Viewers are no longer in control of their TV screens.

Why are we not paid rent for the space
they use on our TV sets for their logos?
 
By David Maril

 
On the original “Outer Limits” science fiction TV show, the program opened with an ominous voice warning that you were no longer in control of your television set.
 
 
“We will control the horizontal,” the “Control Voice” explained in a very disturbing tone as horizontal and vertical lines appeared on the black and white TV screen.

“We will control the vertical….

“We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity,” the voice added in menacing fashion as the image grew small and then expanded as if under a microscope.

At the end of the often tense and mysterious 60-minute drama, we were told we were being given back control of our TV screens as we left “The Outer Limits.”

 
Well, science fiction on television has its limits, restricted to the time constraints within each episode. But unfortunately, today’s broadcasts don’t seem to have any limitations on how much networks and programmers can take over on our TV screens.

It doesn’t matter whether you have an old-fashioned black-and-white 12-inch Philco or the most advanced high-definition device with a picture large enough to cover the side of a factory building.

On the surface, there appears to be no limit to the power and control we have to fine-tune and regulate our television viewing.

I remember even 10-15 years ago you could become trapped in a TV conversation with a TiVo subscriber and you’d get a sales pitch that made the recording mechanism sound like the greatest thing since the harnessing of electricity. Supposedly the device did everything except prepare a 12-course gourmet dinner for you.

MSNBC screen is so cluttered the viewer can’t tell what to pay attention to.

Do you have a favorite actor or actress? Even if you pick the most obscure bit-part character, some systems will record any programming that person appears in and save it for you.

Want more?

There are televisions that come with instant replay, stop-action and the capability to show several programs at the same time.

No matter what the size, you can buy television sets as thin as an oil painting, covering a wall.

If home theater is your dream, it’s possible to convert your living room into an auditorium with a system capable of delivering a wide-screen picture that would make even Cecil B. DeMille proud to view his “Ten Commandments” on it.

Conversely, if you are on the road and can’t pry yourself away from the boob tube, they make them tiny enough to carry in a coat pocket or be part of your smartphone service.

There are premium plans sold for Major League Baseball, college football, the NBA, the NHL and college basketball. The NFL package may make the league change its parity slogan from “on any given day” to “on any given telecast.”

There is, however, one major problem. On the surface, it sounds as if television viewers have never had it so great. Anything, from premium movies to a station that broadcasts nothing but soap operas, is available. There are even oldies stations that show reruns of “Highway Patrol” and the talking horse, “Mr. Ed.”

Despite all these viewing options, our television screens are actually being taken away from us. If you stop and think about it, you begin to realize that all that space on the screen is no longer ours.

It started innocently enough: Occasionally a station or network logo would appear in the bottom corner of the picture, on the half hour or hour, as an ID.

But now, whether it’s CBS or the Home Shopping Network, there’s a logo taking up permanent residence in the corner, without paying us rent.

It used to be, the only time you’d get a line of headlines dragged across the bottom of the screen was if a hurricane was bearing down on us or it was discovered that Elvis had not left the building.

Now, there’s often an endless stream of headlines pulled along at the bottom of the TV screen every time even the most obscure school declares it will be opening five minutes late the next day.

It’s even worse in sports. Instead of just the score and network logo, the game-action itself is often blocked by charts, graphs and other obstacles of information.

When you watch a baseball game, your view is impeded by the batter count, velocity of the pitch, score, inning, and diagram of base runners.

‘Elvis has left the building.’ Also Frasier.

If you enjoy ticker tape parades, watch ESPN2’s continual scoreboard running at the bottom of the picture. Most of the cable sports and news networks lop one inch off your TV’s height to run advertising, promos and this stream of repetitive information. If you have a 25-inch screen, they convert it into a 24-inch model.

And If taking over the bottom or corner of a screen isn’t enough, look what the networks do at the end of a television program. Have you tried recently to read the production and actors’ credits?

The names are squeezed into a small section of the screen so the network can promo something else at the same time. If you want to check who one of the actors was in what you just watched, you need a magnifying glass.

Maybe when the government gets finished perfecting the “Do Not Call” system to protect us against telemarketers, it will take steps to rescue us from this invasion of our television screens.

Interactive TV with audiences at home participating in the outcome of what they are watching has become old hat. The real groundbreaking news in television innovation will occur when someone finds a way to invent a control button that makes all this unwanted visual clutter disappear so the program you’re watching can take priority.
 
davidmaril@hermanmaril.com
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
 
EDITOR’S NOTE:  “The Outer Limits” was a science fiction-oriented TV program that originally aired on ABC between 1963 and 1965. It was revived from 1995-1999 on Showtime, followed by a three-year run on the Sci-Fi Channel between 1999 and 2002. Actor/voice artist Vic Perrin provided the “Control Voice” for the original program.
 
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