When Brands Lose Their Identity

I was spurred to post this short rant by something on Graph Jam.

(Image from linked post on Graph Jam).

I have noticed that some of the cable channels I used to love don’t do what they used to do. I mostly DVR shows now, but one night, I felt like watching the History Channel. Except the entire night was American Pickers. No battleships. No Hitler. No Mayans. Not even the Civil War or Ancient Rome. Nope. Auctions and yard sale trash. Or maybe it was one of those pawn shop shows with a name that is a euphemism for pr0n.

Then I tried the Discovery Channel, another previous favorite of mine. Same thing. Auctions and custom motorcycles.

SyFy has gotten rid of most of it’s good shows. All that seems to be left are Ghost Hunters, variations on Ghost Hunters, and wrestling. They killed everything cool, including Stargate Universe, which ended season two on one heck of a cliffhanger. Now we’ll never know what happened next. Did Eli fix the stasis pod or die? Did he come up with another solution? Did Destiny make it to the next universe and escape the drones? Bastards.

From a business perspective, I understand the need to bring in advertisers and investors. But as a viewer, well, why do the shows I like keep going away?

It just goes to show you the truth of a proverb I read on Facebook: If you’re receiving a service for free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product.