Cable TV in the Caucasus and the ME

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Musings from Baku.

We have cable TV here, from the UAE, I think. About 20 stations out of a hundred have some or all programming in English, including three news stations: CNN, BBC and Euronews. They are all a little kookie. Programming seems to be targeting the Middle East and Russia. The cable network appears to be out of the Middle East and not from in-country here, so it addresses a broader market than little AZ. DW is sad that there is no dedicated channel for major league baseball and no HGTV. Oh, well. We are just happy to get anything in English.

At 6:30 PM weeknights, CNN follows the opening of the NYSE. They treat it like a horse race with running commentary. The Dow is UP! Now it's DOWN! Now it's UP! Like we are all day traders. I suppose they have to fill the dead air time.

Three news stations cover news for every place EXCEPT the US. CNN seems to have only has two newspersons who have an American accent (women). OK, they are serving a non-US market.

The Beeb has a recurring self-promotion spot about the Rising Financial Centres of the world (the Middle East, India, China). (Actually, they spell it Centers, the American way. Creeping American influence! Beware!) I suppose they would lose market share if they gave these areas the attention they really deserve. It is to laugh.

The news is very PC. It is China this and China that until there is something that could be considered negative about China. Then it becomes 'Asia'.

There is a History Channel, too. It is a little odd. There is a 5-second delay on the sound track imposed at the source (the UAE?). I have run across this or something like this before in other places. The History Channel was blocked for years from Canada. I surmise that Canada objected to what was perceived to be the American viewpoint of history. One imagines that some kind of filter is operating on this cable system, too. It is odd to see a delay on programs about the Classical Era in the Mediterranean. The Trojan War is a sensitive topic?

There are two ads for Nigerian banks that keep playing. Anyone here want to put money in a Nigerian bank? (Coincidentally: one or two of my professional friends was not using safe practices on the web and had his e-mail account cracked. I am pretty sure I know who it was. For the past several months I have been getting about 100 Nigerian scams in my spam folder a week in the Yahoo account I use for my professional contacts. They are all sent out at the same time of day and they are very creative in their diversity. How stupid can they get? I am not going to notice that I am getting a ton of phishing e-mails? I am thinking of collecting them into a small book.)

There are other ads that are just bizarre, but I won't go into them here.

Cheers from the hinterlands,

Gypsy

 

[W2R]

That was interesting, Ed. It's especially interesting to hear what CNN is like over there. Glad you have some English programming.

You probably recall that in the U.S., the History Channel shows almost no history these days - - lots of shows along the lines of "American Pickers" and "Ice Road Truckers", but very few of the great history programs that they used to show. I haven't noticed anything as interesting as the Classical Era in the Mediterranean lately on the History Channel. I think those programs that are more closely related to history are mostly relegated to the History2 Channel, which I also get because I pay extra for a package in which it is include. There is also a Military Channel I believe. So, my point is - - be glad you can get that show on the Classical Era in the Mediterranean on your version of the History Channel, delay or not.

I could go on and on about the quality of news coverage here, too. Seems like all the channels cover the same few stories as each other, over and over and over. Investigative journalism appears to have died. But then, that is a pet peeve of mine.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Investigative journalism appears to have died. But then, that is a pet peeve of mine.

I have noticed the same thing. Something to worry about.

 

[MichaelB]

Musings from Baku.

We have cable TV here, from the UAE, I think. About 20 stations out of a hundred have some or all programming in English, including three news stations: CNN, BBC and Euronews. They are all a little kookie. Programming seems to be targeting the Middle East and Russia. The cable network appears to be out of the Middle East and not from in-country here, so it addresses a broader market than little AZ. DW is sad that there is no dedicated channel for major league baseball and no HGTV. Oh, well. We are just happy to get anything in English.

At 6:30 PM weeknights, CNN follows the opening of the NYSE. They treat it like a horse race with running commentary. The Dow is UP! Now it's DOWN! Now it's UP! Like we are all day traders. I suppose they have to fill the dead air time.

Three news stations cover news for every place EXCEPT the US. CNN seems to have only has two newspersons who have an American accent (women). OK, they are serving a non-US market.

The Beeb has a recurring self-promotion spot about the Rising Financial Centres of the world (the Middle East, India, China). (Actually, they spell it Centers, the American way. Creeping American influence! Beware!) I suppose they would lose market share if they gave these areas the attention they really deserve. It is to laugh.

The news is very PC. It is China this and China that until there is something that could be considered negative about China. Then it becomes 'Asia'.

There is a History Channel, too. It is a little odd. There is a 5-second delay on the sound track imposed at the source (the UAE?). I have run across this or something like this before in other places. The History Channel was blocked for years from Canada. I surmise that Canada objected to what was perceived to be the American viewpoint of history. One imagines that some kind of filter is operating on this cable system, too. It is odd to see a delay on programs about the Classical Era in the Mediterranean. The Trojan War is a sensitive topic?

Gypsy

Hey Gypsy Ed. Wow, but your post brings back memories. The english language programming we got was also very limited. One was food network, which soon became the favorite for DW and the kids. There was a "latino" version of ESPN, which was pretty bad. Basically, a US - centric version of what they thought Latino's wanted to see on sporting news, and often included asian sporting events like badminton and field hockey. We also noticed some programming common here in the US, like History and Discovery channels, were "different" once we became familiar with the domestic US versions.

One positive is we did get BBC news, which I watched and still prefer.

Good luck.

 

[Nords]

Thanks, Ed. You're sellin' the hell outta living overseas...

"It's not just a job, it's an adventure!!"

 

[haha]

Ed, do you eat Beluga caviar and drink Russian vodka? That ought to make the TV watching more fun.

Ha

 

[samclem]

"In Russia we had two television channels. Channel 1 was official government propaganda. Channel 2 was a KGB officer saying "Turn back to Channel 1!"
-- Yakov Smirnoff

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Ha, I ain't eatin' nothin' that comes out of the Caspian. It is a sewer and a toxic waste dump.

The sturgeon may be extinct in the next ten years, by the way.

I once had caviar at a hospitality suite in SF at a chemical engineer's convention. It was heavenly. I will have to live with the memory.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Russian Standard is OK vodka. I have been warned against others, which might be repackaged methanol.

I am always on the hunt for Pilsner Urquell, my favorite Czech beer. There is only one grocery where it is available. I buy everything they have when I am there. I am hoping to make a pilgrimage to Prague whilst I am in the neighborhood.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

"In Russia we had two television channels. Channel 1 was official government propaganda. Channel 2 was a KGB officer saying "Turn back to Channel 1!"
-- Yakov Smirnoff

I love this guy!

He recalled when he took the oath of citizenship. He said it changed the way he looked at the world. He looked around and said, "Look at all these foreigners! They are taking our jobs!"

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Thanks, Ed. You're sellin' the hell outta living overseas...

"It's not just a job, it's an adventure!!"

I can't tell the half of it. The local gummint scans the web for blogs etc for negative comments. I really like the place, but someone in authority might not like some of my observations. I like it here, so you gotta wait for the movie.

It ain't Kansas.

I never imagined I would be a Perpetual Traveler and get paid for it.

"hey! there's a hell of a great universe next door. let's go!"
e. e. cummings

 

[haha]

Russian Standard is OK vodka. I have been warned against others, which might be repackaged methanol.

I am always on the hunt for Pilsner Urquell, my favorite Czech beer. There is only one grocery where it is available. I buy everything they have when I am there. I am hoping to make a pilgrimage to Prague whilst I am in the neighborhood.

Ed, I love Urquell too, at least I did until I became gluten intolerant and had to give up beer.

Sad to hear about the Caspian, but I guess over 100 years of oil is hard to keep clean. BTW, many Russians in Seattle are afraid of Russian vodka too. They drink the Polish brand Luksusowa. As do I, neat and straight from the freezer.

Ha

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Ed, I love Urquell too, at least I did until I became gluten intolerant and had to give up beer.

That is sad to hear, Ha. I feel for you (and live in fear of the day that will happen to me).

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Sad to hear about the Caspian, but I guess over 100 years of oil is hard to keep clean.

It is not just the oil. Nobody treats sewage here. Several countries have been sending it to the no-outlet Caspian (37 feet below sea level) for a thousand years. Then there was the god-awful Russian chemical industry just north of Baku that poisoned everything.

 

[modhatter]

So, very interesting. I love hearing about the differences in other countries.
I guess today, no matter what country progressive or not, tv news tries real hard to shape the minds of the people as they see fit. Propaganda rules supreme! I am in complete agreement with W2R.

I really, really miss investigative journalism. I let my satellite TV subscription go, and the one thing I miss the most is HD Net with Dan Rather, and World News on Tuesday night. In fact I was on ITunes last night looking for some new episodes I have missed. (You can buy them for !.99 ea., but couldn't find any that I haven't seen) Anyone know if it's still on? I can find a lot of other programing on the internet surprisingly, but certainly not all of it for sure.

I'd like to ask more questions, but I guess it better we leave that up to you.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Modhatter,

I do have to be careful. Last week a national colleague warned us that there is a 5-year jail sentence for saying something that is judged to be disrespectful of the government/country. There are things that can only be said after I leave for good (even in a semi-anonymous forum such as this--but I have enough tracks here that it wouldn't take someone long to find me). Things actually aren't all that bad, but there are things that make me sad for the people. Some things are improving. I will be happy to report on them.

Gypsy

 

[eytonxav]

Ed,

When do you get to leave?

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

DFW M5, I figure to hang on as long as I can--as long as DW will let me, or until the situation changes. This is a reeeaally good deal for us and two more years would be primo. Inshallah. I like the work and the people I work for. Major changes in the picture could bring me back early. Meantime, there will be posts from the front from time to time.