Personal
Strategies for Winning TV Diets*
By
Jody Baram
When
cultural historians look back at the last half of the 20th century, they may
discover that the two major preoccupations of the American public were dieting
and watching television. It seems
the more choices we have in television viewing; the more time we spend watching
with a corresponding widening of our waistlines as well as a passive acceptance
of what we are seeing.
Just
as choosing wisely what we eat may streamline our figure, screening what we
watch on TV can ultimately enhance our life experience. This article offers some practical
tips to raise the quality of your
TV watching experience-- balancing some of the fats and sweets served up
nightly with the protein that may well build better minds and bodies.
Where’s
the Beef?
If you were to go on a diet, the first
thing you would want to do is to determine what foods you need to limit or eliminate entirely. If we categorize TV programs the way we
do foods, then fats would be the equivalent of mindless, effortless viewing of
shows such as soaps, talk shows, as well as violent/reality-based programming.
We might think of entertainment
shows, movies of the week and sitcoms as sugars, and we could consider educational and high-production-value
shows protein. Of course, there
are exceptions, and some shows may fall into multiple categories.
You
are what you watch
Next
it’s time to start your calorie counting. Go on a TV fast for 10 days.
It’s tougher than you think. Observe yourself watching TV and figure out
how you are using it. Strictly for entertainment? As a companion? As an
escape? If you are a channel
surfer, record what it is you’re watching.
Strategies
for Kids
If
you have a household with youngsters, there is a strong tendency to use the
television as a baby-sitter. As an experiment, start watching television with your kids and limit their
viewing time to 3 hours per day. Talk to them afterwards, and find out why they
liked a particular program. Ask
them to come up with a different ending to the program; what kind of feelings
they experienced when they watched; and what kind of products they saw during
commercial breaks.
Parental
Controls
For
the pre-school and pre-teen set, if you have concerns about what it is they are
watching start using the parental control features on your cable remote or TV
set. The “Kid Control” remote
installs logos for channels kids like to watch such as Nickelodeon, the
Family Channel, the Disney Channel, and the Discovery Channel, on a bright
orange dinosaur or a purple puppy-shaped device. Find out if it is available in
your area.
TV
Account Cards
Be on the lookout for TV account cards
that let parents credit their kids with a certain number of viewing hours. By
supplementing classroom instruction with PBS specials and Internet
topic-specific browsing , children will have access to a wealth of edutainment not previously
available.
Plan
Your Weekly Viewing Menu
Now
that you’ve figured out what you’ve been consuming, you can better
determine what you may have been missing or overindulging in. Whether
it’s food or TV, it’s a good idea to try new things occasionally.
This can energize you and stimulate new appetites.
Start
Time-Shifting
As soon as the TV Guide or Sunday
newspaper arrives, start planning
your weekly television menu. Set your VCR to record those programs you want to
time- shift or save.
If
you don't subscribe to a cable TV or satellite service, look into them. Check
out magazines such as Cable Guide, Satellite Direct or Satellite Orbit to get
an idea of what’s available. You may decide to add some quality pay
channels to your current over- the- air broadcast viewing.
New
Ways to Find Quality Programs
With
the arrival of HDTV, digital video formats and 500 channels, our weekly grid
views of upcoming TV viewing fare will be less useful than they are now. New
ways of finding quality programs will emerge. Look into electronic program
guide services such as TV Guide online or those offered through GIST, Tribune Services, or Gemstar. All offer
a one-week on-screen program listings in
grid format. VideoGuide which was acquired by Gemstar in 1998 and
StarSight offer one touch VCR recording and news feeds.
Sort
Your Selections
While
StarSight comes bundled with TV
sets or cable boxes. The VideoGuide Service, which was available nationwide over paging networks, offered
a SmartSort feature that learns your viewing habits and news reading
preferences and moves your favorites to the top of the list. Look for similar features in new versions of Gemstar''s product lines. Starsight, like Intel’s SmartTV
and Electronic TV Host, allows you to
search by theme categories, including sports and movies and favorite
programs. These services also enable you to sort by subject, genre, director,
and eventually parental ratings, or quality (Show me all the 4- star movies on
Saturday night rated TV14).
If
you have access to the Internet and the World Wide Web, check out GIST,
TV Tonite and TV Guide Online. All
have descriptions of the evening’s offerings with recommendations and
comments. TV Guide Online can also assist you in your customized viewing plan.
If
your PC has a TV tuner, you can watch TV over your computer. This will become more and more common for viewing DVD's and High Definition TV.
Program
Your Own Personal TV Station
Look
for active agent software to assist you in selecting quality programming. More
than just a search engine, this type of service helps you define the kinds of
programming and information most interesting to you. Based on your profile and
profiles of people like you, the software can make inferences about the types
of shows you might like to watch but don’t know about. Digital access of
this sort will also assist you
in planning your schedule just as if you were programming your
own personal TV station.
The
WebTV Phenomenon
If you own a “WebTV” type box,
cable modem or a game machine like the Sega, XBox, or Gamecube and are connected to the
Internet, you can really get hooked.
Using the PIP feature on your TV to add an Internet window with one of these
boxes takes your surfing experience to a whole new level. Imagine watching the
movie The Last Wave on the Independent Film Channel. You’re
fascinated by the tribal customs and want to find out more. Now you can easily
jump onto the Web and read to your heart’s content. Or how about seeing an ad for something
on TV you’re interested in buying. You can go to the Internet, get all
the information you need to make your decision, and order it from your living
room for the lowest price in town.
Or, better yet, how about playing videogames with friends you meet on the Internet. Everquest is such a networked game and has become the world's number one multiplayer online game.
Get
Smart
With
the addition of a printer, a
keyboard and an erasable DVD disk,
your WebTV becomes an integral part of the new home communications center. But
that’s just the beginning. Add a camera and you can send videomail.
With the addition of a smart card as part of your WebTV, set top box, or TV
set, your television becomes the gateway to electronic commerce. You can even control many of the systems of
your smart home with a card from AMX Corporation! How about turning your TV set into a consumer grade
Videoconferencing station? ViaTV, a new product from 8x8, Inc. allows you to do
just that. The possibilities for using your television for things other than
standard entertainment are becoming more real everyday.
It’s
Ultimately Up to You
For
both your TV and physical diets, there is a lot of help available. Experts in
both are eager to advise you. Ultimately, however, the decisions are up to you.
What you eat and what you watch on television are personal choices which can
either help you or harm you. A balanced diet of food or TV can enhance your
enjoyment of life. On the other hand, indiscriminate indulging in the kinds of
fats and sweets we discussed here will create a mediocre quality of
intellectual and physical life. So
take advantage of the options that are available--it’s worth the
effort.
*Updated for 2002 Originally published in Smart TV Magazine
Fall 1997
Ten Commandments
for Quality TV Programming
Thou shalt watch TV with your children, spouse, or significant other
and discuss what you saw.
Thou shalt plan your viewing a week in advance.
Thou shalt get an electronic listing service to assist your weekly
program selection.
Thou shalt read reviews of upcoming programs wherever possible.
Thou shalt use a VCR to timeshift whenever possible.
Thou shalt not imitate any anti-social behavior seen on TV, and teach
your children the same.
Thou shalt not covet characters, persons, or lifestyles seen on TV.
Thou shalt always pay more attention to the people you’re with
than what is playing on your TV
set.
Thou shalt use the PIP feature of your TV set to enhance your viewing
experience.
Thou shalt find alternatives to TV when you don’t find a
selection worth your viewing time.
Resources:
Children
and Media
“The
Age of Missing Information” Bill McKibben (New York: Plume) 1992
TCI
Kid Control remote control for kids: Call 810 549 8288
Parental
Guidelines
http://www.tvguidelines.org/
Just
Think Guide
http://www.justthink.org/lit.html
Media
Literacy References http://valinet.com/~zleven/references.html
WebTV http://www.webtv.net/wtvnet.html
Electronic
Program Guides
UltimateTV
http://www.ultimatetv.com/guides/today.html
TV
Guide http://www.tvguide.com/
TV
Host http://www.microserve.net/~tvhost/index.html
VideoGuide
http://www.vgi.com Call
1-800-VGUIDE1
StarSight
Telecast http://www.starsight.com Call 1-510-657-0621
SmartGuide
http://www.hig.com/
Note:
Intel bought this product from Harmon Interactive and will be incorporating it
into its Intercast product.
Companies:
Agent
Technology: Firefly http://www.firefly.com
VideoConferencing: 8x8, Inc. http://www.8x8.com
Smart
Home Controls: AMX
Corp. http://www.amx.com