Tony Walsh over at Clickable Culture is of the opinion that Canada's CTV network is being less than forthcoming about its re-airing of "MTV Presents: The Next-Generation Xbox Revealed" 30-minute infomercial event. Tony takes issue with a CTV news anchor describing the show as a "special" rather than a bought and paid for advertisement from Microsoft.
Perhaps there's a technicality here that I'm not aware of, but my understanding is that a TV "special" consists of premium programming content of a non-commercial nature. While it's arguable that all television content is commercial in nature, there is a difference between programming that pads the space between ads (i.e. most television programs), and programming that consists entirely of advertising (i.e. MTV).
While I'm not sure that MTV consists of "entirely advertising," as Tony claims, I do see what he's getting at. MTV consistently uses its programming as a promotional vehicle for celebrities and products of all sorts, and anyone expecting totally unbiased presentation from anything on the network (outside of the MTV News segments, perhaps) isn't paying attention. I'm assuming CTV usually holds itself to a different standard, though, and describing the show as a "special" is unclear at best and deceptive at worst (I'd lean towards the former, but I've been known to give public broadcasting the benefit of the doubt).
Going a little further, Tony suggests that this misleading promotion might run afoul of Canada's public broadcasting laws. He quotes a statute that says, "Broadcasters shall ensure that advertising material within a newscast is clearly distinguishable from the news information adjacent to it. To this end, any commercial message broadcast within a newscast should not be read by the newsreader." Not being an expert on Canadian media law, I can't really comment on CTV's legal position here, but it does seem like they're violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the statute.
On a slightly related note, Microsoft might be wondering whether it's getting its money's worth for tomorrow night's broadcast. Information about the Xbox 360 has been leaking like a sieve for the past few weeks, the the extent that information about the system's hardware specs, casing and controller design are all easily available to anyone with an Internet connection and a desire to look for them.
Sure, there's no guarantee that all this information will pan out, and there haven't been any leaks of live gameplay video yet. Microsoft itself might be actively leaking the information to build up hype for tomorrow night. But still, a bit of the mystique surrounding the system has undoubtedly been eroded. With Microsoft paying what's likely millions of dollars to give the world the first glimpse of this system, I'd think they'd want it to actually be the first time the world actually saw the system.
Regardless, I know that I'll be watching tomorrow night, along with much of the rest of North America, to see what all the fuss is about. VGO contributor Dan Dormer and I will be putting a little spin on the liveblogging concept for this one... we'll comment on the show live, but wait to post the comments until just after it's over, so you don't have to tear your eyes away from the TV for a second. Watch this space for more details.
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In addition to emailing the host, the producer of the segment, and two more general recipients at CTV (none of whom have responded), I've filed a complaint with the CRTC, Canada's equivalent of the FCC. The complaint has been acknowledged and forwarded to the CTV network, which has 3 days to respond to both myself and the CRTC. Additionally, a tape of the broadcast in question will be reviewed by the CRTC.
ReplyDeleteMy hunch is that CTV is somehow within the rules on a technical basis. In addition to running the paid Xbox programming, they are also running a contest related to the show, which (AFAIK) opens up ways in which they can communicate about it. The network seems to be promoting the show in regular programming, and in short ads for the contest, but I haven't heard them once call it a "paid-programming event," "sponsored event," or anything of the sort.
MS and MTV have never actually come out and said that MS paid for their half hour and I think it's naive to think they did. Or you just have an axe to grind with the "mainstreaming of video games."
ReplyDeleteThis is a win for MTV as well MS. Hardcore gamers are not in their viewer demographic, yet we're all going to be watching tonight. And so will the kids who always watch MTV because the latest rapper du jour loves his Xbox too. And his Cristal... And his Hummer... And his hos...
Think about it this way. If MTV backs out at the 11th hour and refuses to air it on the grounds of some journalistic integrity, could MS get anyone else to air it?
And the answer is of course they could. Broadcasters would be fighting over themselves for this footage.
That makes it newsworthy.
My beef is not with MTV. RTFA.
ReplyDeleteMy beef is with the Canadian broadcaster CTV, who is blurring the lines between news and advertising. The "Xbox Revealed" show is paid programming, acccording to Xbox Canada's PR firm.
"Hardcore gamers are not in their viewer demographic, yet we're all going to be watching tonight."
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding?
The demographics of MTV and that of gamers is almost a perfect match.