6 ms·

They also went full on Jesus some years back. They're firmly in the blue collar reality TV camp now, its mostly truck drivers, pawn shops, and surprisingly, bl

by VLM 9y ago

They also went full on Jesus some years back. They're firmly in the blue collar reality TV camp now, its mostly truck drivers, pawn shops, and surprisingly, blacksmiths. Sorta like how the Sci Fi channel was all about pro wrestling, fantasy, action movies, pretty much anything but science fiction. When I was a little kid (a long time ago) the snarky wisdom was if a country had "democratic" in its name, it wasn't. The snarky wisdom today is a cable TV channel broadcasts everything except what its name would imply. So the History channel never broadcasts anything factually historical, the sci fi channel never broadcasts science fiction, or The Learning Channel only broadcasts fashion and style never anything educational. "Home and Garden" TV is endless real estate "FIRE sector" complimentary copy, containing no garden shows. Even the weather channel pretty much stopped weather forecasts and replaced it with agitprop documentaries that the faithful don't watch because they're already faithful and the unfaithful don't watch because they're nonbelievers.

hbosch 9y ago
Don't forget Music Television.
- moomin 9y ago
  And Fox News
  - throwitlong 9y ago
    There is no fox?
  - damsdu78 9y ago
    Yeah... no news about fox... sad but true.
- MrZongle2 9y ago
  ...the original offender.
nickpeterson 9y ago
Similarly, if you have science in the name, no science is generally involved: Political Science, Computer Science, Exercise Science...
- aaron-lebo 9y ago
  The scientific method is a core part of research design in poli sci. We have entire classes dedicated to Karl Popper and fun topics like that. We do real research with hypotheses, testable results, and conclusions. It is science, even if it isn't hard science. Dunno why it matters....back to your rant.
  - nickpeterson 9y ago
    Not trying to turn my original joke into an argument, but does applying the scientific method make something a science in your mind? By that definition, couldn't any subject be a science?
    - aaron-lebo 9y ago
      Joke flew over my head. Sorry too touchy these days... What is science other than the application of the scientific method?
- michaelmior 9y ago
  Computer science at least in my experience of it, definitely involves lots of science. I can't speak for the others.
  - frandroid 9y ago
    This one also illustrates that if it has "science" in it, it can't get a joke...
    - michaelmior 9y ago
      Are you sure the parent was joking? Also, are you sure I wasn't? ;)
yellowapple 9y ago
BBC America is going in the same direction as it morphs into the "Star Trek and action movies" channel. Not that I can really complain, though, since it's gradually becoming what the SciFi Channel could've been before it got renamed to SyFy.
throwaway7645 9y ago
Syfy recently started broadcasting excellent programming: The Expanse, KillJoys, DarkMatter...etc.
- i80and 9y ago
  They go through quality boom-and-bust cycles. They had an excellent shared universe of Warehouse 13 and Eureka a number of years ago.
- magic_beans 9y ago
  I'm reluctant to trust the brand...
munificent 9y ago
I think the main driver of this is simply the changing demographics of TV viewers. Ever since the rise of the Internet, social media, and smartphones, traditional television viewing hours have been plummeting for some demographics. The young and affluent are moving away from TV, and the poor and aging are not. Programming reflects that demographic shift.
- Chaebixi 9y ago
  > I think the main driver of this is simply the changing demographics of TV viewers. Ever since the rise of the Internet, social media, and smartphones, traditional television viewing hours have been plummeting for some demographics. No. This trend predates the full development of most of that. IIRC, TLC ("The Learning Channel") went from educational stuff (like videos of surgeries) to full-on home improvement over the course of the 90s. The internet in 1999 was GeoCities and email, not social media and smartphones. What really happened was these channels started out programming to a little niche audience, then they realized there was a lot more ratings and money programming to the lowest common denominator. In TLC's case, I think it started with some husband and wife home improvement show and snowballed from there.

by VLM 9y ago

hbosch 9y ago

Don't forget Music Television.

moomin 9y ago
And Fox News
- throwitlong 9y ago
  There is no fox?
- damsdu78 9y ago
  Yeah... no news about fox... sad but true.
MrZongle2 9y ago
...the original offender.

nickpeterson 9y ago

Similarly, if you have science in the name, no science is generally involved: Political Science, Computer Science, Exercise Science...

aaron-lebo 9y ago
The scientific method is a core part of research design in poli sci. We have entire classes dedicated to Karl Popper and fun topics like that. We do real research with hypotheses, testable results, and conclusions. It is science, even if it isn't hard science. Dunno why it matters....back to your rant.
- nickpeterson 9y ago
  Not trying to turn my original joke into an argument, but does applying the scientific method make something a science in your mind? By that definition, couldn't any subject be a science?
  - aaron-lebo 9y ago
    Joke flew over my head. Sorry too touchy these days... What is science other than the application of the scientific method?
michaelmior 9y ago
Computer science at least in my experience of it, definitely involves lots of science. I can't speak for the others.
- frandroid 9y ago
  This one also illustrates that if it has "science" in it, it can't get a joke...
  - michaelmior 9y ago
    Are you sure the parent was joking? Also, are you sure I wasn't? ;)

yellowapple 9y ago

BBC America is going in the same direction as it morphs into the "Star Trek and action movies" channel. Not that I can really complain, though, since it's gradually becoming what the SciFi Channel could've been before it got renamed to SyFy.

throwaway7645 9y ago

Syfy recently started broadcasting excellent programming: The Expanse, KillJoys, DarkMatter...etc.

i80and 9y ago
They go through quality boom-and-bust cycles. They had an excellent shared universe of Warehouse 13 and Eureka a number of years ago.
magic_beans 9y ago
I'm reluctant to trust the brand...

munificent 9y ago

I think the main driver of this is simply the changing demographics of TV viewers. Ever since the rise of the Internet, social media, and smartphones, traditional television viewing hours have been plummeting for some demographics. The young and affluent are moving away from TV, and the poor and aging are not. Programming reflects that demographic shift.

Chaebixi 9y ago
> I think the main driver of this is simply the changing demographics of TV viewers. Ever since the rise of the Internet, social media, and smartphones, traditional television viewing hours have been plummeting for some demographics. No. This trend predates the full development of most of that. IIRC, TLC ("The Learning Channel") went from educational stuff (like videos of surgeries) to full-on home improvement over the course of the 90s. The internet in 1999 was GeoCities and email, not social media and smartphones. What really happened was these channels started out programming to a little niche audience, then they realized there was a lot more ratings and money programming to the lowest common denominator. In TLC's case, I think it started with some husband and wife home improvement show and snowballed from there.