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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1995)
Taking REMOTE Control Sofa drones unite for their favorite TV shows By Amy Wu, New York U. ouch potatoes arc a feistv group. Instead ot going through hags ot chips and staring with gla/ed eves, they are handing together to save their favorite I \ slums. \nd thev’rc saving them am vva\ thev can !>\ adeems mg, selling I shirts, starting letter campaigns and even going on the Internet. I ans have flooded \II( offices <t ith c mail to save M\ S I ,/lh.l lift' from cancellation. Ihev’vc sold 1 shuts and have asked for contributions to advertise in ( S.l Todtiy and II Hindi I hex received form letters from \IK promising it was trying to save the critical I v acclaimed show, u Inch ran its last episode on Ian. 26, when it enjoyed its highest Nielsen rating ever. kuri Certain), an admitted l\ addict and MS( l. diehard, is a member >>l the Brass-roots movement that has emerged in cylicrspace Operation I lie Support. "Sev rut) five pertent id the whole acuvit) is on-line e-mail," (ierlaml sais, "either dis trihuttng information or writing other nuga/incs” lo Mcaghan Kynne. i sophomore n the l ot Maim md meiulier of ()1 s, the campaign would Ik* slower and more com li without the Internet She received a response trotn \B( sia r mill in one week " I hes never would have rcs|torulcd to snail mail,” she says Taking it to the streets M hether \/sr / is the lirst campaign on the Internet i*. questionable Dennis Morgan, a computer science mapir at Oregon State l , renumlK-rs cruising tin Internet and finding group efforts to save Im 1‘r.ih "Most viewers aren’t involved in \iclsen ratings," Morgan s.ns 'Most don't feel they have an influence,” Despite massive campaigns, shows like Brooklyn Rrtjgr, I'll 1 11 . I::jy II 'Hefront and l :.w 1‘raki weren’t renewed So win spend hours a day when networks mon strously loom over individual efforts? Dorothy Swanson, founder and presi dent of the }.QOO-mcmbcr Viewer* for Quality 1 elcMsion, says that campaigns can make a difference She credits her group with saving Dnigtimg H amm and Ognev jtui /-.rut \ 1 also worked nn rescuing MS( /„ >/ fn r and I mirr v< Despite tin outpouring of support !r«mi the media and ( lairc Danes’ (.olden (.lobe \ w ar.l fur her performjihc in MS( l. the show ’•» future ts still in IuuIni I u be saved, am endangered show must have rhe support ol critics, inertia, unfits in am! Ians Rating! game Hu! letters and phone rails won’t save shows, Nielsen numbers will Jatk ( urn, managing editor tor II (tUtJe. savs, "i( ampaigii'i tisualiv work when net works v* ant to renew the show am way" 1 o many, Nielsen is an ogre that devours great television The tale of I \ show-, lies ni the hands of 4,000 house h*dds randomlv selected b\ Nielsen Media Research designed to fit the l s census demographies Some audiences, like nun mg homes and college campuses, are not measured But customers specific net works or advertisers can request that Nielsen conduct a spot tai survey on a par rtcular target audience, such as college students or senior uti/.cits, Does NicKen cancel low-rated pro grams “We have nothing to do with what networks choose to air,” savs Susan ( htconc of Nielsen Media Research "All we do is provide ratings.” But Ray l amia, director of audience servii.es at ( BS, savs that the Nielsen rat mg'* influence whether shows stay nr go ‘Both the network jihI advertiser refer to Nielsen huuiUt’. tor reference |w*tms " f! the Nielsens don't tub » I \ show, the turn- slot might M un f.*»is, and <»tK< i s involved with \/V / Maine the %h<>M\ |*iw ratings on its H pm lluirsdav slot I hey i»c!*cvc the show shotthl be slated to run Liter m the event rig «o n\ mu up against c* 4 ) “It's totally crippled us. \jv> Winnie Hol/ltun, Cfr4tOf 4*u! mcuiumr prndu* cr of the show *|t iU mu suit the show \B( \pAo|H t,-»n ( hns \k wtulcr *.nv that vHiu- \1miws never find an audience atul that at fho jumri there is no time slot to name it to ** Ihc\ vc »{*inr on air promotion uunng the day and during Luis' shows."* Vkuruiff va\s " I hev\v run lommcrtuK \i< nnlut/ !o hsh Mclinn, i Michigan St i!> l senior ami IV cynic, there ate plents ul tans hi mtrnllcv. I V It ‘in'W <n \lfh ■ c is mi, mu know where e v e r\ ”»<• i Mclinn *ass " i Ntuilenisj like I'mnlus I V Nnu luiiii home truin' stiuhtug mj mu mi m limit ol the I V set anil Ih ioihc a lemon Melissa lican, a senior 4i Hrtgham N < 'uni,' l , s.ivs she Chios's the show "s < h.tl ii some intellectual ellorl mu* the show '>'0210 is mi-, it sou won to w,iuh some thing totally mindless " \ I I anger, who |ilass kiuiuir on WSf./, mss that the supjtumsc tan lease is essential to the show s success I lie slip port that’s come sijs jfront su-wCtsj is so appo i iateil.“ I anger s is s "Out show is on (HfKT canic 1 he nri»11rh's icj wmtftj; tin the lime lint ii that ii i j teen shn#. I lol/nun mi But when creating it tun years ago, she lixitt t see it as a teen nr Jilult shim “I saw it as a shim that itHtlil apjKal tn ittatvv different pco pie, she says \ hit it people III their ’Os are really into the show It slums that it's (Missible to appeal across lines " For lh« lov® of Huff ( ulfcge stinlcms don't always want Intel lectually stimulating or challenging shims Fans have flooded A BC offices with e-mail to save Mv So-C 'ailed Life from cancella tion. demanding of out .unit cm c It’s tilu- of the if w shows that gt\fs resiH t t to the audictte c H Inlf the ilf tmitmn of i|u.iltt\ programming foittmtu-v to he linked out liefwcen viewers and networks. I tollman holds l ist to her I»rlief that the uniqueness of MSt l. whose late will Ik- deoil ed in Mat, is worth a hi mill look Cut not saying were hetter entertain ment we’re another km.) ol entertainnient ■ luty II ■/ 1.1,1 ref. I,t t“> Ml . ashtngton Square News My So-Called Life: Nielsen'% so-called flop Is viewers' so called triumph
