Crossroads
November 17, 2008
2003 seems like yesterday, where the crowds of pre-teens would crowd the corner of 46th and Broadway, just hoping for glimpse of the latest pop superstar to appear in the windows of MTV’s then-flagship show “Total Request Live”. I was the only guy, just a little older than this crowd, trying to bust through them so I could make it to work on-time at the up & coming leader of cable news, FOX News Channel. I really hated those crowds back then…..but how could I really be that mad? Times Square is the world’s media crossroads. With the industry growing as rapidly as it
was; traffic jams could all but be expected.
So with that in mind, I should not have been surprised to see the paths of “TRL” and my career intersect again. This time on the pages of the New York Times.
“It’s the new reality“, sums up Al Primo.. Last week, the Times asked the man considered to be the father of modern local TV news to talk about the new video sharing partnership announced by the local stations divisions of FOX & NBC that is expected to revolutionize the way that local television newsrooms operate across the nation. As a local desk Assignment Editor, it’s an exciting, but uncertain time, because the total way I’ve been trained to work, think, and operate will have to
change. And sooner rather than later, since my station is among those that will lead the way in implementation of the partnership.
“But it’s ending now”, exclaimed 15 year old Helena Mounesa to the New York Times as she waited outside of MTV studios in Times Square for her first, and probably only ever peek at the last taping of MTV’s Total Request Live on Sunday. For “TRL” too, a changing marketplace meant sagging ratings; and less relevance to a new crowd of younger viewers. For now, the show is being placed on hiatus. Asked about the show’s eventual return, show Producer Dave Sirulnick tells the Times, “Let it
catch its breath! Been working hard – for 10 years!,”
Not the right attitude Dave! With your show going OFF the air, I’ll opt for the advice of Kid Rock from the last episode of “TRL”, “Well, guess what? It’s over; I ain’t putting the cigar out.” While I probably won’t be downloading his next CD, I will keep the cigar of the future lit too. If there’s news to be broken; let’s find even more new ways to break it….and for those Times writers? Keep those pencils sharpened, there are going to be some NEW headlines to talk about in the future.
