My Meerkat Moment

So tonight I'm watching ABC World News and their cutesy tag story at the end is about the cult obsession with this Animal Planet show called "Meerkat Manor." It's a reality show about a community of meerkats. I've got to admit, I've never seen it before. Never even heard of it. But the news shows all these people geeking out over the meerkats. They're having house parties, decorating meerkat cakes, playing meerkat trivia games, the whole thing. Apparently last year one of the really important meerkats died from a snake bite and there were all these You Tube videos commemorating this apparently famous meerkat ("I will remember you, will you remember me?" and so on).

So I'm watching this thing and I'm yelling at the TV like Elvis used to. What is this? Who are these people? What's the big deal with these rat/cat things?

And then I realized. This is what John McCain feels like when he watches TV. Or when he hears stories about the tubes these kids are playing with.

I tell you, that can't be easy. I felt a little out of place right then. A little like I wanted a prolonged military occupation of a hot, politically unstable region. Just so that this crazy world could make more sense.

Man, I've got to keep up on these meerkats.

Obama deserves to win because...

... he got ABC to break into World News with live coverage of his rally with John Edwards ... the day AFTER he lost West Virginia by 40 points.

Hot damn! That's no small feat.

Here's the whole Edwards speech from CNN:

Debate analysis: Media hungry! Media feed!

From the wooded wilderness in the shadow of the Mesabi Iron Range's western ridge, I offer a brief commentary on the national political scene.

The progressive blogs are hammering last night's ABC Democratic Presidential debate moderated by Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos (along with more objective media critics and journalism experts). I'm glad that I purposely avoided watching it because I feared the debate would go down this way. I have since read the transcripts and agree that the thing was a disaster. The first half was relegated to tough but largely trivial questions primarily focused against the frontrunner Barack Obama. Vast swaths of important issues were ignored, including the economy and health care. And yes, Obama's performance was only so-so while Clinton was polished but unappealing in her zeal to join in the mud-fest. Basically, no one won, which is what is being repeated all over the Internet today.

I mean, really. "Do you believe Rev. Wright loves America as much as you, Sen. Obama?" and questions about why Obama doesn't wear flag pins. That's a Toby Keith song, not a debate.

Here's my unique contribution to the day-after debate, however. A lot of people are arguing that this debate had an anti-Obama or pro-Hillary bias. And on the surface it could seem that way, but the truth is much more depressing. I have long contended that the national media is neither liberal nor conservative. The national media is a hulking, bloodthirsty animal focused on self-gratification and preservation. It will feed on any ideology so long as its checks keep cashing. Last night, ABC did everything it could to keep the Democratic nomination race A) alive and B) ugly -- two things that will provide another good month of ratings and revenue for the national news media.

I watch "ABC World News" every night and "This Week" every Sunday morning. I basically like and respect Gibson and Stephanopoulos. But this was a very bad debate and spoke very poorly of political discourse in America today. The polls won't move, the results won't be affected, but everyone will feel just a little bit dirtier on the inside. Hooray for the Fourth Estate!

Hey Old Media, getting warmer ...

Last summer we got a DVR service to go with our satellite TV. The digital recorder allows us to record shows, pause or rewind live TV and basically watch programs any time we want with the ability to fast-forward commercials. Someone told me before we got it that it would change how we watch television and he was absolutely right. Slam dunk. No more channel surfing or wasted time; we only watch what we want to watch.

Well, this method of watching TV is killing networks and their advertisers, whose livelihoods depend upon people watching stupid crap they don't want to see in order to see things they do. That's why, according to this New York Times article by Bill Carter, one network is preparing a counter-attack.

Locking in Viewers to Watch the Commercials
By BILL CARTER

Looking to strike a blow against the proliferation of digital video recorders, the ABC network, its affiliated broadcast stations, and Cox Communications’ cable systems are establishing an on-demand video service that would allow viewers to watch ABC shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” any time they choose.

The catch: It uses a new technology that disables the viewers’ ability to fast-forward through commercials.

Because the best way to deal with changing trends is to adopt them in a way that excludes their very appeal. Yes, I love my DVR, but I don't just want to watch my SHOWS when I want, I need to watch tampon commercials, too.

This may buy ABC and other networks a few years to figure it out, but Big Media will have to find a way to maintain advertising revenue without forcing people into the old concept of commercial breaks. The executives that figure out that riddle will own 21st century. Perhaps literally.