When I was a broadcasting pup, every hour of every broadcast day, radio and television, was important. Nothing was thrown away.
CBS in the 70's had a fantastic Saturday night schedule. Now, Saturday nights are where you find sports and returns. By the way, there is nothing wrong with sports. Advertisers and viewers love it. The networks gave up on Saturday nights long ago, and NBC is considering dumping its 10 pm hour permanently, seven nights a week.
Daytime TV? Fun game shows and soaps. Both genres committed the sin of appealing to an older demographic. Gone.
Radio used to be live and local 24/7. We had an old saying that if a radio station sounds good at 10 am on a Sunday, it's a good station. Now, it's infomercials and "best of" talk. It's the same thing with the overnight shift. That was a place where you experimented and developed young talent. Now? Sports talk, very biased political talk shows, and that silly man who yaps endlessly about Martians.
I benefitted from pulling a lot of overnighters. It was a place to learn, maybe make some mistakes, and grow.
Yes, I know it's become an on demand, streaming and podcast world. We watch and listen to what we want, when we want it. Stations and networks no longer dictate when we can view and listen to things.
I still long for the time when every minute was a priority and an opportunity to showcase all you can do.
