Producer Declares War on TV’s ‘Whack Weekends’

AIM Tell-A-Vision® Group (AIM TV) is kicking off a campaign against “Whack Weekends” on broadcast television. The company outlined four areas where it believes some producers and distributors of first-run syndication are misleading some affiliates and viewers. They are…

1)   Inappropriate Content – Mature-themed content featuring young women doing a jiggly array of so-called “sports” such as jump rope, crab walking, and more while dressed in bikinis. This content is often featured in a show presented as a “sports blooper” show, which is inappropriate during most of the broadcast day. In some cities, the show’s theoretical “sports” theme too often airs when families with young children watch.

2)   Lazy Content – Content from producers that feature Electronic Press Kits footage as the primary basis for shows rather than original material is lazy. Many of these same producers lazily insert a plethora of archaic “Be Right Back” or “Don’t Go Away” teasers or end credits that can last over one minute, seemingly to reduce the cost of their content.

3)   Jammed With Commercials – Content that is jammed with more than an industry-standard national commercial inventory load is driving viewers from broadcast TV. Research has shown that many viewers see such heavy loads of ads as negatively affecting their perception of the show and the stations on which the offending show(s) air.

4)   Non-Evergreen Dated Content – Content is presented as contemporaneous but is so dated and non-evergreen that it is uncompelling and irrelevant when it airs.

Robert G. Rose, the long-time broadcasting veteran, and President of AIM Tell-A-Vision (AIM TV) Group, has created the campaign, which features a short video available at 2Whack4Weekends.com and at aimtvgroup.com/toowhack and other platforms to help raise awareness of the issue.

“I’ve watched the quality of some weekend television decline even as viewers’ choices have exploded. This is a recipe for a death spiral that can certainly affect other dayparts,” explained Rose. “Programmers are tasked with overseeing more hours of content than ever. While it can be difficult to stay on top of and weed out the small number of producers and distributors that don’t seem to respect affiliates or viewers, we must,” Rose continues. “Only then can broadcasters have a healthy eco-system of producers of broadcast-first content that can compete with a plethora of other platforms. In a fragmented landscape, details matter, and weekends most definitely matter.”

ABOUT AIM TELL-A-VISION GROUP

AIM Tell-A-Vision (AIM TV) Group is an independent production, content, and distribution company founded by media veteran and entrepreneur Robert G. Rose. Since 2000, AIM TV has been producing and distributing positive, compelling content that reflects a mission of presenting “Media That Matters.” Visit AIMTVGroup.com for more information.