Recent Comments:
Engadget HD Podcast 073 - 02.20.2008 {Engadget HD}
Feb 21st 2008 1:12PM I have also stopped buying feature films altogether. Maybe it's because I'm just older now, but I see now how buying feature films is akin to flushing money down the drain because I never revisited them. It turns out, the only DVDs I ever come back to on a regular basis were Music & Concert DVDs.
So when I eventually purchase a HDM player, I'll be renting 98% of my discs and only purchasing Concert discs and perhaps 2-3 "must have showcase discs" that every true gadget nerd needs to show-off their system.
Reality TV pushing HD off as long as possible {Engadget HD}
Feb 21st 2008 12:47PM Yeah, but it also took over 70 camera crews and 5 years to produce Planet Earth. Plus, they obviously weren't shooting Planet Earth on the same kind of shooting schedule or the same kind of budget as Survivor where I'd image crews must submit hundreds of hours of footage on a DAILY basis for editing.
Look, as many have already said, it ALL COMES DOWN TO PROFIT MARGIN. The only reason networks are so in love with Reality and Gameshow TV is because relative to Scripted shows, Reality/Gameshow programs have a MUCH higher Profit-to-Cost ratio. I'd guess ad dollar buys are relatively equal between scripted vs reality TV (with the exception of blockbuster shows), but RealityTV requires very little production support relative to scripted shows making them cheap to produce.... few to no writers, little to no lighting/set design/set construction, no FX & CGI studio support, etc... Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that increases production costs in the slightest for Reality TV isn't viewed as beneficial by the networks.
Reality TV is akin to printing money. If you're minting nickels, you don't use 24k gold. You use zinc. If you're making dog food, you don't grind up Kobe beef... It's just bad economics.
