Check that out! Money, baby.

Sorry I didn’t post anything yesterday. I wrote a story about love, but I deemed it too depressing to actually post on Valentine’s Day. Maybe you’ll see it some other time.

If you’re in Chicago, grab an issue of Newcity, because my story is on the cover this week.

The You Channel

David Hume, Host: Hello, and welcome to MediaStuff. Today we’re speaking with the founders of the You Channel, the new television channel that has captured the public’s imagination, so to speak. Marcia Roberts and Brent Anderson are the creators of one of cable television’s hottest channels, and what they’re doing may change the face of media as we know it. Marcia, Brent, thanks for coming.

Marcia: Thanks, David.

Brent: Good to be here.

David: To begin with, why don’t you go ahead and explain to us what this “You Channel” is all about.

Marcia: Well, it’s fairly simple, David. The You Channel– that’s channel 539 on most networks– is a entire television channel dedicated to showing nothing but the people who watch it. You flip it on, and, anytime, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, you’ll see an image of someone watching the same channel you’re watching. That is, you see an image of a person watching television.

Brent: Actually, to be clearer, they’re watching themselves watch television. And you’re watching them do it. Well, sometimes it’s you watching.

Marcia: Yes, those are the most interesting times. Sometimes, you’ll turn it on, and its you watching– you. Hence, You Channel, of course. (laughter)

David: That’s definitely an interesting concept. Tell me, how exactly is this possible?

Brent: Well, you see, David, when you sign up for You Channel– there’s a small monthly fee of $14.95– you get two things in the mail with it. First, you get a small camera that connects into your cable box, and transmits your image back to You Channel headquarters. There’s diagrams of where and how to hook it up, but you just plug it in, aim it at whereever you’ll be watching television from, and you’re all set.

Marcia: And of course the second thing is a rights form. We’re broadcasting your image, after all, and so we do need your signature. The rights, if you will, of broadcasting your image on our channel.

Brent: And we might make this clear as well: When you sign that, you’re only signing rights to us. It doesn’t release the video to anywhere else, only to You Channel. So you don’t need to worry about getting stolen!

David: I would guess that might be a concern!

Brent: Yes, well, you’re taken care of. And then, you know, the camera just flips on whenever you’re turned to You Channel, and flips off when you’re not.

David: It sounds very exciting! And I’m to understand that this idea is doing pretty well, isn’t it?

Marcia: Oh, yes, David. It’s doing terrific. We’ve got more people on You Channel than ever, and we’re getting more all the time. Which means the ratings, of course, are just doing terrific.

Brent: Oh they really are. People love the You Channel.

David: Now, where did this idea come from, exactly?

Brent: Well, it’s funny, David. Marcia and I were asked to come up with a new channel of programming, and we sat back and tried to figure out what people really loved, what people really wanted to watch. And, of course, you know, the hottest thing on TV right now is that reality stuff, so that was a factor. But the thing that really interested us was the relationship between the viewer and the subject– the person on television, if you will.

Marcia: You see, David, we figured out that people really liked to watch shows that they related to. Teens are, as you might know–

Brent: We have three kids–

Marcia: Exactly! Handful! Teens are loud and fast, and they like to watch things that are loud and fast. Moms are tender and emotional, and so they watch Oprah. Guys like playing sports, and they watch that. Geeks like shows with geeks, affluent audiences like to watch characters on TV who are affluent, and so on. We discovered that people really like to watch people who are like them on television.

Brent: And so we said, David, who could we get that was like everybody? I mean who could we find that everyone, of all ages, classes, races, sexes would relate to? Who could we put on TV that everyone would be exactly like?

Marcia: And we decided: Everyone else! And people love it, they really do. The other day, we even did better than that Trading Spaces show!

David: Pretty soon, you’ll probably be doing better than PBS!

Marcia: Don’t be silly, David, nobody watches PBS.

David: Well. But how do you determine who’s on when? I mean if I turn on You Channel today, who will I see?

Marcia: Well, there’s always the possibility that you’ll see yourself. That’s happened, and we’ve gotten a few letters from people about it. They love it– usually they’ll just jump around for a while, you know, wave their hands in front of the TV to make sure it’s them. Like when you show up on the Jumbotron at the game.

Brent: What’s funny is we studied monkeys in front of cameras and they did the same thing!

Marcia: And then there’s the much larger possibility that you’ll see someone else doing the exact same thing. So that’s fun, too.

David: But how do you determine who’s there, or for how long?

Marcia: Well, we tend to mix things up a little bit. It’s mostly random– sometimes someone will be on for five minutes, sometimes an hour or so. We like to keep people guessing.

Brent: And we definitely made sure to randomize who actually shows up.

David: So there’s no choice of a person who’s more entertaining, or an interesting person.

Brent: Oh, no, that’s kind of against the idea, don’t you think? I mean, if we choose an interesting person, then it’s not everybody. Besides, people don’t want to see that.

David: People don’t want to see someone interesting on TV?

Marcia: Well, here’s the thing, David. We did the research, and that’s just not what people want. You’ve seen reality shows– people don’t watch those for the characters. They want to see real people, and they want to see only the shallowest ideas of them. That’s what the You Channel gives them– real people, with no backgrounds, twenty four hours a day.

David: But that seems like it’s fairly absent of imagination. It’s absent of everything that gets the mind flowing and advances the culture– story, plot, interesting characters. There’s no imagination there at all– it’s basically a mirror.

Brent: Well, that’s not true. There is some imagination put into the show. There was that guy who pretended like he was on an episode of American Idol, or that family with the cat that jumped upside down, where they kept saying, “AFV”…

David: So you’re saying the most imaginative your channel gets is when people watching themselves on television pretend to be people they’ve watched on television?

Marcia: Yes. But to go back to your point about imagination, David, we determined that’s just not what America wants. They don’t want story, they don’t want to be challenged, and they don’t want things they don’t know or can’t understand. We researched it, and what they really want to watch– what they really love– is, well, themselves.

David: Wow. Does that seem strange to you at all? I mean, a channel with a lack of imagination is the most popular thing on television? What does that say about our society and its ills?

Brent: Our society? Its ills? David, we’re in cable television. That’s none of our concern.

David: Well, thank you Marcia and Brent for coming today. That’s the You Channel, on right now via subscription. We’ll be right back.