From The Vault: The Incredible Shrinking TV Screen - The Kenner Star 2010

    Lest you think that news teases in newspapers, on TV and on the web are my only gripe, (as I complained in 2008), think, as they say, again. Possibly of bigger concern to me is the way our TV screens are being cluttered these days, not just in newscasts, but in regular television programming. You cannot watch a drama, sitcom or movie without some animated promo scooting across the bottom of the screen taking up a minimum of a third of the picture. This, in addition to the permanent ID logo in the lower right hand corner. There are some exceptions, including Turner Classic Movies which sometimes removes their little logo in the lower right, and once in a while PBS will show you graphic-free TV.

    But, of course, the biggest offenders are TV news and sports programs, both broadcast and cable. You will never see a screen completely devoid of graphics showing only the visual of the person being interviewed or the scene being captured by news cameras. You will see, in addition to that abominable headline crawl at the bottom of the screen, a two inch tall banner above it with the name of the person on camera, or the topic being discussed. When I was in television, we called that information a “super” for “superimposition.” These days “super” means “supercede” as far as I’m  concerned. Certainly they are super-impositions.  Many times you can’t even see the chin of the person talking. Then, the producers will cram as many talking heads as they can in one screen, with a few more messages, signs and promos. There will come a day when the square viewing area of a 29 inch screen will be about two inches. The problem is even worse on big screen TV. One expects  to see a big picture on a 50 inch screen, but, because the proportion is the same,  the watchable portion of the screen is no bigger percentage wise than on a regular TV. Am I exasperated? Yes. Am I exaggerating? No.
    Once, in an “Eddytorial,” on radio, I tried to get the listening audience to imagine what the radio equivalent to a cable newscast screen would sound like. What with one person reading the news, another giving the weather, a third giving sports and a fourth doing the stock market report, all at the same time, I created the greatest cacaphony you could ever imagine. I summed up by saying that the noise you are hearing is just as confusing as what the eyes are seeing on TV.
    My biggest complaint is against cable sports shows, specifically ESPN. When showing game or event highlights, many times the action is obliterated by onscreen graphics, be they on the top, bottom, left or right of the screen. The most egregious example is the re-run of the Santonio Holmes touchdown reception in the final minutes of Superbowl 43. Having watched it several times on several different programs after the game, it appeared to me that the man did not have both toes touching terra firma inside the endzone. It appeared that his back foot was resting on his other foot which was on the ground. During the actual game, the referee signaled touchdown, and the Steelers won the game. An official replay left the touchdown in tact and Pittsburgh was Champion of the World. When the Saints won Superbowl 44, the Holmes catch was once again replayed on ESPN, but I could not see what either foot was doing because the graphics at the bottom of the screen covered them.  I recently saw a still photo by still photo breakdown of the play on the internet, and most of the still pictures made it appear the back foot was, indeed, resting on the other foot. But, two shots from different angles made it look like both feet were touching the ground. So I guess the tie goes to the runner. My point is that viewers watching the same shows I was, should have been able to get a definitive look at the play, but could not because of all the junk at the bottom of the screen.
    I guess with the world falling apart, with jobs disappearing, with earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis killing thousands, with oil spills floating our way of life down the toilet, this issue of the shrinking TV screen might not really be a big deal. It has accomplished one thing, however. It has made me turn off the TV and start reading books. We have more control over books. Books are like old time radio when we could see all the action in our mind’s eye. The hero looked like whatever we wanted him to look like. Yeah, that’s the ticket! I’ll just read books...and maybe newspapers. We need to save the newspaper anyway.
    But, sadly, more than likely the vast majority of those who actually switch off the TV will wind up reading their books on electronic devices, and I will probably be one of them. I can see it now: I pick up my Kindle, or iPad, and there, before my very eyes, “Stocks tumble to all time low...” crawls very slowly across the screen at the bottom of page 37 of “War and Peace.” To be followed, no doubt, with “...details on page 937.”