Rant: No frigging way.
This will primarily be of concern to people watching CityTV, so mostly Canadians. But if you're a sci-fi or Supernatural fan, you might be interested. Contains ranting, irrationality, and a wee bit of R-rated language.
As of this coming fall, CityTV stations will no longer air any sci-fi. At all.
According to this article, CityTV has announced it won't be airing any sci-fi programs this fall. Nothing. No Supernatural, no Reaper, no Stargate, none of the weird quirky ones that show up on Saturday afternoon that no one has ever heard of, like the Collector, or Relic Hunter. No nothing. I repeat. This isn't only Supernatural, this is all of their sci-fi programming.
They've decided they want to run more reality TV shows and prime time soapy "who's doing who" crap 'plastic surgery and fashion dramas'. To me, this is a ploy to force people who want sci-fi to subscribe to their specialty 'Space' channel. I was actually thinking about doing that before they pulled this bullshit. Now I'm very seriously considering changing my cell phone service provider because they are owned by the same company that decided this crap, Rogers Media Inc.
Oh and here's a lovely quote from the article:
""They're definitely trying to make the station lighter, in terms of programming that's not so dark or sci-fi-themed," says media buyer Valerie McMorran, of Starcom MediaVest. She notes that the fall lineup skews more female, citing Lipstick Jungle, Nip/Tuck and Ugly Betty as titles that will draw predominantly women."
Gee. Where have I heard that before? :-P
Who gave these people the idea that all women want to watch shows about people having sex, gossiping and talking about clothes, make-up, and plastic surgery? I'm female. Personally, I wouldn't go near that kind of stuff without a HazMat suit. No offense intended to anyone that does like it. That's just my own tastes and opinion. Like everybody else, I'm an individual, not a demographic.
Here is CityTV Vancouver's contact page, here is the station's 'Speaker's Corner' for Vancouver, an online version of their public opinion booths available around the lower mainland as far as I know and possibly also available in and around other cities with CityTV stations. I think I've got snail-mail addresses for four of the CityTV stations (found on the FAQ pages for each station, along with their main switchboard numbers), and might have one for Rogers Media Inc. (via a third party that thinks 'CANON' is a Canadian province, so I have no idea how reliable their info might be. :-P)
I need to calm down about this before I write anything to any of these people. I am seriously pissed. I can't even coherently describe why.
It's not even that I won't be able to see the new season of Supernatural when it comes out, because I will. I'm in an area lucky enough to have another viewing option, even if it is a dancing-green-baloney-Pussycat-Doll-splat-filled option (provided the CW doesn't fold and CW11 doesn't decide to switch teams some time over this summer *knocks wood*) It's just that this is like... it's like being a sci-fi fan back in high school. Sci-fi is getting stuffed into a locker by the 'popular' kids for being too weird. Again.
I've been ill though. I've had a bit of time off work and as a result my bullshit tolerance is way, way down. I'm probably over-reacting to this. I sure don't feel like I am right now. :-P
As of this coming fall, CityTV stations will no longer air any sci-fi. At all.
According to this article, CityTV has announced it won't be airing any sci-fi programs this fall. Nothing. No Supernatural, no Reaper, no Stargate, none of the weird quirky ones that show up on Saturday afternoon that no one has ever heard of, like the Collector, or Relic Hunter. No nothing. I repeat. This isn't only Supernatural, this is all of their sci-fi programming.
They've decided they want to run more reality TV shows and prime time soapy "who's doing who" crap 'plastic surgery and fashion dramas'. To me, this is a ploy to force people who want sci-fi to subscribe to their specialty 'Space' channel. I was actually thinking about doing that before they pulled this bullshit. Now I'm very seriously considering changing my cell phone service provider because they are owned by the same company that decided this crap, Rogers Media Inc.
Oh and here's a lovely quote from the article:
""They're definitely trying to make the station lighter, in terms of programming that's not so dark or sci-fi-themed," says media buyer Valerie McMorran, of Starcom MediaVest. She notes that the fall lineup skews more female, citing Lipstick Jungle, Nip/Tuck and Ugly Betty as titles that will draw predominantly women."
Gee. Where have I heard that before? :-P
Who gave these people the idea that all women want to watch shows about people having sex, gossiping and talking about clothes, make-up, and plastic surgery? I'm female. Personally, I wouldn't go near that kind of stuff without a HazMat suit. No offense intended to anyone that does like it. That's just my own tastes and opinion. Like everybody else, I'm an individual, not a demographic.
Here is CityTV Vancouver's contact page, here is the station's 'Speaker's Corner' for Vancouver, an online version of their public opinion booths available around the lower mainland as far as I know and possibly also available in and around other cities with CityTV stations. I think I've got snail-mail addresses for four of the CityTV stations (found on the FAQ pages for each station, along with their main switchboard numbers), and might have one for Rogers Media Inc. (via a third party that thinks 'CANON' is a Canadian province, so I have no idea how reliable their info might be. :-P)
I need to calm down about this before I write anything to any of these people. I am seriously pissed. I can't even coherently describe why.
It's not even that I won't be able to see the new season of Supernatural when it comes out, because I will. I'm in an area lucky enough to have another viewing option, even if it is a dancing-green-baloney-Pussycat-Doll-splat-filled option (provided the CW doesn't fold and CW11 doesn't decide to switch teams some time over this summer *knocks wood*) It's just that this is like... it's like being a sci-fi fan back in high school. Sci-fi is getting stuffed into a locker by the 'popular' kids for being too weird. Again.
I've been ill though. I've had a bit of time off work and as a result my bullshit tolerance is way, way down. I'm probably over-reacting to this. I sure don't feel like I am right now. :-P