CSI, TNN, syndication and that stupid bar at the bottom!...

[todd s]

I just picked the Panasonic dmr-e20 dvd burner. So I want to record CSI, which is one of my favorite shows. My problem is this. I know it is going into syndication this fall. I heard it will be on TNN. And they use put that horrible black bar at the bottom. I wouldn't mind a station logo in the corner or even a occasional popup version of the bar. But, they leave it on ALL the time and fill it with preview info on other shows. I know this has been discussed before with TNN's viewings of Trek. But, this is nonsense. Does anyone know if CSI will be on any other channels besides TNN?? I am hoping it will be like ER that is on a few different channels in syndication.
Here is a link to tnn comment page. I urge all of the membeship to complain about the bar. Remember if it is allowed on TNN. The other stations will start doing it all the time also. http://www.thenewtnn.com/mail_form.jhtml
ps-Their sure are a lot of abbreviated titles (ie-CSI,TNN, TNG,ER, etc).

 

[Wade K]

Done...this annoys the hell out of me as well. As if station bugs weren't bad enough...

 

[CharlesD]

Done. I told them that I do not watch their channel any more (even TNG re-runs

) because of that damn bar.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

It may be in once a week syndication on broadcast networks

Hopefully TNN will finally REALLY realize that if they want to dump their original audience of inbred hicks, they can't chase away these new customers by squishing their shows.

 

[Keith Paynter]

I have found a suitable solution to watching TNN. I watch it on my computer with my Video/TV capture card, and just use the full-screen mode, turning off the aspect ratio lock, and hilighting only the important picture area, wich becomes zoomed and gets rid of the bottom bar, and expands the vertical portion so the picture looks normal again!

This also works great on "Boxed channels like CTV Newsnet, MSNBC, and other channels that shrink the picture and fill the rest with news/weather/ads/stocks and stats!

*just flipped to TNN and WWF is on (:b), and the black bars are strangely absent!! Is this because the program is a TNN exclusive??

 

[Jack Briggs]

But, Keith, that you're having to do this at all! Wouldn't it be nice to return to the stress-free days of station-bugless television?

That's one reason why the Star Trek: The Next Generation DVD boxsets are such a relief: pristine picture, terrific sound--and no damn TNN message bar/station logo and compressed image.

The hell with TNN. Let them continue to cater to the audience Jeff Kleist so accurate identifies: inbred hicks.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Do you really think Vince McMahon would allow them to black bar his show? TNN need him a lot more than he needs them.

 

[Dennis Reno]

Thanks for the link Todd. I just sent an email voicing my concerns regarding the black bar. Until it is removed, no TNN for me.

 

[MickeS]

Keith, on some shows they don't have the black bar. Basically, they know that people hate it, so for the high-profile programming they don't use it.

/Mike

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Squeezing then unsqueezing an image is going to add artifacts. Not to mention whatever time compression and editing that they'll do to the show to add commercials.

Better off getting the import DVD boxsets and a region-free player.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Hopefully TNN will finally REALLY realize that if they want to dump their original audience of inbred hicks,

:smacks Jeff across the face with a glove:

My grandparents are by no means inbred or hicks. Since they are far too kind-hearted to express their bitter disappointment in this generation's bizarre pop-culture bigotry, I fear it falls to me to defend their honor.

The Nashville Network was a good station. It was not my cup of tea, but it filled a niche very well, delivering well-produced, family-friendly entertainment to an underserved demographic. The USA/TNT knock-off CBS and later Viacom have turned it into is a sad sign of the homogenization of television; that Viacom struggles mightily to transform a station that good and kind people could count on for low-key, G-rated entertainment into the kind of generic 18-to-34-demo-chasing "edgy" cancer that proudly announces an animated series named "Striperella" is not something to cheer, nay, but something to mourn.

 

[todd s]

I am shocked that they were able to get CSI. Hopefully, they will not put the bar on this show.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Jason, sorry, but the station could not have been more stereotypical. Country music, tractor pulls, Dukes of Hazzard (OK, I LIKE Dukes of Hazzard), rodeos etc.

TNN went from bad to worse, at least back then they had Dukes w/o the black bar

 

[MickeS]

I have never watched CSI. When does TNN start airing it? If they don't have the bar on it, I think I'm gonna watch it, it seems like a good show.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Ahh, The Jeff'n'Jason Show, our own little acre of TNN paradise!
In this particular match, I'm placing my money on Jeff--I think he has the TNN demographic read pretty well. Perhaps Jason's grandparents are the exception to the rule? Jason himself notwithstanding, I am sure his granparents are nice people!

 

[Jason Seaver]

I'm placing my money on Jeff--I think he has the TNN demographic read pretty well.

You'd be pretty close to dead wrong. Well before CBS started changing TNN into another USA, it had market penetration right up there with ESPN, MTV, and all the other top-tier cable stations. That's why Viacom opted to change TNN rather than start a new station - it had already earned its place as a solid performer nationwide, in urban and rural areas, and they wouldn't face an uphill battle just getting their channel onto cable systems.

And, of course, here's a bit of funny irony - all of them "dumbing down" has come as they move further away from the country music demographic. Listening to "arguments" such as Jeff spouts, I'm not sure their marketing guys don't have a point.