What’s Up with Travel TV?
It’s no state secret that the quality of cable television content is in the toilet these days. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why people who have allegedly worked in the television industry for a decades can’t foresee that all these dumb new shows they come up with are going to get mediocre ratings, or just tank. To me that means working in the tv industry for decades might be more of a liability than a credential. I digress.
What ticks me off is that the Travel Channel, which should be like tele-crack for travel enthusiasts like us, has become a hodgepodge of blah programming that has little, if any sometimes, relevance to travel. In fact, tonight when I passed the channel in the on-screen TV guide and looked through the next few hours of shows, all that was on was some Ghost Adventures crap.
Seriously? A whole world’s out there full of fabulous sites, cities, and places. There are amazing trends in airlines, hotels, and other staples of the hostility industry. And the variety of aspirational products worth featuring is just out of this world – literally. But instead, the Travel Channel’s programming list reads like the Food Channel and the Paranormal Activity Channel hooked up and had an illegitimate love child.
From Friday: Man V. Food Nation (“Adam travels to Austin for Texas-sized donuts, authentic Hill Country barbecue, and a near-impossible breakfast taco challenge.”) and The Dead Files (“When terrifying paranormal activity targets the children of a Rome, NY, family, Steve and Amy step in to investigate. As Steve discovers the property’s distressing connection to a bloody Revolutionary War ambush, Amy encounters a vicious entity that preys on living children.”)
From Saturday: Food Paradise (“America’s best BBQ dishes are featured in this episode of Food Paradise, including slow-smoked brisket in Texas, sauce-dripping ribs in Kansas City and mouth-watering pulled pork in North Carolina. “) and Ghost Adventures (“Zak, Nick and Aaron head to Tonapah, NV, to revisit one of their first lockdowns and explore the morbid Mizpah Hotel. Their findings shock them, as they witness an inoperable elevator spontaneously open and close its doors.”).
Seriously, Travel Channel? No wonder consumers are flocking by the billions to better television content conduits like Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV, Roku, and whatever else Cook, Bezos, Brin, and pals will come up with in the next 24 months to drive that final nail into cable’s outdated, shaggy-carpet-lined coffin.
