Traditional Media Takes Another Step Backward

Or, put another way, streaming media takes another step forward. According to this article, far more people have seen Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin online than watched it live on NBC. 10.2 million viewers saw the season-opener with Fey as Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton on television. Those are good numbers even for a prime-time show. But, the real news is how many watched the bit streaming online. From The Canadian Press article:

Another 1.2 million people captured the episode on their DVRs and watched within the week. Through the middle of last week, NBC estimated that it had streamed the skit online more than 13 million times. Those are just the numbers NBC can keep track of; the skit was undoubtedly captured and posted or e-mailed many more times.

I didn't see the skit on TV but caught it at NBC's site. I don't own a TV so I didn't have much choice, but what about the tens of millions that chose to watch online? Why did they do that? Well...it's so much easier to catch a TV show online than to tune in to the right station at the right time. You can also e-mail content to friends, post stuff online, etc. Fun, convenient. The question, really, is: At what point will most people watch TV content online?

We’re used to hearing about the decline of print media, but TV too? I guess it's the television set, invented way back when, as big as a refrigerator, sitting in the corner of most living rooms around the world that had me thinking the medium was impervious to change. However, the popularity of Fey's bit online is another clear sign of changing viewing habits.

Media, now including TV, continues its migration to the web. It won't be long before television sets broadcast nothing but static.

Campaign Turning Point

I don't even own a TV. Well, I have one -- a little black and white deal -- but the power cord doesn't work so it gathers dust. But, as luck would have it I heard that Tina Fey would be on SNL doing a Palin skit and, as luck would have it, the bit was available online minutes after it played live so I was able to watch it. I knew within seconds this was one of those SNL moments people would talk about for years. It's up there with Dan Akroyd's Bass-O-Matic and John Belushi's Little Chocolate Donuts. It's also one of the few skits I've seen from the show in years and I feel lucky to have seen it almost live just after the rest of the country. It's almost as if I took part in the experience. I almost feel connected. This one is part of history, especially if you know who doesn't get elected.

(The video is a hot commodity at the moment. The NBC.com servers only return requests for it once every several tries. YouTube is also having issues. You can either refresh this page [it might take 5-10 tries] or try the NBC page. If that doesn't work it's also on Hulu).

If none of the videos will play just ask someone at work Monday and they'll re-enact the skit for you.

Cate Blanchett

Every time I see a character brought to life by Cate Blanchett I come away feeling slightly changed, a bit smarter, as if I've been propelled forward just a tad. By turns endearing and naive, then thrilling or even frightening, Blanchett is always fun to watch and has the chops to carry any scene.

Even when she plays a distasteful character -- as she did in "The Shipping News" as Petal, the elegantly trashy skate who strings along a feeble and needy putz (Quoyle, played by Kevin Spacey) just for sport -- she still engenders empathy, often to the point of seeming to be exactly the kind of person you wish you knew in real life. The more risky the role the more she rises to the challenge, as in "Bandits" (who else could have pulled that off?). Sometimes, she is the very best thing about a given movie, as she was in "The Gift". Other times she is flat-out and conventionally just plain good, as she was in "Elizabeth". She is also one of the few actors whose mere presence in a movie is enough to make me want to see it.

She is seen next portraying two complex characters (it's almost redundant to say this about the roles she takes); one is a prostitute in "The Good German", the other a teacher who has an affair with a sixteen year old student in "Notes on a Scandal" (pictured with Judi Dench). NPR's Melissa Block talks with Blanchett.

NPR has a couple other good stories from the past few days: A talk with Tina Fey, the first female head-writer at Saturday Night Live (as well as writer of "Mean Girls").

Kim Masters on the obstacles black actors face in Hollywood and why Will Smith is the biggest movie star in the world.