So, while waiting for @mmagnolia22 to come out of the downtown O’Malia’s, a guy in a BMW pulls up to a “No Parking” spot, turns off his car and casually walks in to the store.

I don’t know what he was going in to get, but even if it was just a candy bar a single apple or a bottle of Tylenol, he’s still a self-centered jerk.

I don’t know how important he thinks he is, but that doesn’t mean the rules don’t apply to him. His BMW isn’t even playing a role in my douche-ness assessment, at least as far as the correlation to his perceived importance.

… there will be hell to pay.

Something is lacking from this image, but I can’t quite put my finger on what’s missing.

The same day the City of Indianapolis announced a multi-million dollar plan to demolish abandoned homes, 6 News went out and did a story on “the city’s dirty secret.” Winona Memorial Hospital.

As I was leaving work the other day, a woman approached my car at 14th and Meridian.

I cracked my window slightly to see what she wanted. Here’s the transcription of the conversation.

“Can you help the homeless?”

“I’m sorry, I only have plastic–” (which was the truth, I don’t carry cash often; but I was interrupted before I could finish)

“Do you have a cigarette?”

Wait, WHAT?!

At first I felt bad for assuming she wanted money, then was shocked because no intention of asking for money. The conversation was always going to go, “Can you help the homeless? Do you have a cigarette?”

So while on vacation the other week, I managed to finished a book I picked up in SEPTEMBER.

And I renewed it 14 times from the library.

I’ve been busy. Don’t be mad.

“Reality show : inside the last great television news war” is a fantastic look at what’s happened to network news over the last 10 years.

The book starts with a great background on the anchors at the Big 3 in the late ’90s; Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings. It follows the changes at the top the whole way through the 2008 Presidential Primaries and really sheds light on what was happening behind the scenes as ABC appeared to fumble its way through anchor changes involving Elizabeth Vargas, Bob Woodruff and Charles Gibson after Jennings’ death and how CBS handled the flood of criticism after Katie Couric was hired to replace Rather.

The behind-the-scenes deals at the networks is a soap opera all its own, and gave me a whole new view on why certain editorial changes were made over the last few years. There’s even a nice little shout out to The Daily Show inside its pages.

(more…)

So the other day we were flipping through channels and came across Will Smith and Vivica A. Fox staring at an alien spaceship hovering above Los Angeles.

It was Independence Day running on A&E, Smith’s second outing as a lead in a major motion picture (Bad Boys came out the year before).

I’m a big fan of brain rot. The movie was on, I didn’t feel like flipping or checking what we had recorded on the DVR. But it wasn’t complete brain rot because we learned that Commander, now Colonel, Casey (Adam Baldwin from Chuck and Firefly) had a major role as a Major in Independence Day. I didn’t even remember that!

Anyway, there’s a scene where Jeff Goldblum is drunk inside a basement lab at Area 51. He’s complaining about how we’re all going to die because of these aliens. Talk about a pity party (and a sure Buzz Killington). So Goldblum’s yelling at Judd Hirsch about all of this, then trips over a bunch of equipment. We’re probably supposed to the infer the crates are to hold top secret equipment, yet they look like field cases for cameras. Movie magic.

Wait. That might actually be a case to the camera and the gear from the people producing the movie.

Want to know where I got that from?

(more…)

I started writing this post in January, before the originally DTV switch date. Then I got lazy and didn’t finish. Par for the course.

Now in May, I’ve decided to revisit, rewrite and expand this post.

Let’s begin with the theory I’ve presented in the title of this post, “DTV is not HDTV, seriously!”

Guess what? There was a small typo.

DTV is not HDTV, SERIOUSLY!

It wasn’t big enough. Maybe now it will sink in…

The law does not require broadcasters to switch to High-Definition Television, only to switch to Digital Television. It just so happens, you can have HDTV as a part of DTV.

The decision to broadcast HD lies with each station. For example, not all programming on WTHR, WISH, WRTV or WXIN is HD. Some shows are upconverted to HD, others are left 480i and only broadcast digitally. The requirement is just that analog broadcasts be terminated on June 12, 2009.

We’ve had tons of people tell us that it’s our (the broadcasters) fault they won’t be able to watch television. You need to take that up with your representative in Congress, they voted to let this force this to happen.

Viewers have even called in to tell us that the cable company is putting the “digital blame” on us, then telling them they have to get a digital cable box. Not true. Bastards. If you pay for cable of satellite television, you DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. The cable and satellite companies will downconvert and center-cut our digital broadcast signals and add them to the analog pipeline that’s already coming in to your home. Now, if you want to watch HD broadcasts you will need their digital box. But ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX aren’t going to disappear from a TV hooked up to your cable connection.

On a similar, but separate note. I was talking to an employee at an electronics retailer who proceeded to tell me that, “Channel 6 isn’t really HD. I mean c’mon, guys! Just flip the switch on your camera so you can be ‘real’ HD.”

Not “real HD?” Last time I checked, 720p is HD. It’s considered just as HD as 1080i or 1080p. Do you really need to watch Dancing With The Stars at the absolute highest quality? I doubt .5% of the audience could even tell the difference between 720p and 1080p without the TVs being side-by-side. But I digress. Apparently no one got the message through to him that ABC opted for all of their programming to be 720p. That’s why we’re 720p with all of our programming (news is considered programming). If “the Mouse” thinks it’s okay to be 720p, I wouldn’t argue.

Oh, and as for “just flip the switch on your camera,” I didn’t see any professional-grade equipment on the showroom floor. When is the last time he used or sold a $20,000 camera with a $20,000 lens? And how would he know the rest of our broadcast workflow? Maybe our servers only support 720p, maybe our switcher won’t support both 1080i and 720p simultaneously, maybe you work at an electronics store.

That felt good.

1011000110.

Just a taste of June 12 for you.

I wouldn’t exactly say I’m the best at protecting the environment, but I do my part.

I’m not an eco-extremist. I don’t wear hemp clothes. I still drive my regular gas-powered car. I travel on planes. I don’t grow my own produce. I have an air conditioner, which I use when appropriate (for example, +80°). I use paper, but I recycle the old pieces. I’ve been known to buy Starbucks coffee in those disposable paper cups (which is a topic for another blog post). Oh, and I throw some things in the trash.

Wow, this is starting to sound depressing.

Those are the things I don’t do well when it comes to being eco-friendly. But I’d like to think I’ve made some changes to lessen my carbon footprint (with help from @mmagnolia22).

We recycle like crazy. We try to drive her Prius more than my Impala. We have CFLs in our most used lighting fixtures. We buy local. We buy used. We use reuseable bags. We strive to buy things that come in recyclable packaging.

And you know what? It’s not really a hassle at all. It hasn’t changed my shopping habits, it hasn’t made me a hippie.

But I’ve noticed there’s a lot of things I can do in addition to what I’m doing now.

For a long time, when we go to Noodles & Co. on the IUPUI campus we take a bag to be reused. We’ve probably used the same bag for more than 15 trips. It’s thick, durable and not recyclable.

So I decided to try something the other day.

I eat at Subway fairly regularly, and I feel bad throwing out the bags; the closest grocery store and dry cleaner location don’t take back plastic bags. In the past I’ve told them I don’t need the bag, just the paper wrapper. Then they decided to put it in the bag anyway. Obviously that didn’t work.

So a few weeks ago, I took a Subway bag back to the store.

I went through the sandwich making process with an “artist.” I always wonder if they take photos or paint. As I approached the end of the line (you know, where the cookies are), I told them I had my own bag.

They stared at me.

Utterly confused.

Like a… I can’t even think of an example.

I had to explain to them that I had a bag from my last visit, and I would like to reuse the bag. All they had to do was put the food in the bag I handed them, then hand it back. I know it added a step to the process, but I figured it was worth the headache. After working through that situation, I walked out the door, happy with my personal accomplishment. I’m sure they cursed my name.

But just think about if we all reused one bag. Or just took two extra minutes each day to reduce what we send to the landfill.

This isn’t a “global warming,” “conservative,” “liberal,” “Al Gore,” nor “tree-hugger” thing. This is a “why waste so much crap” thing.

100%.

I am quite possibly the biggest idiot to have purchased a shampoo or haircare product. Ever.

I have a pretty healthy head of hair. Nice and thick. No bald spots. Grows incredibly fast.

So I was out shopping for new shampoo, and a bottle of Suave 2-in-1 caught my eye.

“For thick full hair”

I overlooked the part about “Thickening formula” and that by “for” they meant “use to get” instead of my interpretation of “use on.”

No wonder the check out clerk looked at me like I was an idiot.

Idoit.

Make sure you do your research.

That’s something we were always told in school. So why should things be any different in our careers?

I have been dumbfounded at the number of times I have overheard calls, read e-mails or listened to people make ridiculous statements that irreparably damage their credibility.

A few years back, during one of our large annual events that bring lots of guests through the station, a random person approached me to ask about our freelance opportunities.

Keep in mind this was an adult talking to me.

“Excuse me, are you with the TV station?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Ah, I thought you looked familiar.”

What?!  I’M NOT EVEN ON TELEVISION.

To be fair though, I did have my shirt tucked in and was wearing slacks (this was in my first year on the job, before I opted for jeans and untucked button-downs). Still, the conversation continued.

“So how would I get in to [field in broadcast television]? Do you hire freelancers for that?”

“Well, we have people on contract to handle stuff like that. But to get in to the field I would recommend [three or four things he could do to get experience/exposure]. Then contact [a specific person at the station].”

What I was thinking the whole time was, “this seems like an odd time for you to consider a career change into an industry you know nothing about.”

The other day we received a phone call from someone trying to sell us a product/service, where they referenced the fact we have Eric Halvorson and Angela Cain. Except we don’t. They both work at different competitors.

When you come in to a situation where professionalism can make or break your chances of being taken seriously, consider spending the extra 30 minutes to research the company/person you’re going to be talking to. Even if it’s just on Wikipedia and Yahoo! Stocks. It can help your credibility immensely.

Don’t walk in and say, “I didn’t know you were owned by the textbook company.”

It’s been one of those weeks.

What exactly do I mean by that?

Well, let me put it this way: On more than one occassion this week I walked in to the men’s bathroom, put my hands under the faucet and waited more than the appropriate amount of time for water to begin flowing. Note: We don’t have automatic faucets at the station.

Despite that awkward moment occuring more than once, I did manage to get some work done this week.

One of the quickest turnarounds in a long time was our new Recession Survival Guide spot. I think I only spent 4 hours on this spot that’s going to run more than a dozen times over the weekend.

By the way, the answer to your question is “Yes.” And the others are all co-workers.

I had to literally laugh out loud when I watched this video.

• Did you know that 85% of your prospects will visit your website before contacting you?
• What will happen when they get there? Does your website look professional?
• Do you have video on your website? You have to have video on your website.
• It also give you credibility. Showing visitors that you exist and aren’t another web-only business.

I only have a few points to make about this “professional” “website”:

1. 85% of potential customers visiting your website sounds reasonable. But if your website looks anything like what they’re suggesting it should look like, no one will be coming to your business.
2. When they get there: If they see video and are Digital Natives, they’ll think you’re not professional. If they are Digital Immigrants they’ll think you’re a highly successful company with tons of cash on hand. Know your target demo!
3. You do not have to have video on your website. Many businesses have no reason to have video. VIDEO DOES NOT MAKE YOU SUCCESSFUL!
4. Did you know web-only businesses can make videos too? No shit!

Original here.

Things have been a little busy around The Big 6 over the past few weeks. With the end of February/March sweeps and the week of fun that was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, there hasn’t really been time for anything else.

But I did have a chance to go out and visit the Extreme Makeover site; and I must say it was quite an impressive experience. We were out on Oxford, temporarily renamed McFarland Drive, for the big reveal when Bernard McFarland and his three sons saw their new home for the first time. Talk about an emotional experience.

It’s no wonder the show has found a way to capitalize on those “moments.”

After spending the week dealing with all of the extreme-ness, it was time to throw a Proof of Performance spot together for the 6 News coverage of the event. Enjoy (it’ll be running for the next few weeks).

And, here’s just a few of the photos I managed to snap on the ground at the site: