TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: itunes is a RIPOFF

Re: itunes is a RIPOFF

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 10:17:30 -0700

Posters on the first three of various newsgroups, in a to date very
lengthy thread, have posted:

>> I stand behind it! My decision to dump TV was a good one and I'm
>> definitely happy with it.

> They called the area in which Leipzig or Dresden sits (I can't
> remember which city) the valley of the dumb during the time of the
> DDR, as the West German TV was not available to them because of the
> geography.

> So if you wish to separate yourself from the world in this way, go ahead.

> You will regret it one day, I assure you.

I just got in on the tail end of this thread, but I wonder if
something I heard (or think I recall hearing) on NPR the other day is
(a) true?, and (b) relevant -- viz.

Professional TV producers and other network personnel commonly
speak of "content" and "fill" in their TV programming.

To them, "content" refers (really!) to the **advertising** part of
their programming.

And "fill" refers to all the rest of stuff (aka junk) that they have
to (reluctantly) intersperse between the advertising, to get people
to watch the (much more important) "content".


1) If this is not true, apologies. I'm pretty sure I heard it, but I
was driving at the time and could have misheard it.

2 I've added comp.dcom.telecom to the reply list, not to drag that
group into the rest of this otherwise not very great thread, but because
there may be some professionals there who know if the above assertions
are correct.

3) Even if it's not true, it's entirely believable (especially to
anyone who's watched cable TV).

4) By this definition, certain TV channels -- e.g., the shopping and
"infomercial" channels -- have managed to reach the happy situation of
having 100% "content" and zero useless "fill".

5) If it's actually true, and it's NPR who let the secret out, you can
fully understand why the Bush administration is all out to kill NPR.

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