Hamilton key to new CanWest tack

[raisethehammer]

wow! I just came back from Honda...I had to get my car serviced and was waiting in the wait area. They had CH morning live on.
I sat there for about 6-10 minutes and all they yapped about was the 'world's sexiest man' and 'sexiest couple' etc....it was bruuuutal!

I finally grabbed a newspaper and moved further away from the TV so I didn't have to listen to them. And yes, as I suspected from the billboards I've seen around town, the background set was horrible.
Let's hope that's the last time I stumble into a room with that channel on for another 5 years.

[SteelTown]

Woman love topics like that on CH, woman also happen to like suburbs to raise a family and woman also happen to LOVE big box stores as well. So really you should be working a crusade against woman! haha

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Woman love topics like that on CH, woman also happen to like suburbs to raise a family and woman also happen to LOVE big box stores as well. So really you should be working a crusade against woman! haha

haha...no way bro! I'm not crazy.
I'll stick with keeping my TV off.

[the dude]

.

[markbarbera]

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

So you don't like the type of local content CHCH-TV has added...that's really what you're saying. Back in the so-called "good old" days CHCH had an hour of news at dinner time and 30 minutes at 11pm...and that's it. No noon, no morning...90 minutes of news and hours of sitcoms and serial dramas bought from the U.S.

Bottom line is that successive ownership from Maclean Hunter to WIC to CanWest have each added greater local news content.

BTW, from a business perspective, why would CHCH-TV use local branding in Toronto where they are obviously competing for a completely different audience? Would you prefer a reversion to ONTV when much of the local news content was Toronto-specific in an effort to better compete there?

You are confusing more news programming with local news coverage. Quantity does not equate with quality. Next time you tune into one of these 'news' programs on CH - er, sorry, E!Canada, then count the number of local stories and clock the number of minutes devoted to local news coverage. For print media (theSpec), use the same method with word counts for columns devoted to local news vs. the generic Metroland news items filling the rest of the pages.

The days of CHCH may have had less news programming, but the quality of content was far superior to today. There was a much larger local content, with a real local news team covering Hamilton and area. These days most stories are picked up from foreign newsreel mills. Ditto for so-called local radio stations such as CHML, which doesn't even do a local news broadcast past the 6:00 hour - reverts to a generic national news feed to get it through the night.

One more point - the additional morning news coverage is not about bringing more local coverage or expanding on a successful program. It's about shifting the CRTC-required Canadian content hours to a non-primetime slot so they can air more U.S. programming in the primetime slots. Not exactly quality programming either, things like "E! News" and "So you think you're smarter than a fifth grader". CH is being downgraded to a small-time specialty cable channel aired on a low-frequency broadcast channel, with much of the local production jobs gone or on the way out of the city. This is something to be excited about?

[markbarbera]

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

BTW, from a business perspective, why would CHCH-TV use local branding in Toronto where they are obviously competing for a completely different audience?

CRTC granted the licence for CHCH-TV11 with the mandate that the channel was a VHF broadcast channel whose function is to meet the broadcast requirements for the Greater Hamilton Area demographics. It took great pains to stipulate it was to serve Hamilton-area viewers, and not Toronto viewers.

The real question is, given this mandate, why is CanWest advertising outside the geographic boundaries stipulated by CRTC when its broadcast licence for CHCH was granted?

[raisethehammer]

QUOTE: This is something to be excited about?

No, but don't dare say that on here unless you want to read another 2 pages of rants and tirades. This forum is apparently open only to those who adore Hamilton's wonderful media and their fabulous programming.

[fastcarsfreedom]

Please, in all seriousness, do not attempt to say that your beliefs and those who share your viewpoints are somehow being excluded here. On the contrary, your viewpoints are overwhelmingly represented here--because a few people happen to present dissenting opinions does not give you the right to play your "oppression" card. Seriously, I'm not sure whether that's an attempt at spin, or just an insult to common sense. There are plenty of people here who share your viewpoints and opinions, and I can't think of a time that you've ever let anyone forget that fact.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

Please, in all seriousness, do not attempt to say that your beliefs and those who share your viewpoints are somehow being excluded here. On the contrary, your viewpoints are overwhelmingly represented here--because a few people happen to present dissenting opinions does not give you the right to play your "oppression" card. Seriously, I'm not sure whether that's an attempt at spin, or just an insult to common sense. There are plenty of people here who share your viewpoints and opinions, and I can't think of a time that you've ever let anyone forget that fact.

I completely agree. raisethehammer has tried to quiet me more than once for presenting nothing other than opinions, either mine or those of others. He has also done a wonderfully terrible job of paraphrasing me using comments and sentiments that I have never made.

He has all of the answers and can identify "idiots" and "morons" from a mile away, even when he is hardly an expert about the subject matter being discussed --- e.g., he can design parking lots better than people who have spent years learning and practising their craft. He would also hire a walking catastrophe like Harry Stinson to run the city of Hamilton and would truncate the city so that it would include nothing other than the maybe five square kilometres that make up the downtown area.

[the dude]

^come on now. this is absolute silliness. contribute something of value, something positive or get off the pot. pathetic.

[raisethehammer]

QUOTE: He has all of the answers and can identify "idiots" and "morons" from a mile away

Surprisingly, it's easy around here.

[markbarbera]

Originally Posted by BCTed

he can design parking lots better than people who have spent years learning and practising their craft.

Parking lot design a craft?!? Now that's rich.

Do you design parking lots yourself? Just curious how you determined that the parking lots we see scattered downtown (making the city look like hockey player's grin) are the result of people who have spent years practicing this 'craft'. Do they have a professional designation? Certified Parking Lot Designer?

I see no evidence of skill or craftmanship at all. Most downtown lots are nothing more than the foundation of a demolished building filled with ashphalt and a recycled photomat kiosk plunked down by the entry ramp. Unless I am missing out on an artist's subtle presentation of irony in the form of anarchy by design... in which case I stand corrected.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

Parking lot design a craft?!? Now that's rich.

Do you design parking lots yourself? Just curious how you determined that the parking lots we see scattered downtown (making the city look like hockey player's grin) are the result of people who have spent years practicing this 'craft'. Do they have a professional designation? Certified Parking Lot Designer?

I see no evidence of skill or craftmanship at all. Most downtown lots are nothing more than the foundation of a demolished building filled with ashphalt and a recycled photomat kiosk plunked down by the entry ramp. Unless I am missing out on an artist's subtle presentation of irony in the form of anarchy by design... in which case I stand corrected.

haha...too funny. I missed that sentence the first time around. I was laughing too much after the 'idiots and morons' that I didn't read any further.
Gee whiz. If people are artfully designing these lots, I really need to get a new job.
If I remember correctly, it didn't look that hard in Seinfeld when Kramer re-striped the road. I'm guessing he didn't go to line-painting school before that episode.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

I see no evidence of skill or craftmanship at all. Most downtown lots are nothing more than the foundation of a demolished building filled with ashphalt and a recycled photomat kiosk plunked down by the entry ramp. Unless I am missing out on an artist's subtle presentation of irony in the form of anarchy by design... in which case I stand corrected.

It's crazy what some ppl will use for fill: previous building's foundation, cars, people (we are in Hamilton afterall)... I grntee if we dug up every lot downtown, we could go on a treasure hunt (for crappy treasure).

sooooo ya, I hardly think throwing everything and anything into a hole to cover it up with ashphalt and paint some lines around is a "craft" of any sort!

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

Parking lot design a craft?!? Now that's rich.

Do you design parking lots yourself? Just curious how you determined that the parking lots we see scattered downtown (making the city look like hockey player's grin) are the result of people who have spent years practicing this 'craft'. Do they have a professional designation? Certified Parking Lot Designer?

I see no evidence of skill or craftmanship at all. Most downtown lots are nothing more than the foundation of a demolished building filled with ashphalt and a recycled photomat kiosk plunked down by the entry ramp. Unless I am missing out on an artist's subtle presentation of irony in the form of anarchy by design... in which case I stand corrected.

The example I had in my head when I made the parking lot comment was raisethehammer's criticism of the new Centre Mall site layout:


Link: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...8&postcount=22

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

haha...classic line!
I need to get a job as an 'architect' or whatever these people are called. I assume they make good money whipping stuff like this together.

Perhaps I should have used the term "shopping centre site layouts" rather than "parking lots", but all the same --- PARKING LOTS ARE NOT EASY TO DESIGN. There are a ton of things that you have to consider when putting together a lot and it is not like anyone can come in off the street and do these things:

- consideration/forecasting of traffic flow
- spacing
- turning radii and proper angling
- grading and drainage setup
- lighting coverage
- legal considerations
- landscaping
- etc., etc.

There are probably tons of other considerations that I do not know about --- I am certainly no parking lot expert. Throw "parking lot layouts" or "parking lot design" into Google and you will see just how much skill and effort this stuff takes.

Let me say it in uppercase letters once again: NONE OF THIS STUFF IS EASY. If you think it is, then you need a serious reality check.

Let's look at the previously and recently proposed Centre Mall layouts, much of which are parking (courtesy of SteelTown):





Do you really think you could design these lots? Can you even name off the top of your head the type of software that is used to create the diagrams that illustrate the designs?

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

haha...too funny. I missed that sentence the first time around. I was laughing too much after the 'idiots and morons' that I didn't read any further.
Gee whiz. If people are artfully designing these lots, I really need to get a new job.
If I remember correctly, it didn't look that hard in Seinfeld when Kramer re-striped the road. I'm guessing he didn't go to line-painting school before that episode.

I am glad that you think it is funny.

Fools laugh at knowledge and reject wisdom.

[raisethehammer]

lol...you remind me of Cliff from Cheers - the 'King of Useless Information'. (minus the sense of humour, of course)

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

lol...you remind me of Cliff from Cheers - the 'King of Useless Information'. (minus the sense of humour, of course)

You use the sense of humour thing as a deflection mechanism when you realize that you do not have much other recourse. It is as if you feel you can decide flip the forum's mood switch from serious to fun at your whim.

I detect very little humour in most of your own posts --- you seem quite serious in most of them. Either way, I do not openly mock or laugh at anything you write (what I do do is try to present reasoned counter-arguments), no matter how ridiculous it may be. And believe me, a very good chunk of what you write is very ridiculous.

Anyway, the_dude is right. This is silly. Plus I have about three dozen parking lots to design by noon.

[raisethehammer]

better get to it then....
yea, I should apologize for all the ridiculous things I've said. Like the time I said there were no trucks on York or Main Streets, or the time......

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

better get to it then....
yea, I should apologize for all the ridiculous things I've said. Like the time I said there were no trucks on York or Main Streets, or the time......

You keep hanging onto your little completely misparaphrased truck nugget if it helps you get through the day.