There Ain't Nothing on The Evening News

We have all had that conversation with people who invariably say they don't watch the evening news. Then there are those who will admit they do but tell you they hate watching. Which begs the question for both of these people, why? 

The answer is really quite simple. There is nothing to see here. In this episode, Ric tells you about his time in the world of television news and what it was once like. Now with the internet hanging around, it seems sort of redundant to have such an institution around. What purpose does it serve? Here's a hint, it doesn't serve the public any more. 

Plus an update from the graveyard.

NEXT WEEK: Facebook's money trouble.

Don't Cross The Streams

We get it, you became a cord cutter and now you are finding yourself back in the same boat you were in before you cut the cable. The corporate entertainment providers are finding a way to get you back into that same old boat. And it's getting a little more interesting.

As the fight rages on, you are now looking at what appears to be a couple of very broad lines being drawn. There is the old subscription standards and there are some free options. There is one very large issue looming over all of this though, it's not unlike trying to figure out which "restaurant" has the less mediocre fish sandwich.

The absurdity of it all points at one fairly clear answer. Just take a look at what the Millennials are doing.



NEXT WEEK: The Technology in Your Pocket

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The Sporting Life

Sports fans, both casual and rabid know the value of a good game on television. However, the landscape has changed over time. Since the popularity of streaming television, access to all sporting events has become a little strained for the casual fan.

The true and rabid fans know how to get what they want with broadcast packages available from all the sports leagues. And that is just it, they are certainly "available" for the right price. Why the money? Broadcast rights for the games are not cheap.

In this episode, Ric takes a look at how the world of broadcast and the world of sports collide with casualties. Who are the casualties? The fans.



NEXT WEEK: Reboot This

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What's on TV

Network television programming is fairly straightforward. You develop a show, get the greenlight to produce and then, spend a lot of money getting it produced. After that, you hope for the best. Are people going to like it enough to spend time watching the thing?

There are some other nuances at play here and in this episode, Ric takes a look at how this sort of works using the new NBC show, Bluff City Law as a prime example of just how to navigate those treacherous waters. Also in this episode, Ric gives his unpopular thought of the week. Horses in space? Really?



NEXT WEEK: The Sporting Life

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The Great Television War

If it is one thing the internet has done, it has levelled the playing field. Most recently in the world of television. All of the cord cutters thought it was a pretty cool thing to tell the cable companies where to stuff their tiered access fees and bad programming when the internet became more of a place to get content. So we cut the cable, shut off the dishes and began to stream our shows on our own time and without fear of missing anything.

Now, the content providers are stuck in a major war with themselves. Charge for subscription or sell advertisement. Or worse, combine the two. Now, people are just getting a little pissed off with this fight and wondering when the next shoe is going to drop.

Also, Jeffery Epstein is dead, so why all the finger pointing when it was clear nothing more nefarious occurred than him simply taking himself out of the equation. And finally, a new bit in the show. Ric unveils his unpopular thought of the week.

NEXT WEEK: Is Facebook all that viable anymore?

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a great word. A German word which has found its way into our vernacular. Although you don't hear it too much, it does describe a fairly everyday emotion. Finding the joy in watching someone fail. It's a cruel world out there and as much as you want to believe it is sweet and nice, it is not. In this episode, Ric explores the idea behind schadenfreude and how it is nearly impossible to shut it off. There is a reason for that. Also, Ric takes a look at what happened at the 145th running of The Kentucky Derby. Something stinks and it ain't all that horse manure.



NEXT WEEK: Your Mom wants to kill you, apparently.

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Stream This

I, like most Americans had enough of the cable companies grip on my television. So, we cut the cord several years ago. Finally, TV on our own terms. That was, until the lumbering corporate dinosaurs got smart and started bundling up your favorites again. Yeah, right back into the same old boat. Paying for stuff you'll never watch. Thanks.

Also, is everyone kind of tired of the raw, unfiltered, uncensored live streams in social media? Australia is and they want to put some corporate people in jail over that stuff.



NEXT WEEK: Jerre Dye

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When TV Goes Bad

When I was under the weather a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time on the couch trying to feel better, as one does. I found myself allowing to be assaulted by network TV programming. Boy, does it really suck.

But, is it truly fair to say that? Since we tend to judge things by comparison, TV shows are the bottom of the barrel. They always have been. There have only been a few that come to mind as being hallmarks of truly good television.

Plus music from The Glass.



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NEXT WEEK: The National Association of Broadcasters thinks I should join them. Plus music from Chinese Connection Dub Embassy.

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Bad Commercials

Last week, I was laid up with some sort of illness and confined myself to the couch and TV for some quality time. Keep in mind, I typically don't watch much broadcast network TV. Jesus. How do you people watch this garbage?

Specifically, the state of commercials these days. They are bad. Really bad.

Plus music from Trash The Brand.



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By the way, car dealer dude, quit yelling at me.

NEXT WEEK: Bad commercials are one thing, but the content they are running in? Brutal.

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Up A Certain Stream Without A Paddle

If it is one thing I have been blessed to be a part of, is that I have absolutely enjoyed having a front row seat to this current change in digital media. Watching AM become irrelevant practically overnight has been a delight. As for FM, this is like watching ineptitude at it's peak. The world is racing by and these stuffed suits over there in terrestrial radio are STILL trying to convince the public at large that they still matter.

Whatever, dude.

Plus in this episode, music from The Candy Company.



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NEXT WEEK: The seduction of the microphone.

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Altered Reality...TV

No doubt, you have been exposed to any level, reality television. It is a fascinating genre for sure. Many people do like it and there are a lot of us who loathe this vapid form of television. My personal disdain for competitive talent shows are the worst, in my opinion. I think they are simply insulting to those who actually do have talent.

Why have these shows become successful? In a word, manipulation.

You, dear viewer, are being manipulated. Heavily.

Also in this episode, music from Cary Hudson.



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NEXT WEEK: The revolution occurring right now. Plus music from The Subteens.

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Zen, Broadcasting and The Internet

Everyday, moment to moment we are swamped with news from the internet. Some of it is good and most of it is bad. Plus, there is a bunch of it that is just bullshit taken to an extreme.

We all put up with it the best we can. But, there is a time when we all have had enough. We tire of this crap and when we do, we go from being slightly annoyed to being outright put out over this stuff. What do you do when this happens?

Just breathe. That's all you can do.



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NEXT WEEK: Dying to be on television.

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This Just In, The News is Awful

Those who know me, know that I spent some time working in the television news world. I was a reporter and an anchor. Fun job. At least it can be if you are numb to the shit you are telling the public. When I did it, I did get numb. Dangerously so. But, we'll save that for another day.

What I wanted to get into on this episode was the perspective of how the media is supposed to be in the category of "infotainment" (shocking that word actually exists). Here's the thing, it is neither informative nor entertaining. At least if you are entertained by watching the drunk anchor man stumble through his copy. Every stinking night.

Is there a great media conspiracy? Nope. Give this a listen and I'll explain.



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NEXT WEEK: Crazy From The Hate

A little side note here: I just noticed that iTunes actually censored an episode of this show. Episode 71: Assholes With Money was censored. Not the content of the show of course. But the title was. It was changed to Episode 71: A**holes With Money. Even though the episode was tagged with the Explicit tag. Funny how that works. God forbid I should offend someone with that word. Assholes.

Stay tuned...

A Vast Wasteland

Those of you who follow history should be somewhat familiar with the great Newton Minow. Some 50 years ago, he famously stated that television was a "vast wasteland".

Ever scan the channels and realize just how right he was? And still is?

Although I don't actually elaborate too much on this thought, it leads to the idea that changes have taken place on TV that will change our perception of what the medium is all about. It was all set in stone the day David Letterman took his last bows.



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NEXT WEEK: Dianna Fryer has a conversation with Michael Wagener, record producer to the stars.

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Exiled to Radioland, Part I: Where It All Began

And so it begins. The season three premiere of From Radioland starts with a 3 part series. This is the one people have been asking for. Well, maybe not this one, but this sets the stage. Since 2011, I have been asked to tell the story of my career in Memphis at Clear Channel. It was a blast. It was tough. It was more fun than the law should allow. It also ended in great tragedy.

One of the biggest highlights of my career was working with John "Baddog" McCormack. It was a time I will forever cherish and it will take me a bit to get to all the things that happened in those days. This episode is the first of that. It begins with my first days in the world of broadcasting. How I walked away from radio in the early days for the weirdness that is TV news. From there, I will tell you about my return to radio and my landing in Memphis beginning what would become a 14 year career in Memphis with one of the most iconic stations on the air and working with and sharing the spotlight with one of the most iconic broadcasters in the business.

Please, keep in mind over the next 3 episodes I will be relaying the stories and experiences I have been a part of over the past 30 years. I do name names and call out those who did, in my mind, despicable things in the name of corporate greed and ego. Am I bitter? Not anymore. Not after recording these episodes.

Bear with me, this is a long story. It is by no means the complete story. It is the story through my eyes and my ears. Those who I have named have earned, in my opinion, their rightful tongue lashing I will mete out over the next three weeks. If the shoe fits... right? What follows is from my recollections of those events and my experience directly from those same events.



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A reminder here, after this series of episodes, I will no longer speak of these things in public. All future inquiries regarding the events depicted through these episodes will be referred to these shows. This was a difficult series to record. In fact, after taping this first episode, I lost my voice for a day. It was worth it.

Next week: Exiled to Radioland, Part II: Rise of the Evil Empire

Stay tuned...

A Walk In The Park

Sometimes it is nice to go to the park, find a nice quiet spot and run your mouth about all sorts of things. However, in this episode I discovered, the moment I turned on the recorder, the batteries were almost dead. Nevertheless, the show must go on and it did.

Among the kids playing in the field, a man painting a picture and some other dude actually flying a quad copter drone around the park. As cool as that was, it was a bit unnerving.

I did however, reveal some small details of a project I am working on.



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Next week, Jeff and I completely geek out with a Dean Zachary. Dean is a comic book illustrator who has done stories for DC comics. An absolutely fascinating look at the world of comic books and the movies they inspire.

Until then,

Stay tuned...

TV News

Those who know me, know of my past in the television news industry. Those same people will tell what I think about the television news industry. For those of you who don't know, and not to put too fine a point on it, it sucks. As it is said, "It ain't what it used to be."

Self-centered reporters giving about one third of the truth on something that has NO relevance to you at the time. Making the story about themselves. Exaggeration. Indictments. It's all there and those are just some of the reasons why I don't watch it. TV news has a tendency to piss me off. Ed Murrow once said of television, "... this instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely lights and wires in a box."

When I was cutting my TV teeth at WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi, I struck up a life long friendship with a man named Tom Dees. He was a photographer there and a damn good one at that. We spent a few years working together there uncovering all sorts of ugliness and "news worthy" things. To make a long story short, the day came when I left for greener pastures and Tom moved to the other side of the camera and became a great reporter.

Dees has since moved to Memphis and can be seen on Fox 13. He's been here for many years and he's easily the best interviewer in the business and has a certain knack for getting the best out of his subjects as the following video shows. He blames me for that. On a side note here: It's his fault I'm in Memphis, so there. We're even. Yet another long yarn for later.

Anyway, he has been able to do something I could never do in my brief TV career. He's an award winning TV guy and after some two Emmy awards later, Tom is putting together a great career in an otherwise slimy business. I give you the following example of one of his latest stories:



This, in my opinion is how TV news should be done. I think I smell another Emmy for Tom Dees... the bastard.

Nice job, Tom... "Good night and good luck."