Friday, December 27, 2013

Phil Robertson 4 of 4: Duck Dynasty and The Black List

“Duck Dynasty” is the highest rated show on cable with 12 million viewers, outside of sporting events. The highest rated show on network television is “The Black List” (my favorite broadcast show) with 17 million viewers; just around 5% of the population.

In this war of ideas against this country of the United States, and the Judeo-Christian ethics on which it was founded, the front line is the airwaves. Outside of talk radio, we conservatives continually lament that liberals control the media, AKA mainstream media, sock puppet press, etc. etc.The liberal media in all entertainment mediums continues to put forth a valueless pop culture world view that is undermining the foundations of this nation and ultimately freedom itself.

In this modern age of so many choices, a station can have a hit show with as little as 3% of the population and claim the ideals it professes are representative of the majority. So the minority becomes the majority as long as no one of prominence on the airwaves, in all its various entertainment mediums of talk, song and story (including the news), will tell the public, the low information voter, otherwise.

When I consider “Duck Dynasty” and hear that each family member has an individual contract I wonder if all this was by design; if this controversy over Phil Robertson was preordained. At any rate, many are suggesting that “Duck Dynasty” change networks. I would suggest that they go over to broadcast television. Broadcast television is where the battle for the soul of this nation can be won and let me try to explain why.

If there is any technology that must be declared outdated it is AM radio. Yet AM radio is booming due to conservative talk radio; content that is in demand. Would conservative talk be as populace if one needed to purchase a subscription to listen to it? Radio is available to everyone, every car has one. Most homes still have radios, though some of those may be decades old now.

What happened to “Monday Night Football”? I am sure it gets great ratings but not as high as when they were on broadcast. Now “Sunday Night Football” is growing as the premiere game for the masses.

Further, in this economy, many are and will be ending their cable and satellite service contracts. If the choice is between keeping the cable TV or Internet service, Internet will always win. And now you can get TV over the Internet.

We had no paid television for a long time. As our situation improved and I saw the great variety broadcast TV offered with HD broadcasting I saw no reason to consider cable. Every HD broadcaster now can claim five or more digital stations within their band. There is all the old TV shows one can imagine available for free. We have at least three stations here in Milwaukee that broadcast only movies. PBS has a large variety over five channels, of documentary, British TV, cooking shows, home improvement, news and education programming among other things.

So I looked into TiVo, so I could pick and choose from this great variety and watch on demand. On demand is the trend of the future. TiVo was very expensive in comparison to an Internet TV box. We went with Roku for Internet TV. Now FOX and PBS have their shows available on demand for some time period after broadcast through Roku. All the networks have all their news shows available on demand after broadcast. If every broadcast network provides all their content for on demand viewing via Internet TV devices they will return to dominance and end paid TV as we know it. But… did they ever lose dominance?

Yes, there are many Internet TV stations, or apps as they are called, but there are too many, too amateur and too slipshod. People will revert to what they know and choose all the broadcast network apps along with a handful of Internet station apps that fit their viewing desires. Broadcast television will hold its’ dominant position and then grow in dominance.

What if “Duck Dynasty” went to broadcast? Could it achieve 10%, 20% or even 25% or greater viewership? What if some brave network took up the conservative and/or moral cause and started producing shows that represent the God loving people of this nation and gained 20% plus ratings on a regular basis. No words of others could deny what represents American culture.

Glenn Beck has produced his own network, available for a fee on Roku. Sarah Palin and others have found spots on cable to create their own shows that I am sure will get great ratings. My family, and many others, will never have the opportunity to watch them from our homes. There is a lot of such programming being produced, programming that could reach ratings not seen in forty years if they could be put on broadcast prime time.

Yes, there are many barriers perhaps even with the FCC, but these are fights that need to be fought. Right now Phil Robertson and his hit show “Duck Dynasty” have captured the attentions of the nation. It is time to make a move, to take the offensive.

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