Tough for Convention Telly Abroad
By Denis Campbell • Aug 26th, 2008 • Category: Politics Too
Ten years abroad and I have to say it is getting better. I now have C-SPAN and MSNBC streaming live convention feeds on each computer, CNN is taping on SKY+ in case Mr. Sandman calls before 5 am local time. The DNCC have an amazing online HD Player for streaming video that is better than my telly, they just need to sync up with broadcast as it ran 4 minutes behind last night.
Listen to me complain.
Ten years ago, following US Congressional elections from rural Eastern Holland was impossible. It was 1963 all over again as we had four terrestrial Dutch (and three German) channels and one could only see CNN in an airport, hotel or online via a dial-up connection. FOX was blessedly missing from the mix so I only remembered Bill O’Reilly from his bad hair days at Access Hollywood.
Here in the UK though Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB (Sky), news the options are limited to the BBC’s channels, CNN, CNBC (financial) and his holdings: Sky News and Fox. Because of the ongoing feud between Rupert Murdoch (arrr) and Keith Olbermann, we’ll not likely get MSNBC live here anytime soon.
With the satellite dish we have hundreds of choices, just not many good ones… I can watch poker 24/7 or rip-off quiz call-in shows that make millions on people dialling and re-dialling because they know the answer but can never get through.
BBC Radio is quite good and well structured. Last night’s visit to the studios one saw a NASA like array and four people manning the desk. I remember in the old days we had one producer we had to wake up every so often. Good Evening Wales had 4 in the booth.
So as I complain, three shows run in the background. This campaign is bad for my health. I sit for far too long each day monitoring and writing. Yesterday I at least got out of the house to go to BBC studios for an interview segment but I am now feeling leg muscles atrophy.
The telly makers all want me to get the latest HD set yet Sky only has a small percentage of their offerings available in HD. That does not seem to stop the flood of them out the door. Obama sends me text messages and e-mails as does McCain and I’m growing tired of them both. Convergence maybe good for them but not for me.
I just want to watch John Stewart’s show from last night and am not having much luck…
Time to stretch again.
Denis Campbell is a journalist, author and businessman.
From a farmhouse in South Wales overlooking the Irish Sea, he and his wife run Target Point Ltd, an EU-wide strategy firm working with global businesses across a dozen industries on clarifying and executing strategy and changing their culture and focus. As a businessman living in the EU for 10-years, writing was a passionate hobby. He began blogging in 2006 with a number of pieces examining the corrupt climate of deception in the billion dollar spiritual self-help industry and re-published collected business, political and lifestyle features published across the EU since 2001. It has since grown into The Vadimus Post, from the Latin Quo Vadimus – where are we headed? (…and do we know why?), a daily e-magazine for those wanting to dig deeper, learn more together and dialogue on the key issues of the day.
Thanks for visiting and feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions.
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