I stumbled across this tidbit about the fate of the History Channel
From
TV Tropes - Network decay
TV Tropes - Network decay: Total abandonment
Perhaps this is because to a certain extent, genres in which it is possible to be highbrow are also genres in which it is possible to be lowbrow (symphony vs. hip hop pop, historically accurate documentary vs honey boo boo.) So they can stoop to being lowbrow without changing their genre.
Whereas for genres like sci-fi, the concept of highbrow vs lowbrow is not as well defined.
if a la carte programming was an option, I’d get like 15 channels. probably still pay $100 but I’d be much happier about it.
Doomsday Preppers is probably the most disappointing show for me. I’ve never actually watched it, but every time I see that it’s on in the guide (which is every time I page past NatGeo) I read it as Doomsday Peppers. For a couple seconds I wonder what could possibly make them doomsday peppers. That’s got to be some quality TV. I catch the ‘r’ I missed right before I check it out and am crushed just a little bit. Every time.
More to the point of this thread, if it had really been Doomsday Peppers then when I’m at the bar tonight I’d probably start at least one conversation with, “So I was watching this show about peppers the other day…” When I finished relating what I thought was the most fascinating pepper story ever, somebody else would cut in to regale us with something they saw about a guy who built a multi-story bunker in his back yard.
Reason #53 that I love the BBC, and BBC4 in particular. We’ve got a sexy Danish political drama, a documentary about Thomas Chippendale (the chairmaker, not the male stripper), a Polish spy drama, a show about steam train journeys of the world, an interview with the late Sir Patrick Moore, a travel show, and…Glen Campbell. And no commercials ever (apart for other programs). The license fee is well-deserved, say I.
BBC4 also hosts one of the most highbrow television game shows anywhere, Only Connect. Play the Wall if you dare.
I thought he was both, like the late Earn Warren.
It wouldn’t be country music, would it? I really liked the idea until my wife pointed out it would probably be country music.
I’d watch that.
There was and it was awesome. It gave us all the awesome shows in the quote below. Now it is dead.
That was when it was SciFi. Then they decided they wanted to “brand” so they can make money off of the “brand” and since you can’t copyright “SciFi” they changed to SyFy.
Now all the “science fiction” shows are “Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopuss”, “Mega Snake Vs. Giant Fish”, “Mega Werewolf Vs. Giant Werewolf Hunter” and “Mega Butterfly Vs. Giant Woman with Giant Bush”.
Those sound boring. I’ll take “Honey Boo Boo”, “Duck Dynasty” or “Ow! My Balls” over those.
Actually, I believe the broadcaster has to also rent bandwidth from the service provider: you cannot just make up a channel and demand a slot in the cable/satellite lineup. Then some amount of subscription revenue goes to the broadcaster, which helps pay the rent for their channel.
I’ve never heard that; I always understood that the cable company paid a fixed amount per subscriber to the cable channel, but never heard that cable channels had to pay “rent” to the cable company. Do you have any further information on that?
I cannot find the specific piece, but I got that impression from reading an article on the Qataris buying up al Gore’s network a few weeks back. And really, it makes sense. Consider the premiums, why should ComQwest have to make an effort to sell Starz! to subscribers without some kind of guarantee that they can get direct revenue from the channel?
Hey! When is “Ow! My Balls” on and on what channel? I’ve seen “Honey Boo Boo” and “Duck Dynasty”, and I’ve decided to watch high quality medical shows as well.
Day and time please? For PVR purposes.
In all seriousness, I’m truly surprised someone hasn’t actually tried to make this show.*
*And no, [Wherever]'s Funniest Home Videos doesn’t count.
Ahhhhh, so the “F” in AFV stands for “funny”. I would have thought it stood for something else entirely.
Why not? OK, how about Jackass. Let’s face it, “Ow My Balls” isn’t the future of television, it’s the past.
Of course, people are still spouting that old (and wrong) chestnut about us being the product, so obviously some TV watchers just don’t get it.
So, did The Nashville Network changing to Spike TV count as going more lowbrow, or was it moving up?
It’s like a Möbius strip of class.
If I’m the product, why aren’t they paying me rather than the other way around? 
The main purpose of the subscription is to motivate you to watch the programming, thus putting eyes/ears on the ads (curse that mute button and DVR FF). If you were not paying for it, you might hardly watch it, but since the subscription costs you money, you might as well watch it to get your money’s worth.