back-words... essay/rant...

Friday, September 19, 2008
essay/rant...
PRE-PRETEXT:

the following was something i posted to [adult swim] concerning a rather bizarre schedule change in which they abruptly put their two newest shows on at the last possible time slot available from where they were originally scheduled at a more convenient time slot, then filled their prime hours with poor quality programming. it also sheds light on some of their other errors in a rather mild-mannered way. if you look at their message boards, it looks like a frenzy of ill-tempered, mutated sea bass congregated to flame the place. apparently, there weren't any sharks with laser beams attached to their heads available for the mass hysteria, name-calling, and death threats.

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pretext:

sorry, i meant to post this sunday. i was waiting for a few replies in regards to this post. this post is predominantly in layman's terms so those unaware of the processes involved will gain some appreciation of what has, in essence, destroyed their preferred evening of program watching. i am also appalled, but not surprised; however, there is no need for name calling, death threats, or gimmicks as it wont accomplish anything. i may not post much, but my opinion is as valid as any other. so, without further ado...

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There are many givens in this world. Of the givens, supply, demand, and discontent apply to this most recent situation. Supply and demand go hand in hand; wherever there is a demand, supply is made. Usually it's that easy, but sometimes one party is unable to adequately supply another party's demands for various reasons. That is where discontent usually enters. Many are familiar with the expression that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Usually that wheel is sounding the squeak of discontent: "I am not happy with the current situation, so give me such and such." Depending on how realistic the demands are, one may get what they ask for or perhaps not. Why not? Well, there can be a number of reasons as to why something can't be supplied. All too often it's all about the bottom line. Unfortunately, many forget that there are several ways to achieve a more agreeable bottom line. Withholding supply is not the only way and, in fact, is often a poor business decision.

Poor business decision, how can that be? Unfortunately, not everyone who starts and/or runs a business was a business major in college or even went to college. Even then you still find people making poor decisions who have been to college. It is a part of being human and that is life. Some people have a great head for business and can evolve from lemonade stands to skyscrapers. Others seem to have the opposite effect, turning a thriving business into rubble in record time. Most manage to maintain a reasonable balance between the two.

Broadcast corporations look to service the entertainment industry and distribute their works to the masses, based selecting a specific demographic in which to cater toward. Animation is particularly favored by young males aging from late teens to young adult. Therefore a company researches which works they wish to distribute, or in this case broadcast to its select audience. If the business has trouble honing in on their target, they may refer to charts and ratings to ensure they are doing better business. Sometimes the clever ones manage to listen to the desires of their target audience and are able to find a way to cater sufficiently to what they want without hurting the bottom line of their business.

So what is good business for a broadcaster? The answer is multi-faceted. The goal of the company is to bring entertaining media to a targeted audience, but it is also to make money so they can continue to accomplish their goal. The main way to do this is through marketing and advertising, which is also based on the targeted demographic. Let's keep in mind that not all business men were business majors in college, as this point will unfold soon. A lot of comprehensive research is done into what advertising is most effective with specific demographics and populations. It becomes a matter of developing a formula based on numbers successfully tested and proven. If population x enjoys a, b, and c as a part of their daily living, then advertising products and services about a, b, and c during their routine broadcast viewing will drive up revenue as a result. How's that again? People respond to advertising. A positive response from effective advertising will result in a purchase of an advertised product or service. Advertisers pleased with such results will purchase more advertising time from broadcasters in hopes to drive up their sales, thus broadcasters have successfully driven up their own income. This income is then used to generate more supply for their targeted audience, among other things. Being happy with a successful variety, the audience will continue to remain loyal viewers.

Now if only it were always that simple. As history has indicated, sometimes ratings are inaccurate and thus analysis can be devastatingly wrong. Case in hand, Nielsen ratings are the number one way most broadcasting corporations rely on to assess what their targeted audience likes and dislikes. One problem- who gets to be a Nielsen family member? Well, in the past, it was a frightfully more selective process than it is these days, but it is still very selective and doesn't always fetch the accurate ratings one might hope to get. Then again, some content has proven itself over time as being worthy, such as animation. We all know animation will never die.

So what's going on when animation fetches poor ratings? Any number of problems, actually. It could be a poorly decided time slot for broadcast. Perhaps the marketing and advertising department failed somewhere along the lines. Or maybe some other poor business decision was made. Let's face it, those who love animation and anime in particular are loyal viewers who usually watch series from start to finish, not to mention that anime sells itself; there is little need for a test audience. If anime does well enough in Japan, then at least an English dub version is sure to follow. When a series has made the effort to rerelease itself as English dub, you know it is successful.

Regardless of individual personal preference, a mass audience has spoken in favor of a series by way of viewing, product-line purchase, and so forth. Sometimes one must listen carefully to the audience commentary as not all complaints of a series are of discontent. Sometimes aspects of a series may be under fire; however, that also indicates the viewer is avidly following a series and wants to see more favorable aspects. Unfortunately, this reaction can be misinterpreted to some that the viewer does not like the series. When this happens, a different series may replace the other series or time slots may be juggled. However, if time slots are juggled too much, then the viewer can't adequately acclimate to the changes and will lose interest as a result of frustration.

If the anime isn't the problem, then why is it treated like an unwanted step-child? Those that suffer from Cinderella syndrome usually have not been fully realized of their worth. As previously mentioned, it can be a business issue, such as ineffective advertising, poor marketing and/or representation, or a slew of other poor business decisions. I will try to illustrate this point with my own experiences, observations, and conclusions from which I can't possibly help but draw upon.

By personal experience, I can say I have never seen an [adult swim] commercial on another channel. Was it bad timing or did they simply not think to advertise on other channels? Other channels do advertise on Cartoon Network. In fact, I can go further and say I have never seen an [adult swim] commercial outside of the hours of their time slot. Once again, have I simply not been around to see one of their commercials outside of their slot or do they not do this? My TV stays on perpetually (expect for power outages) and while it may stray from cartoon network from time to time, I would think that I would be seeing some commercials somewhere at some point. Most of what I do see from [adult swim] is "bumps," which usually aren't sufficiently long enough, especially when they are text-only. There have also been times when the posted program schedule has been inaccurate and in need of an update. To have to cross-reference multiple places for a single broadcasting schedule can easily become a source of irritation for a loyal viewer. I see little to no consistency from [adult swim]. It tends to leave me disinclined to follow up on what's happening.

As I also mentioned, program shuffling can grow to be wearisome for a viewer. I have watched [adult swim] for years now. Initially, I watched every single night of the week. If I knew I was going to miss something then I would record it and watch later. Somewhere along the line, they thought it would be a novel idea to introduce "comedy" into the rotation and suddenly I found myself displeased with the Sunday night schedule and I ceased watching [adult swim] on Sunday nights. Later on, they decided to broadcast live-action features, which also irritated me so I would find something else to watch when those shows were on. My personal belief is that the broadcasting network is called the "Cartoon Network" and should only be showing cartoons, not live-action. Additionally, many of the series have been run into the ground; they've been rerun back to back ad nauseum. Eventually, I even stopped watching [adult swim] on weeknights. It gets old after a while to watch things run back to back like that. I like to see a little split in between runs of an entire series to introduce more variety.

Granted, sometimes a license expires and a show can't be seen again, but sometimes it would be nice to renew a license of a good old series rather than signing on a bad new series. What [adult swim] deems as comedy, I view as an insult to my intelligence. I feel it hasn't any place on [adult swim] or Cartoon Network and I would be happier without it. However that is my personal opinion and if Sundays are to remain nights for such programs, then so be it. Every one of Cartoon Network's slots has suffered from poor decision making. Toonami interrupts a series in the middle to show a new series, which is often interrupted as well. None of these series are ever resumed to reach completion. I have seen [adult swim] pull similar stunts- intermittent breaks between series with select episodes of another series, haphazardly juggling schedules, not airing series to completion and even cutting off the end of a final episode in a series. Under these circumstances how is a viewer expected to be loyal?

Under such frustrations as these, do viewers perpetually grin and bear it or do they stand their ground and voice their feelings? I've been annoyed by the cavalier behavior of [adult swim] many times, but I have never said a word. However, I feel this most recent shift in schedule juggling is disrespectful to both the audience and to the series they have agreed to broadcast under contract. As a viewer, I do have options aside from accepting or complaining in regards to such matters. I can watch anime on other channels or go buy something new and not bother with TV at all. I can go to web sites which feature anime recommendations and research various series that may capture my interest. I can then take those recommendations and find the episodes and view them online, if I so choose. I can also subscribe to other options presented to me by my cable provider and get more channels and/or other features which would allow me to watch what I want, when I want. So am I really bound helplessly to the whims and poor decisions of [adult swim]? I think not.

I'm sure many will find something to disagree with in part or whole in regards to what I have said, especially [adult swim], but I feel it is time I state my feelings for the record. I could make a list of what series are good to watch, but it already exists on the Wiki. Everyone should refresh their memories of all the anime that has graced us via [adult swim]. Some of it has been truly magnificent and epic. Like I said, it would be nice to see a revival of some of those series if their licenses could be renewed for another stint. One can barely predict the actions to be taken by [adult swim] as they tend to be as random as rolling dice. While head honchos at [adult swim] may shake up the schedule, I am glad I can still record the shows to view later while I still choose to view [adult swim]. I just hope they choose to take what I have said to heart and examine what truly affects their ratings. Maybe it isn't the shows. Maybe the trouble lies somewhere within the mechanics of corporate proceedings. Maybe they should handle things a little more respectfully and professionally. At this point, it couldn't hurt…