LeSSons from morning television

Let’s start this off with an admission I take pride in: I do not watch much television. I would be happy to only turn on the television when I actually made a conscious choice to sit down and watch a program. I don’t like passive watching, or watching for no good reason.

From Harlan Ellison, I learned Sturgeon’s Law (by science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon): 90% of anything, whether it be television, movies, music, or books, is crap. In the case of television, I think the crap ratio may be higher than that. (Or maybe that’s the book lover in me talking.)

These days, I wake up at around 7 a.m., even on weekends. I want to know what is going on, so I turn on a morning news show. At 7 a.m., it’s always CBS This Morning.

Why that show?

Well, I can explain it using S-sounds, because I’m a punner at heart:

See-Bee-Ess (CBS) This Morning contains Solid news, Substance, and Smarts. It is not Salacious, Sensational, Stuffed with Sell-ebrities, or often Stupid like the other two network morning Shows.

And that, Sadly, is why CBS This Morning is third in the ratings.

But is that such an awful fate?

CBS This Morning gives what the other two shows do not. It has a loyal audience who would not be happy if it changed too much.

In business, I would rather offer good quality, and have a small yet devoted audience, than dumb down the content for the sake of popularity – and then no longer be proud of my product.

I’d rather be a Sturgeon 10 Percenter, thank you very much.