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From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Disappointment !
Message-ID: <4258@well.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 21-Oct-87 03:15:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: well.4258
Posted: Wed Oct 21 03:15:46 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 23-Oct-87 05:30:27 EDT
References: <1659@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Distribution: na
Organization: Zik Zak
Lines: 38
Keywords: Network XXIII, securicams, and "his oh-so-clever controller".

[ Wall Street was here. ]

	Despite what the Nielson company may say, I think all the ratings
families have either been got at, or conspire to kill good shows.

	Even now, the advertising industry is questioning the value of TV
ratings as currently collected.  They complain about how, when a commercial
comes on, the viewer gets up and does something, or flips channels, thus
avoiding the commercial.  The ad companies don't like this.  They want us to
watch attentively while Mr. Whipple hawks Charmin, and could care less about
whether the show is any good.

	I think Max Headroom was killed by a combination of internal and
external TV politics.  It was too true to life (??!!).  It portrayed TV
executive board rooms and TV advertisers in a very bad light.  I suspect
this made a lot of high-powered people uncomfortable enough to apply
pressure to ABC to pull the show.  The ratings argument is just a
smokescreen.  'Hill Street Blues' was a poorly-rated show when it was
introduced, but NBC stuck with it, and it became very popular.  The same
could easily become true of Max Headroom if ABC were willing to give it the
chance.  But I suspect ABC's too spineless, preferring instead to bring us
endless re-runs of 'Monday Night Football' (can you say, "Thus far?").

	If you want any chance of reviving this show, write to ABC, or
better still, Lorimar Telepictures.  Convince Lorimar that the show is still
popular, and can be profitable if syndicated (witness: Star Trek: The Next
Generation).

	We'll put those Amigas to good use yet!

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape	ihnp4!ptsfa -\
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	      dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o	      The Only Way To Fly.	      hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
"Although there are technical differences between the quality of images
created on the Amiga and on our system, we feel that viewers could be misled
to believe otherwise, even with your disclaimers to the contrary."
		-- Ralph J. Guggenheim, Pixar