Re: Fred Rogers

[Aaron Read <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 10:22 AM 2/28/2003 -0800, you wrote:

>--- Dan Billings <billings@suscom-maine.net> wrote:
>
> > And what's wrong with that?  PBS needs income just
> > like any organization.
>
>Given all the merchandising PBS does for show-
>related merchandise, plus those "donor announcements"
>that sound like commercials, maybe the time has come
>for PBS (and possibly NPR) to go commercial. (With
>the government's permission). This way, "Sesame
>Street" would be brought to you not only by the
>letter G and the number 5, but also by Trix,
>Toys R Us, and McDonald's.

I think the problem with that idea is that inevitably the shows will become 
little more than inducements to buy the merchandise (a la The Transformers 
and G.I.Joe), rather than the other way around.

It's an old but true saying: "You can't sell a small part of your soul, you 
gotta sell it all."

Plus, as annoying as beg-a-thons can be...I think they're good for the 
stations to remember who it is they're supposed to be answering 
to.   Commercial stations know who pays the bills, and it ain't the 
viewers/listeners.

This mini-rant brought to you by the letters "F" and "U".   ;-)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron "Bishop" Read             aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels Consulting          AOL-IM: readaaron
http://www.friedbagels.com      Boston, MA