December 9th, 2007, 4 Comments »
I just read an interesting story on CNET about Consumer Reports, a site that bucks the advertising trend in online content:
A reader of the printed magazine might be “someone who generally wants to be a well-informed consumer,” said Giselle Benatar, editor in chief of online media. “But on the Web site, we’re attracting very transaction-minded consumers. They are shoppers. They’re looking for a product, they want ratings, they want recommendations, and they want it now, not once a month.”
Growing up, my family were huge users of Consumer Reports, the magazine. Maybe I’m blurring things in my head a bit, but I don’t think my parents made any big purchases without first consulting Consumer Reports back issues down at the library.
The article indicates that the average online user is fifty year old, which is a little worrying for their longterm sustainability. Still, I’ll probably subscribe to the website when we’re building our house and spending cash on appliances and the like.
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September 23rd, 2007, 4 Comments »
Plenty of TV shows get canceled. Some of those have an incredibly loyal fanbase who, upon announcement of a show’s impending doom, leap into action to try to rescue the show. This almost never happens, and can be a lot of wasted energy. After all, it’s only a TV show. Popular examples include Jericho, Firefly and My So-Called Life.
Jericho is a rare, partial exception to the ‘dead show walking’ syndrome. From Wikipedia:
However, after a grassroots campaign to revive the series, CBS officially announced on June 6, 2007 that it had purchased seven new episodes of Jericho for broadcast as a midseason replacement.
This is the fifth time the network has resuscitated a cancelled series due to viewer demand. Fans of Cagney and Lacey, Designing Women, The Magnificent Seven and Touched by an Angel all were successful in convincing CBS to bring the shows back after their respective cancellations were announced.
Interestingly, three of those series would have 18 to 50 year-old women as their core audience–they’re traditionally the most powerful grassroots organizers.
Anyhow, that’s a long-winded introduction to this article (which could do with some subheadings), which discusses the rejuvenation of Jericho and the unfortunate, premature demise of Veronica Mars. As you’d expect, fans are in a tizzy.
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