M P U T E R). A sneaky way to qualify for E/I.

cd

That show was just a nightmare (I still loathe the actual actress for Cyber Lucy, who now does entertainment news just for her voice alone), and it also allowed The Nanny (also a Sony show on CBS) to sneak in a quick promo disguised as a history fact somehow :. The worst thing is that because of Wheel's very restrictive return policy, any kid who was in that program can never be on the adult show ever.

 

[cd637299]

^ Wow, never knew that! I thought that the two shows were not related (as production companies) in any way---I know that Scott Sternberg was the head honcho behind Wheel 2K, and he has nothing to do with WoF.

Totally unfair.

cd

 

[michael hagerty]

Another thing to add - it seems that many E/I programs have episodes that are YEARS old! For Animal Rescue, we never know if Alex Paen's tape is from 2010 or 2002 - it could be any of those dates.
Jack Hanna still is airing episodes from 1995, 96, 97, etc. and Missing sometimes has four to five year old episodes played back for FCC guidelines.
For the few DT2s and DT3s still airing reruns of Go For It (like WBAY-DT), that is reruns of the old HealthSouth kids game show back in the early 2000s, and aired in syndicated reruns for a couple years on many stations in the mid-2000s. Just a few examples of how outdated these shows can be.

-crainbebo

There is so little money to be made in these shows for the producer (you're selling 3.5 minutes of weekend morning airtime and there are restrictions on who you can sell it to), that most tend to get "enough" segments in the can to rotate, figuring no kid is going to watch them all or watch over a period of years, and then eliminate the production costs.

As it is, they still have to spend money on promotion...going to NATPE every year, making sure stations know they're available...because that little bit of money from those 3.5 minutes a week depends on them clearing the show in as many markets as possible.

It sounds lucrative...producing something stations are required to air that the big guys (CBS, NBCUni, Sony, Twentieth, Disney, WB) don't produce enough of to go around, but it's not, really.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Peggy Charren had visions of PBS quality programming on Saturday mornings on the networks 20 years ago.

 

[EricStein]

I just had a look at KFMB's Facebook page, and they have completely dropped the ball in responding to viewer complaints, or should I say, not responding to them at all. I work in online marketing and social media, and this is a textbook example of how not to handle a social media PR nightmare. If there's a social media firestorm, you do not ignore those who are complaining, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter. And not answering your phones is just as bad.

I'm taking note of this case, as I know several people who teach business and marketing at various colleges and KFMB's poor social media managment could be an excellent learning opportunity for their students when they cover social media marketing and PR. I'm guessing KFMB either has someone running their Facebook page who knows very little about social media, or they have someone who knows social media working for management that doesn't understand social media.

Their response (or lack thereof) is absolutely inexcusable for what is generally regarded as the top broadcast TV station in the San Diego market. The fact that they have both -AM and -FM sister stations only increases the spotlight and makes this situation even worse.

Not to mention that San Diego is now Midwest Television's only media market (they used to own stations in Central Illinois, but those have long since been sold). You'd think Mom-and-Pop operations would be more responsive to viewers. I know many corporate-owned stations that are better at social media.

 

[Morgan Wick]

I just had a look at KFMB's Facebook page, and they have completely dropped the ball in responding to viewer complaints, or should I say, not responding to them at all. I work in online marketing and social media, and this is a textbook example of how not to handle a social media PR nightmare. If there's a social media firestorm, you do not ignore those who are complaining, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter. And not answering your phones is just as bad.

I'm taking note of this case, as I know several people who teach business and marketing at various colleges and KFMB's poor social media managment could be an excellent learning opportunity for their students when they cover social media marketing and PR. I'm guessing KFMB either has someone running their Facebook page who knows very little about social media, or they have someone who knows social media working for management that doesn't understand social media.

Their response (or lack thereof) is absolutely inexcusable for what is generally regarded as the top broadcast TV station in the San Diego market. The fact that they have both -AM and -FM sister stations only increases the spotlight and makes this situation even worse.

Not to mention that San Diego is now Midwest Television's only media market (they used to own stations in Central Illinois, but those have long since been sold). You'd think Mom-and-Pop operations would be more responsive to viewers. I know many corporate-owned stations that are better at social media.

If they're operating on a shoestring budget, it may be more understandable.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

I just had a look at KFMB's Facebook page, and they have completely dropped the ball in responding to viewer complaints, or should I say, not responding to them at all. I work in online marketing and social media, and this is a textbook example of how not to handle a social media PR nightmare. If there's a social media firestorm, you do not ignore those who are complaining, whether it's on Facebook or Twitter. And not answering your phones is just as bad.

I'm taking note of this case, as I know several people who teach business and marketing at various colleges and KFMB's poor social media managment could be an excellent learning opportunity for their students when they cover social media marketing and PR. I'm guessing KFMB either has someone running their Facebook page who knows very little about social media, or they have someone who knows social media working for management that doesn't understand social media.

Their response (or lack thereof) is absolutely inexcusable for what is generally regarded as the top broadcast TV station in the San Diego market. The fact that they have both -AM and -FM sister stations only increases the spotlight and makes this situation even worse.

Not to mention that San Diego is now Midwest Television's only media market (they used to own stations in Central Illinois, but those have long since been sold).

To Nexstar, unfortunately--although it wouldn't have made sense financially many central Illinoisans (including me) wish Midwest was still owning their original two stations (WCIA Champaign and WMBD Peoria).

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

As far as E/I game shows, I would assume (unfortunately) that "Wheel 2000", the CBS weekly version of "Wheel of Fortune" for kids in 1997, would qualify as well. After a puzzle was solved, the host asked "Cyber Lucy" (a computerized Vanna type) to give a little history about whatever the puzzle was (in one instance, L A P T O P C O M P U T E R). A sneaky way to qualify for E/I.

A better way for a children's game show to qualify for "E/I" would be a kids' version of "Jeopardy!" (perhaps called "Junior Jeopardy!"), where answers and the accompanying questions would be geared to children between 10 and 12 years old (and contestants drawn from this age group as well), perhaps competing for college scholarship money. Perhaps the answers and questions can have enough "information" for it to be considered an "educational" show.

 

[cd637299]

As far as E/I game shows, I would assume (unfortunately) that "Wheel 2000", the CBS weekly version of "Wheel of Fortune" for kids in 1997, would qualify as well. After a puzzle was solved, the host asked "Cyber Lucy" (a computerized Vanna type) to give a little history about whatever the puzzle was (in one instance, L A P T O P C O M P U T E R). A sneaky way to qualify for E/I.

A better way for a children's game show to qualify for "E/I" would be a kids' version of "Jeopardy!" (perhaps called "Junior Jeopardy!"), where answers and the accompanying questions would be geared to children between 10 and 12 years old (and contestants drawn from this age group as well), perhaps competing for college scholarship money. Perhaps the answers and questions can have enough "information" for it to be considered an "educational" show.

Well that was the basis for a show called "Jep!", which was to Jeopardy as Wheel 2k was to WoF. I believe it ran around the same time. I never saw Jep!---not sure if it aired here; maybe it was only on cable.

cd

 

[michael hagerty]

And the problem is that a show like that is expensive to produce when put up against the amount of ad revenue available.