Boy, were we naive.
The suits from New York killed TNN, then buried it under an avalanche of "Cagney and Lacey" and "Starsky and Hutch" reruns. And rather than give it a decent funeral, those same suits -- CBS executives who wound up with the network in their laps after a corporate takeover -- renamed it "The National Network" and hoped we'd all forget its roots.
They're wrong.
Isn't one of the strengths of cable supposed to be "niche programming" or "narrowcasting," serving audiences that are small in number but devoted in their passion, without regard to the numbers? What happened to our niche? Why have country music and country fans become an afterthought?
Yes, this network -- I refuse to call it TNN -- still has its hour from the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. But how long do you think that will last before the suits from New York decide it's too "twangy?"
Let's observe a moment of silence for the late TNN, a good idea that was murdered by the suits at CBS.
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The purpose is to have fun, to provide entertainment for fellow cyber-citizens and promote artists I feel are deserving -- and, occasionally, to tweak those who don't treat country music with the respect it deserves. (Radio consultants, record label suits, and TV executives -- see above -- all qualify in that category.) Nothing personal, but it's just that a lot of us do feel a reverence for the music and the performers, and we're willing to defend it from the forces of the bottom line whenever necessary. Any negative comments in this space should be seen from that perspective.
Thanks for allowing me the soapbox -- Jim