Why I am fed up with Hollywood

A quick scan of the news shows that there is always a lot going on in Hollywood. Whether it's new film releases, the usual who-hooked-up-with-who or who-dumped-who stories, or stars engaging in some form of debauchery, Hollywood has always been in the news.

I am fed up with all of this, and here is why.

First of all, I fail to understand how every minute detail of celebrities' lives are considered world news. Why should I care if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly splitting up? What difference does it make about what dress Julia Roberts wore to some awards show? Why does this all matter? As a journalist myself, I know what real news is, and it certainly isn't any of this rubbish. Real news deals with important world issues, like the Haiti earthquake situation, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and things happening in our community. You may have your own definition(s) of what real news is, but that is what I believe it is. I question the intelligence of anyone who thinks that the kind of dress someone wore to an awards show and how much it cost is major news.

And then there's the celebrities themselves. I hate to generalize, but a great many celebrities in Hollywood are very fake. Every day, I'm treated to stories like Heidi Montag getting 350 surgeries in 15 minutes, or something of that ilk. Why would someone want to do such a thing? I know that there appears to be a huge demand for perfection in Hollywod. If even the smallest thing looks out of place, it's time to go under the knife. These surgeries cost thousands of dollars, and these celebrities throw that money around like it's candy. In addition to that, some celebrities have extremely poor attitudes. We see it on TV and in the print media all the time. I'm sure by now we've all seen Mel Gibson's profanity-laced tirade against a reporter at least 400 times. Granted, the reporter might have set him off on purpose, but he could have handled that situation a lot better. Just because you're famous, it doesn't mean that you have adopt this whole "holier than thou" attitude and throw a temper-tantrum any time something makes you angry.

Lack of originality in the film industry is another thing that I find to be irritating. It seems that almost every movie released these days is a re-make, re-do, or re-imagination of a previous film. Sometimes, it's the third or fourth time this has happened. My 82-year-old Hungarian grandmother and I were discussing this at length last month, and we both agreed that there is almost no originality in Hollywood anymore. I recently heard that George Lucas wants to re-release all 48 of his Star Wars films again. They're great films and all, but is it really necessary to re-release all of them all over again? Have the idea wells really dried up, or are these screenwriters, directors, and producers just plain lazy? Kudos to people like James Cameron for giving us an exciting, original film with Avatar. Films like that are a breath of fresh air these days.

I'll stop ranting now and open up the floor for discussion. Do you think that the daily antics of celebrities in Hollywood should be conisdered as world news? Is the film industry really lacking originality these days? What do you think?

Two Montreal Radio Stations Go Dark

Above: As of January 29th, these two stations are no more.

Holy crap, I just remembered that I had a blog. LOL. Due to a reduced school schedule, I've got some extra time on my hands now, so updates will no longer as rare as they once were. So here is my first new post in more than a year. Enjoy.

The closure of two Montreal AM radio stations, CINW 940 & CINF 690 on January 29th have forced me to rethink about the future of terrestrial radio in the world.

The advent of satellite radio has made a much wider variety of programming available to the world, but at a cost for subscriptions. Terrestrial radio tries its best to offer listeners as much variety as possible for free in an attempt to keep up with satellite radio. However, over the past few years, numerous terrestrial radio stations across North America have been either reformatting or shutting down completely due to lack of an audience, or lack of interest. Drastic changes are sometimes the cause of the eroding audience.

Indeed, radio audiences have evolved over the years, with people wanting more and more out of terrestrial stations. Powerhouses like Virgin 96 and CJAD 800 have great sticking power due to their familiarity with Montreal audiences, but will they last? Will people continue to rely on these stations for the most popular music (96), or news and enlightening talk shows (800), even though satellite radio offers a wider variety of music and talk programming? It remains to be seen.

As a person who works in the industry (I'm a call screener / newscaster at CJRS AM 1650, and a huge radio geek to boot), I am very passionate about my medium. I love working in radio because it's a lot of fun, and there's always something new to learn. It is a wonderful experience. But with the announcement of the shutdown of two stations in the Montreal market, it has me a bit worried about my own future in the industry. Radio is an industry where change can happen in an instant. One minute, you might be working at a station with a steady job and enjoying yourself, but then suddenly, you and many of your co-workers might find yourselves with pink slips in hand. The management gives the usual canned response of "we wanted to go in a different direction." Nothing is forever in radio, especially in this day and age (and ecomonic situation). I like working in radio, but all of this uncertainty is forcing me to reconsider my options, which include print and online journalism.

CINW (formerly XWA, CFCF & CIQC) has had a long and illustrious history on the radio dial in Montreal. It began its life as XWA (short for Experimental Wireless Apparatus) in 1919, and was the first radio station in Canada. Originally on AM 600, it went through several different formats over the years. In the late '90s, it segued from a talk format on 600 to an all-news format on AM 940. This eventually evolved into a news talk format designed to compete with news talk mainstay CJAD. But compete it did not, forcing management to let almost everyone go and switch to an all-oldies format two years ago. The oldies format barely made a dent in the ratings, which forced Corus to shut down both CINW and sister station CINF because they were no longer profitable to run. Rather than continuing to watch them suffer, they decided to do the radio equivalent of euthanasia and shut them down.

CINF had been a French-language talk station for most of its on-air lifespan, swtching to an all-news format in 1999 (they had previously been on AM 850 with callsign CKVL). They too struggled to find an audience near the end, and they had a similar problem with their ratings too. To their credit, at least they didn't become a spinning wheel of formats like CINW did. Their all-news format remained relatively solid and unchanged over the years.

With that being said, the closure of these two stations is a blow to the Montreal radio market. The 940 kHz (kilohertz) frequency is among the most powerful in the city, but now, it will be silenced along with 690. In fact, both frequencies are clear channels, which are stations that have amazing nighttime signals that are free of interference. Both stations have been reported to have been picked up as far south as Vermont, and as far west as Cornwall, Ontario. A major media company would kill for such good 50kw (50,000 watt) signals. How the mighty have fallen.

What do you think about the state of terrestrial radio? Do you think it will last? Do you think there's still an audience for it?

Bonus: You can listen to the announcements from each station's general manager looped during CINW & CINF's last hours on air here: http://blog.fagstein.com/2010/01/29/corus-shuts-down-cinf-cinw/