The Current boycott starts now!

[toby]

I have made it so I will not accidently see Current, Al Gore's POS replacement for Newsworld International.
Please express your displeasure over the loss of this great channel to the following e-mail address:
[email protected]

Here is a sample of what you could send:
Dear Mr. Gore:
I am boycotting your channel and am getting people that I know to do the same.
You should not have taken Newsworld International off the air.
Why couldn't it have been HGTV or some other useless channel?
I wish your channel all the success of your presidential campaign!

Express your desire to get Canadian content back in some way shape or form on TV here:
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.cbc.ca/contact/index.jsp>http://www.cbc.ca/contact/index.jsp</a><P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>

 

[eggsdannythomas]

Who cares about Canadian content in the USA? Why waste your time, Al Gore is going to wipe his but with your letter.

Current is pretty cool actually. You must be older than 34

sorry

 

[JeremyAndrews]

> Who cares about Canadian content in the USA? Why waste your
> time, Al Gore is going to wipe his but with your letter.
>
> Current is pretty cool actually. You must be older than 34
>
>
> sorry
>
I'm 18. And I really care about Canadian content. We need more of it down here.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>

 

[capsgm2002]

> Who cares about Canadian content in the USA? Why waste your
> time, Al Gore is going to wipe his but with your letter.
>
> Current is pretty cool actually. You must be older than 34
>
>
> sorry
>

The only Canadian content I care about is Hockey Night in Canada...

That and Degrassi... SCTV..., ah hell, Canada's got some decent stuff!

 

[Yeziknoradio]

I thought the decision to eliminate Newsworld international was actually a CBC Business decision. Newsworld is owned by CBC television, and the CBC is making alot of cuts right now. (Seperate Note: CBC is also funded in part by tax dollars in Canada.)

<P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"
</P>

 

[toby]

> I thought the decision to eliminate Newsworld international
> was actually a CBC Business decision. Newsworld is owned by
> CBC television, and the CBC is making alot of cuts right
> now. (Seperate Note: CBC is also funded in part by tax
> dollars in Canada.)

No, it was Al Gore and company buying the channel with the expressed intent to put Gore-O-Vision, I mean Current on.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>

 

[toby]

> Who cares about Canadian content in the USA? Why waste your
> time, Al Gore is going to wipe his but with your letter.
>
> Current is pretty cool actually. You must be older than 34
>
>
> sorry

Bzzt! Wrong!
I am in the target demo and I do not want ot watch Al Gore's blipverts.
There are people who want Canadian content other than POS home improvment shows. Plus there was other non-Canadian international content.
I will not even give Gore-O-Vision a chance, due to what he took away.

Some points.
1. There is a need for a more progressive viewpoint on the news, but MTV wannabe blipvert news isn't going to do it. However there may not be much of a demand, just look at Air America.
2.Current's target audience is more likely to get their information from off the internet, which Al Gore invented. This may be the thing that does Gore-O-Vision in, and hopefully soon.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>

 

[Spicerun]

> Please express your displeasure over the loss of this great
> channel to the following e-mail address:
> [email protected]

Well, toby, seeing that the sale of NWI has been known for well over a year, Where have you been? Back when CBC was selling NWI was the time to complain, but, now, you're so late, none of your bitter letter writing is going to matter.

> I wish your channel all the success of your presidential
> campaign!

While you're at it, why don't you take your biases to Off the Air where you can bash, argue, and FUD among people as yourself so you can be as miserable as you want 24/7? If Bush had bought the channel, would you be as up in arms as you are now? Feel free to answer in Off the Air.

> Express your desire to get Canadian content back in some way
> shape or form on TV here:
> http://www.cbc.ca/contact/index.jsp

If it is that important to you, you can buy a satellite dish. The CBC satellite signals are very stong in North America.

Next time, try to keep up. This deal with NWI has been relatively well publicized and known for over a year. You had your chance to complain. Now, unless you've got the money to buy NWI back, you're out of luck.

 

[toby]

> Well, toby, seeing that the sale of NWI has been known for
> well over a year, Where have you been? Back when CBC was
> selling NWI was the time to complain, but, now, you're so
> late, none of your bitter letter writing is going to matter.

Someone is uninformed!
CBC just programed it, they did not own it at the time of the sale.
Now hopefully I can get people who did not write in to the CBC to find another venue for Canadian news to to show that there is still suppport for it. As for writing to Gore-O-Vision they need to know that now the channel is on there are going to be people not watching it for a specific reason. If they took over another channel I may have given Gore-O-Vision a chance, but given what happened I wish them all the success of the CBS 2 Information Network.

> > I wish your channel all the success of your presidential
> > campaign!
>
> While you're at it, why don't you take your biases to Off
> the Air where you can bash, argue, and FUD among people as
> yourself so you can be as miserable as you want 24/7? If
> Bush had bought the channel, would you be as up in arms as
> you are now? Feel free to answer in Off the Air.

Actually I would be, perhaps even more as those right wing nutjobs have their own channel - Fox News Channel. I would have no problem with Current if it had taken over some other channel, one with low quality programmes such as HGTV or i (nee-PAX).

> If it is that important to you, you can buy a satellite
> dish. The CBC satellite signals are very stong in North
> America.

My understanding is that you would need to get a grey market mini-dish, which may or may not be illegal.

> Next time, try to keep up. This deal with NWI has been
> relatively well publicized and known for over a year. You
> had your chance to complain. Now, unless you've got the
> money to buy NWI back, you're out of luck.

Yes, I knew about it, however I am doing this because I want Gore-O-Vision to fail, to get some more Canadian news content somewhere, and want those who have not written in to do so.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>

 

[Spicerun]

>
> Someone is uninformed!
> CBC just programed it, they did not own it at the time of
> the sale.

Well, I'm glad you know this toby. The way you wrote about NWI previously led me to believe that you thought CBC owned it.

> Now hopefully I can get people who did not write in to the
> CBC to find another venue for Canadian news to to show that
> there is still suppport for it.

I want to see NWI news type access too. Where they had CBC news, but also other news from around the world...NHK, China, Russian among the few I saw. But since I no longer have cable or satellite, I'm doing good to get BBC news off PBS.

> Yes, I knew about it, however I am doing this because I want
> Gore-O-Vision to fail, to get some more Canadian news
> content somewhere, and want those who have not written in to
> do so.

Do you wish the channel to fail because you don't like that a favorite channel of yours disappeared, or is this something against Gore? Your "Gore-O-Vision" comment suggests the latter. And you may think HGTV is worthless, but there are a lot of people who like the channel, and who would be just as bitter losing their favorite channel as well.

I don't fault Gore for buying something already existing on many cable services rather than start up the company from scratch & have to plead and beg to get carried on anything (I'm sure he is having to plead & beg for that anyhow). After all, Rupert Murdoch did this quite successfully with his Fox networks, managing to get CBS kicked off a lot of the existing stations as I remember.


BTW, I don't recall the C/Ku band dishes being Grey-market. From where I am, satellite receivers are quite plentiful, and the last I saw (unless things have changed in the last few years) CBC was not scrambled on a few of their channels on satellite. I would also be surprised if Direct or Dish TV didn't carry CBC as well.

 

[eggsdannythomas]

Seriously guys, screw Canada AND Al Gore, who cares. Let's move along....................How about that new Weather Channel logo!

 

[dampier]

> I have made it so I will not accidently see Current, Al
> Gore's POS replacement for Newsworld International.
> Please express your displeasure over the loss of this great
> channel to the following e-mail address:
> [email protected]

Newsworld International is dead, gone, and buried. Buh, bye. Gore has launched a new channel in its place. You are wasting your time writing Current about this. Instead, ask your cable company to launch BBC World or CBC Newsworld's domestic product.

I was watching some of Current earlier today and clearly I'm not in their demo because I found it as ludicrous as Tucker Carlson's tech-laden graphicsfest on MSNBC. It's obviously catered to young folks who can't sit still for more than five minutes, and to placate them, they even have an iPod-style ripoff "progress bar" to show how much longer viewers have to endure the "extreme sports dude," or the "suicidal pressures on young people in Japan" pods (they don't have programs, they have pods, and clueless MTV-style pretty Abercrombie & Fitch clone 'vj's' doing the intros.) I found it as compelling as wallpaper.

Apparently someone at Current saw Reuters logo and went... yeah. It's not obtrusive AT ALL.

But, finally Trio doesn't have to be in last place anymore, though.

 

[desertv]

> > I thought the decision to eliminate Newsworld
> international
> > was actually a CBC Business decision. Newsworld is owned
> by
> > CBC television, and the CBC is making alot of cuts right
> > now. (Seperate Note: CBC is also funded in part by tax
> > dollars in Canada.)
>
> No, it was Al Gore and company buying the channel with the
> expressed intent to put Gore-O-Vision, I mean Current on.
>
From what I am hearing about "Current", they are apparently at persons with short attention spans, and/or goldfish.

 

[KMRichards]

> > Please express your displeasure over the loss of this
> great
> > channel to the following e-mail address:
> > [email protected]
>
> Well, toby, seeing that the sale of NWI has been known for
> well over a year, Where have you been? Back when CBC was
> selling NWI was the time to complain, but, now, you're so
> late, none of your bitter letter writing is going to matter.

Unfortunately, you don't have it 100% correct, either. While CBC was providing the content to NWI, the channel was owned by NBC/Universal, and they were the ones who sold it to Gore.

I agree that a letter-writing campaign to Current is futile under the circumstances.
<P ID="signature">______________


</P>

 

[JeremyAndrews]

Current Observations and Questions

Here's some observations and questions:

1. The channel is made up of documentaries made by people in their teens and 20s. The documentaries are short (usually about 5-10min if even) have to do with various subjects and have a little bar on the bottom like a song playing in a mediaplayer would have. They also have concert updates and something called "Google Current" which gives Top Searches

2. They're taking submissions from people who want to produce documentaries. The people who submit them will get paid if Current chooses to air them.

3. Advertisers: A few websites, Sony Handycam, some albums, some TV shows/movies.



I get the idea. Its pretty much the same thing as MMUSA (The Americanized programming Rainbow Media put on the US feed of Muchmusic when they bought the other half from CHUM) People make and submit stuff over the website and get put on if choosen. MMUSA's programming like this was changed in 2002 and finally removed all together when Fuse was born in March 2003 after CHUM revoked their licence to use the Much Music Name.

The questions:

What's the point? I mean its interesting to watch but who's gonna advertise on this or watch it.

How long will it last? You saw the fate of MMUSA's Mixtape Masterpiece and Tastemaker.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>

 

[MarquisP4]

> >
> > Someone is uninformed!
> > CBC just programed it, they did not own it at the time of
> > the sale.
>
> Well, I'm glad you know this toby. The way you wrote about
> NWI previously led me to believe that you thought CBC owned
> it.
>
> > Now hopefully I can get people who did not write in to the
>
> > CBC to find another venue for Canadian news to to show
> that
> > there is still suppport for it.
>
> I want to see NWI news type access too. Where they had CBC
> news, but also other news from around the world...NHK,
> China, Russian among the few I saw. But since I no longer
> have cable or satellite, I'm doing good to get BBC news off
> PBS.
>
> > Yes, I knew about it, however I am doing this because I
> want
> > Gore-O-Vision to fail, to get some more Canadian news
> > content somewhere, and want those who have not written in
> to
> > do so.
>
> Do you wish the channel to fail because you don't like that
> a favorite channel of yours disappeared, or is this
> something against Gore? Your "Gore-O-Vision" comment
> suggests the latter. And you may think HGTV is worthless,
> but there are a lot of people who like the channel, and who
> would be just as bitter losing their favorite channel as
> well.
>
> I don't fault Gore for buying something already existing on
> many cable services rather than start up the company from
> scratch & have to plead and beg to get carried on anything
> (I'm sure he is having to plead & beg for that anyhow).
> After all, Rupert Murdoch did this quite successfully with
> his Fox networks, managing to get CBS kicked off a lot of
> the existing stations as I remember.
>
>
> BTW, I don't recall the C/Ku band dishes being Grey-market.
> From where I am, satellite receivers are quite plentiful,
> and the last I saw (unless things have changed in the last
> few years) CBC was not scrambled on a few of their channels
> on satellite. I would also be surprised if Direct or Dish
> TV didn't carry CBC as well.
>
>And I don't fault Gore,netiher. And I just going to say that.

 

[FilmCritic3000]

> > > Please express your displeasure over the loss of this
> > great
> > > channel to the following e-mail address:
> > > [email protected]
> >
> > Well, toby, seeing that the sale of NWI has been known for
>
> > well over a year, Where have you been? Back when CBC was
>
> > selling NWI was the time to complain, but, now, you're so
> > late, none of your bitter letter writing is going to
> matter.
>
> Unfortunately, you don't have it 100% correct, either.
> While CBC was providing the content to NWI, the channel was
> owned by NBC/Universal, and they were the ones who sold it
> to Gore.
>

Actually NWI was sold to Gore back in 2003 when Vivendi Universal still owned the majority of Universal, before they sold 80% of Universal (and soon to be all of it, I believe) to GE which then formed NBC Universal.

 

[roger2001211]

> I wish your channel all the success of your presidential
> campaign!
By that I guess you mean come in second amongst all competitors? Im sure he would be happy with that. Might I ask how writing to the television network will cause it to fail? It would probably be better to convince people not to watch the network, considering thats what caused Universal to drop the network.
Also, as much as you want to call it "Gore-o-vision" he only owns part of the network and hopes to use the network to get kids intrested in news. Some of us already are already, but some dont like going in depth into issues.

Roger

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Enough of This!! (was Re: The Current boycott starts now!)

I am shocked to read what I'm reading here in this thread. I thought we were all of open minds here...

On one side, I'm seeing "toby" (he of the anti-WCBS-TV crusades on the NYC TV board), who is obviously taking a page out of the Robert Anthony playbook and bashing anything with a liberal slant and/or controlled by those of the liberal persuasion. Save your political hit-and-run rantings for another forum.

On another side, we've got "eggsdannythomas" (where did you think of that handle?), who appears to be completely ignorant of our northern neighbors, and wants nothing to do with them.

You wanna know something scary? Canadians probably know more about us Americans than we know about them. And do you know why? Because of media folks who, like "eggsdannythomas", plead ignorance when it comes to Canada and the people who live there.

And finally, there are those who actually got something out of NWI's programming. Considering how bad network and cable news in this country can be, the opportunity to get a look at foreign events -- and how other countries view US -- from another perspective, be it from Canada, the United Kingdom, or elsewhere, can be refreshing and eye-opening all at once.

For the record, put me in the third category. I mostly enjoyed the CBC content on NWI, and will miss watching "The National" every evening. I caught a bit of Current TV this afternoon, and will watch it again before I make any definitive opinion of it.
<P ID="signature">______________
"Know your role and shut your mouth!!" -- The Rock</P>

 

[toby]

Re: Enough of This!! (was Re: The Current boycott starts now!)

> I am shocked to read what I'm reading here in this thread.
> I thought we were all of open minds here...
>
> On one side, I'm seeing "toby" (he of the anti-WCBS-TV
> crusades on the NYC TV board), who is obviously taking a
> page out of the Robert Anthony playbook and bashing anything
> with a liberal slant and/or controlled by those of the
> liberal persuasion. Save your political hit-and-run
> rantings for another forum.

I don't like WCBS because:
1. They have a crap newscast.
2. John Bolaris
3. They fired Warner Wolf and replaced him with Chris "I am married to a porn star" Wragge.

I am actually of the liberal persuasion (New York Times reading, NPR listening, PBS supportting, etc.) and think Gore-O-Vision's blipverts are stupid even though I fall into the target demo.

As with the case of WCBS I prefer quality and not crap.
Newsworld International was quality programing, Current is garbage for those short attention spans.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>