Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Studio 360 - Commentary: HBO Goes Public
interesting thoughts from kurt anderson: HBO as what PBS was meant to be
he wrote a column on it for new york magazine, too
Studio 360 - Commentary: HBO Goes Public: "Think of it: we now expect any new HBO series to be very good, at least, or sometimes even great. That has never happened before in American television.
36 years ago, PBS was created with the grandest intentions. And PBS still broadcasts a few essential shows – The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer chief among them.
But these days pretty much every serious, original TV movie about history or current events is produced by HBO. PBS, on the other hand, airs...Antiques Roadshow. And the corporate underwriting spots on PBS look to me a lot more like advertisements than anything I see on HBO.
In fact, it seems to me that as a creator of programming, it's HBO that has fulfilled that original public TV dream –it costs $12 or $15 a month to subscribe, but it has become America's great advertising-free oasis of smart, enlightened, innovative, risk-taking television."
he wrote a column on it for new york magazine, too
Studio 360 - Commentary: HBO Goes Public: "Think of it: we now expect any new HBO series to be very good, at least, or sometimes even great. That has never happened before in American television.
36 years ago, PBS was created with the grandest intentions. And PBS still broadcasts a few essential shows – The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer chief among them.
But these days pretty much every serious, original TV movie about history or current events is produced by HBO. PBS, on the other hand, airs...Antiques Roadshow. And the corporate underwriting spots on PBS look to me a lot more like advertisements than anything I see on HBO.
In fact, it seems to me that as a creator of programming, it's HBO that has fulfilled that original public TV dream –it costs $12 or $15 a month to subscribe, but it has become America's great advertising-free oasis of smart, enlightened, innovative, risk-taking television."
