Did OTA Channels Go Down Hill?

[TNGTony]

When I took a broadcasting class in college in 1980 the professor said right off the bat: "To the viewing public, every year seems to be worse than the last year. You have to fight nostalgia. Viewers only remember the few good shows that come out every year, or their favorite old shows. They forget shows like "My Mother the Car", "Brady Bunch Hour", and that recent gem of the TV universe, "Super Train" ever existed.
I never forgot that. It's so true. Look back at the TV line-ups and you will find it loaded with crap!

 

[TNGuy84]

I think the government mandated E/I stuff killed off the Saturday morning cartoon blocks. When I was kid, they didn't care if the stuff they aired was educational in nature. They aired something that was entertaining with ratings. Now, all of those Saturday morning shows have that E/I logo at the top to meet the standards for broadcasting. We can't let the kids have fun on Saturday. We've got to treat them like they're in school on Saturday mornings.

 

[Justin Hill]

I think the government mandated E/I stuff killed off the Saturday morning cartoon blocks. When I was kid, they didn't care if the stuff they aired was educational in nature. They aired something that was entertaining with ratings. Now, all of those Saturday morning shows have that E/I logo at the top to meet the standards for broadcasting. We can't let the kids have fun on Saturday. We've got to treat them like they're in school on Saturday mornings.

That was until Sinclair Broadcast Group started adding KidsClick to their MyNetworkTV, FOX and CW affiliates alongside their E/I content in 2017.

Line Up Of TV Shows | KidsCLICK.com

 

[TNGTony]

The educational requirement to TV stations has been around since the 1950s. We're talking 3 hours PER WEEK. What did change is that now the stations have to identify the I/E programs on air.
What killed off Saturday morning cartoons is the availability of cartoons on a dozen channels on cable and streaming 24/7. No need to wait for Saturday Morning. Ratings for Saturday morning cartoons were always dismal. News gets better ratings, and it's all about the bucks.

 

[N5XZS]

Beside E/I TV shows are making kid fat and lazy. And it's overequlated by the FCC and dumb congress critters.

 

[Justin Hill]

Beside E/I TV shows are making kid fat and lazy. And it's overequlated by the FCC and dumb congress critters.

I preferred to be entertained by the TV, educated by the internet.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

Kid will always get access to ota, cable and satellite no matter what. Most parents are too lazy to set up so called rating lockout system.

Do kids even watch TV these days? I figured it'd be mostly streaming these days, along with whatever else they might find on the internet. I remember stumbling onto porn sites in the days of dialup when looking for Simpsons fan sites. Free anatomy lessons just a click away!

 

[harshness]

It isn't easy to appeal to a group that has access to everything. Scandal is the new reality and much of that can't be shown OTA.

 

[Magic Static]

When I was a kid we didn't own a TV very often. But I remember Saturday mornings warming up the TV on a "Test Pattern" waiting for the broadcast day to start. We had two channels of cartoons until noon. Then it was outdoors for the rest of the weekend, mostly fishing.

My kids don't watch TV but have no interest in fishing.

 

[mdonnelly]

When I was a kid we didn't own a TV very often. But I remember Saturday mornings warming up the TV on a "Test Pattern" waiting for the broadcast day to start. We had two channels of cartoons until noon. Then it was outdoors for the rest of the weekend, mostly fishing.

My kids don't watch TV but have no interest in fishing.

And we walked 5 miles to school every day. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways.

 

[Magic Static]

And we walked 5 miles to school every day. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways.

It was eight miles, but we rode the bus. Only idiots would walk around in Montana winters.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Only idiots would walk around in Montana winters.

That reminds me of the movie Nebraska, where Bruce Dern is out wandering around the streets of Billings.

 

[edisonprime]

I remember when ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, UPN and FOX had Saturday morning cartoon blocks. They were all replaced with the Litton educational block.
CW discontinued their Vortexx Saturday morning block in the early 2010s and replaced it with another Litton block.
I remember when WB, UPN and FOX did weekday afternoon cartoons, but they've abandoned those blocks in favor of daytime and syndicated programs.

It was because of cable/satellite TV's Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network that Saturday morning cartoons were once thought to be extinct...

Saturday/weekday morning cartoons came back, thanks to Sinclair Broadcast Group's KidsClick syndicated cartoon block that is broadcast on Sinclair-owned CW, MyNetworkTV and FOX affiliates. Some of these affiliates air the block alongside their respective Litton blocks.

In addition to those affiliates, KidsClick also airs on digital subchannels ThisTV and TBD.

CW ended their Saturday morning block just like 2 or 3 years ago (can’t remember exactly), so it was more like mid-2010’s versus early 2010’s. I happen to remember watching Justice League Unlimited and The Spectacular Spider-Man on it shortly before the block ended.


Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[Mister B]

When I took a broadcasting class in college in 1980 the professor said right off the bat: "To the viewing public, every year seems to be worse than the last year. You have to fight nostalgia. Viewers only remember the few good shows that come out every year, or their favorite old shows. They forget shows like "My Mother the Car", "Brady Bunch Hour", and that recent gem of the TV universe, "Super Train" ever existed.
I never forgot that. It's so true. Look back at the TV line-ups and you will find it loaded with crap!

I find this to also be true with popular music. I often reminisce about how many great songs and artists there were in the 1970's and 80's. One of our local radio stations here in El Paso replays an episode of Casey Kasem's top 40 show from the 1970's. Especially for those songs in the lower chart positions, I often think, "there were sure a lot of awful songs in the 1970's".

 

[Clarbear]

Just how many NCIS, Law and Order and Chicago this or that shows can one endure.

I personally love watching those shows. Those reruns of them I like to watch over and over.

 

[Clarbear]

There has been some changes over the years some good and bad. Some of those talk shows and some of the court shows can go off the air and put on some newer fresh shows. But I do enjoy in, Create tv on PBS sub channels and in life.

Gordon Ramsey shows on FOX are one of my favorite shows. Some of them can be hilarious to watch. Beat Shazam is fun to watch as well. Otherwise others are pretty much up for grabs.

 

[Clarbear]

Ion TV used to be really good way back when it was called Pax TV.

I do miss some of those shows as well. Sometimes I wish that they put some of those shows on in. It would be better with those shows.

 

[Clarbear]

What's worse they always chopped up high quality R rated movies made in the USA. That's was killing the FTA local stations can't compete against HBO. Local stations are hand tied by the lame duck FCC. Europeans stations show uncut R rated movies made in USA over the air! That's why our TV shows and movies are all chopped up and bleeped to death and no wonder we tune out save for sports and news.
Sad but somday the FCC will be overhauled.

I hope that is sooner.

 

[Clarbear]

I think the government mandated E/I stuff killed off the Saturday morning cartoon blocks. When I was kid, they didn't care if the stuff they aired was educational in nature. They aired something that was entertaining with ratings. Now, all of those Saturday morning shows have that E/I logo at the top to meet the standards for broadcasting. We can't let the kids have fun on Saturday. We've got to treat them like they're in school on Saturday mornings.

I miss the Saturday morning cartoons especially the ones that I grew up with. But I do enjoy some of the e/i programs that are being aired.

 

[Clarbear]

The educational requirement to TV stations has been around since the 1950s. We're talking 3 hours PER WEEK. What did change is that now the stations have to identify the I/E programs on air.
What killed off Saturday morning cartoons is the availability of cartoons on a dozen channels on cable and streaming 24/7. No need to wait for Saturday Morning. Ratings for Saturday morning cartoons were always dismal. News gets better ratings, and it's all about the bucks.

It's sad but true.