Most have heard.
Most don't care.
I mean who really pays attention to where their favourite reality-rock-show is coming from? As long as JD Power is hosting, singing or dancing on the screen we don't care about the particulars.
But should we?
The convergence of media ownership in the world (not just Canada, the USA, but everywhere) is a dangerous prospect. While all media conglomerates can assure us that no overt censorship or control ever occurs at their channels/papers/stations, the fact is the media business (both news and entertainment) is controlled and regulated as a top-down empire. While over censorship often does not occur (though it DOES occur) the proliference of the like-minded business-people does occur. For entertainment this means the regurgitation of tried and true formulas and less risk. For news this means business over impact (flash and dash over substance and importance).
Don't believe me? Then why is it we have not one, but five rock-star reality shows on television right now (and this DOES NOT include longer-running reality shows that deal with rock-stars that have fallen, such as the Surreal Life or Flavor-Flav's too-surreal-for-life show that airs on one of the speciality channels). And the impact ends up hurting quality productions. A friend recently commented that the threat of CBC being the target of a potential terrorist bombing had a positive bent: in his tongue-in-cheek style, he stated that the threat might actually prompt people to tune in to see what they are missing. The sad fact is, he is an award winning producer on an award winning news show. And the ratings are falling.
Now, there is obviously more to the decline of good media than media conglomeration. The Internet had a significant impact, as did cynical humour-based news-type spoofs such as The Daily Show, or the Onion (both fantastic in their own right).
But the fact is this increase in opportunity to access news and information means that media convergence can only provide fewer and fewer opportunitites to obtain new, relevant and interesting perspectives, rather than more.
Bell Globemedia is on its way to purchasing CHUM and as a result is poised to take control of Canada's last independent producer and some of the biggest television channels on cable and satellite television. Currently Bell owns the CTV networks as well as Discovery Channel. This buyout will give Bell Globemedia the CityTV channels as well as a network of other channels. It will also offer Bell an opportunity to control a slew of radio stations. Listing off the channels and acquisitions, one realizes that, if approved, this buyout will mean that Bell will have a monopoly in Canada's entertainment channels. Scary.
For more comments look to:
http://tbabble.blogspot.com/2006/07/bell-globemedia-to-buyout-chum.html
http://community.livejournal.com/canadianmedia/7793.html
http://andrewdewaard.com/2006/07/13/on-canada/
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