Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Great resource for students of Television

If you have any intentions of working in the TV industry, you'll be happy to know that uncut interviews with many of the founders and current leaders of the television industry are available on the Google Video web site. This is truly an amazing resource. Here's what Steve Mosko, President of Sony Pictures Television had to say about it...

One of the things that absolutely blew me away when I came on board last year as chairman of the Television Academy Foundation was the Archive of American Television, which is an unequaled collection of videotaped interviews with TV legends.

It's a fantastic resource, and so it drove me crazy that the Archive had over 450 interviews -- but no one could view them if they weren’t actually in Southern California. If a student at a school in Cincinnati or Bangkok wanted to learn more about the history of creative or business aspects of the American television industry, these interviews were just not accessible. So I made it a personal goal to find a way to get the Archive online.

And starting today, anyone in the world can go to Google Video and watch complete and uncut Archive interviews and learn directly from the legends and pioneers on how it all happened. How cool is that?

It’s been 30 years since I was in college, but I can honestly say that if I were just starting out in this business, I would be all over the Archive. I’m such a fan of television that I can’t wait to be able to watch some of the interviews on Google Video – with the men and women who inspired me, and continue to inspire me. One of the Archive legends now online is former NBC head Grant Tinker. Grant helped create “Must See TV” on Thursday nights! There’s also Norman Lear, Ted Turner, Steven Bochco, and so many more. The Archive was created to educate, entertain, and inspire future generations. I challenge you to look up your favorite TV show, learn about a favorite star, or discover more about some of the most important news events of the 20th century. I’m thrilled that the Foundation is finally able to introduce some of these interviews to the world, using the world’s most powerful delivery system – Google. Enjoy!
If you find a particularly interesting interview, please reply to this post with your recommendation.

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Sex on TV: How high are the stakes?

The Kaiser Family Foundation today released the study "Sex on TV 4," which found that sexual scenes on television have nearly doubled since 1998. (See the foundation's news release on the study at http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia110905nr.cfm.)

"Given how high the stakes are, the messages TV sends teens about sex are important," said Vicki Rideout, the Kaiser Family Foundation vice president who oversaw the study. "Television has the power to bring issues of sexual risk and responsibility to life in a way that no sex ed class or public health brochure really can."

Sure, television has the power to bring these issues to life more than sex ed classes or brochures, but in this age of technological proliferation, are the messages teens get about sex from TV really that important any more?

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2006?

The FCC has launched a web site that explains their obscenity, indecency and profanity rules – including enforcement actions and complaint procedures. The commission has made several attempts over the last few months to keep the “indecency rules regs” dialogue moving forward.

After Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 and Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 were kicked around. The Acts (ideas) have lost steam since February 04. H.R 310 is currently on the Senate Legislative Calendar. Make a prediction - will the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2006 pass? Will it take another “mammary gate” to push the public / house / senate over the edge?

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip