Back to basics. A New Year's resolution for ETV ?

Several things have gone through my mind this week. It had occured to me to stop writing these little missives. After all, what point do they really serve. In the end I decided that to cease could be a sign of victory against criticism and that should never happen in a free democracy.

So what form should this take ? A witty or poetic piece that few would understand or give it 'straight between the eyes'. This week it is the latter.

It was written in another topic that as there are many members here (and in other forums) that we have some influence. We, at least the majority of us, have little or no influence to all that matters because we, at least the majority of us, make little or no financial contribution to the tv. If, on the other hand, you are a regular caller or sender of SMSs then you can claim to have some influence. If, on the other hand, you were are regular caller or sender of SMSs then you can claim to have even more influence as I'm sure the tv would like to know why you stopped.

Did you stop because your favourite girl left the channel ?
Did you stop because you no longer liked the content of the shows ?
Did you stop because due to the apparent greed of the tv in the increased cost ?

But do not answer any of these questions if you were not a regular contributor to the tv.

Hang on for one minute. Isn't there a theory that for every 000's of viewers there will be so many callers or potential callers. Get those people interested in your tv and they might, just might, become that elusive caller. And how do you achieve this ? Spread the net so wide so that those potential callers see you. But to do this you have to concede to the broadcasting standards of those new frontiers which effectively tones down the show for everyone else and you end up losing more callers than you started with. Lose the callers and you end up losing the people who make the tv as there is no longer the motivation to stay. In the end there is no tv to make as everyone has gone - the callers and the staff.

So if you were one of these regular callers what would you suggest to cure this hemourage. I know what I would do. It's called returning to basics. Return the show to the callers. The callers who you know not those who you hope are out there

2007 was a turning point in the fortunes of ETV. It was the year of the gimmick. The money-spinning ideas. One moderately successful but like all gimmicks once the novelty wears off and apparent greed sets in there is no way back. Here I refer to the VIP SMSs. How many now do you get per show on average 5, 6 ?. In the begining that was 10 fold. And here was the other problem. If there were so many, they could not all be full-filled and the senders became angry and stopped sending them. So what do you do ? Increase the price so even less people send them. Oh and add another gimmick by having a 'Happy Hour' where the cost is only half. But if that is successful then why not be really adventourous and set that price for the whole show. What is better ? 50 * 4,99 or 5 * 9,99 and a few more at 4,99.. Ok, it may not work but did your own scheme of things actually work in the longer term. It's called returning the show to the callers.

In fact 'Happy Hour' is a wonderful name for this. Who can forget those nights back in the spring when a new channel appeared on the horizon. All part of the new frontier approach if I'm not mistaken. Split the service down in two. A hotter part and a colder part. You almost beat the TV6 record for the number of hours broadcasting on Hotbird for that one. Come to think of it you DID beat the record. I fondly remember the discussion with 'one of the managers' in the chatroom where 'he' proudly announced that the channel had earned it's stripes and could broadcast the same service on the new baby. And I can fondly remember viewing that service at 01.00 CET which lasted all of 30 seconds until the plug was pulled.

In fact 2007 will go down as the year of the split. What a wonderful idea to give a different service at what should be your peak viewing time and in doing so alienate all those callers. And that one lasted a few short weeks as well.

And of course ETV you must also play your part and give the caller something. Something to encourage that errant caller. Something to encourage a viewer to become a caller. Over this weekend I have been on a trip. A trip down memory lane. Looking at some old recordings. In many ways the shows of now are little different to what they were a year ago or even two years ago. But they had a certain sparkle. A sparkle that encouraged the caller. You have to rekindle that sparkle else the flame which is now flickering will go out. If that happens, it will be a real shame. A shame for you for all your hard work. A shame for your staff for all their hard word. And a shame for your callers for all their hard cash.
 

@ jemand

"The flavour of ETV has not changed, the viewers tastes have."
is a quote from @ Shirtfull

the rest is my tongue in cheek reply

@elmo

I can't agree with you. The show has changed. And it's mostly due to etv either being forced to obey laws, they have ignored for some years or some new laws being imposed. It might also be, that - as I said in another post - the ownership has changed and with it, the registration of the company to another country with different laws.

That means, that shows like the ones being featured in the - now pretty old - news section of this board won't be seen again. And that's first hand, since yesterday afternoon I tuned in for an hour or so, to hear the mod telling a VIP caller, that they aren't allowed to show pussy anymore. That's law and so taste or no taste, the rather open minded shows of the past are indeed the past.

But I won't argue the point, that the old show weren't jam packed with action in the past either. The only difference being, that in the past, you didn't know what to expect. There was at least the possibility, that some hot scenes were upcoming. Now you know exactly where the limits are drawn.

Re: changing tastes

The flavour of ETV has not changed, the viewers tastes have.

there is a small place were I go to eat
last year I could get chicken and chips (french fries, pommes, frites) with a side salad for €5,99.
nowadays only beans on toast is offered for double the price. Although nourishing I'm not so sure I want to eat that daily, especially when I ask for ketchup and am told, it costs a further €2.99 or we have run out. "would you like some mayonaisse instead?"

@ LiveShowMAN

Well said! :-) Maybe there are also book fetishists out there or sleep fetishists? I don't get it. ETV2 is the most unwatchable channel t the moment1 :-((

Therefore: boycott.

Good evening. 2008? Well, it can not be worse than is now. So there still is a hope. Yesterday I saw one improvement in the evening show. Cameraman did a little better job. Some stuff was almost erotic in the evening show. And the music was okey, actually quite excellent at the moment. But we are not watching etv because of a good music don"t we? And something else bothers me also. some girls like Leti, Jasmin...also gone? And Liveshowman, you are right. What are people paying for? Girls sitting there, learning German or English or Arabic languages from dictionaries??? can it be more stupid? Sometimes I wish I could be a director of that show. And I have a question for some expert. How big influence does here have the national TV, so that we do not get hotter shows in the evenings? Or is that also an excuse and the whole etv is just a propaganda for girls to get jobs in clubs and who knows where else?bye bye to you all and have fun in the last hours of 2007!

I never was a regular caller. Simply because I never call a payline, since they're all makebelieve.

That said, I liked the show about a year ago. Not too hard (I'm probably a minority, but harcore is a major turnoff for me) and not too soft, meaning, that you got more to see than on your average beach. The models looked quite natural and not like professional porn models.

That changed early this year. It wasn't worth watching anymore, since most of the good scenes were up here and it made no sense, to sit through countless hours of cutaway orgies, just to get a few seconds of real action. Btw, did anyone notice, that it was all downhill, since the models didn't moderate anymore. Giving up the mics to the so called moderators, was one of the first steps into the craphole.

Also it seems, that legislation took it's toll. Etv obviously isn't able anymore to produce shows like they used to on a free to air program. And that won't change, regardless of the models and the business plan.

Last, a word about the models. They may be payed well by *******  (why can't I write that country without the software censoring me) standards, but they probably get less than a call center student in one of our Western European countries. And that's saying something. The girls are multilingual and even if some of them only speak broken english or German, they're at least fluid in one laguage apart of their own. If the atmosphere is crappy, they can easily find another job opportunity.

Poster : read this

[hidden link - please register]

2008...well...who knows? I think ETV in a way got to big, the people involved got too bigheaded, finally the whole thing imploded on itself!

I have stopped watching it...4 or 5 days ago I zapped by ETV2...far away from the fixed camera there were three girls. One girl was reading a book, the other was falling asleep, the third was lying down probably already asleep...all of them were fully dressed. Erotic liveshow!? Ha!

I do not even pretent to understand what goes on inside the head of the people in charge of ETV. What IS their concept these days?...that they do not need to be a sleezy channel with erotic models who actaully undress and are talented professional erotic dancers? I do not understand why people would call an "erotic liveshow" and pay 2-3 euro/min to talk to fully dressed sitting girls?...I guess there IS a market for this. Viewers fall in love with these "nextdoor girls?" and spend all their money on talking to them and sending them SMS's?...while the models are stringing them along further. Well, whatever floats your boat I suppose.

ETV has turned into nothing but a sad excuse for a soap opera broadcasted live. They are suddenly so clean and discrete with almost nothing but respectable ladies who certainly will not act in any indecent manner!

Will they improve in 2008 you ask?...honestly, who gives a sh*t anymore?

Good evening to you all here in forum. Here I am at last, writing just a few lines...Simply because I just can not stand it any longer. I am actually from Slovenia, and could say that I was a fan of etv, in its early days. It is a shame that nowadays it became I could say really the most stupid thing on tv. And yet the concept was so good. Really in these days I from one side feel sorry for the girls, though I must admit most of those who were beautiful, are long gone. The thing that bothers me the most is that relationship between models and viewers or callers. This is called "arrogant". Prizes for writing sms are huge, at least for what people get for it...one big nothing. Okey you can always switch the channel, but it is still a shame, that it became so bad. But maybe there is still some hope. But many things should be improved. First of all the program. You can not make mistakes like for instance, that you make afternoon show more explicit than evening session. Sometimes there are 2 or 3 barbies in schedule for late program. The next thing that bothers me are cameraman. Maybe that is one thing to begin with, and nobody writes anything about it. Just one example...A caller wishes a striptease, and yet you show a model doing nothing...and pictures should stand for a while, not switching sometimes every second. I also think that some models don"t belong in the show, and by that I do not mean for example Carolina who shows too little...but models who are not beautiful enough to be there. Okey that maybe isn"t fair from me. Maybe it is more disturbing that they are too unexperienced, and they don"t know anything about liveshows, or about what is sexy. You have polls there, where there things are clear, which girls people do not like, and yet sometimes you put 5 (!!!) of the last ten in those voting polls in the evening show. For example: Lace, Amanda, Emanuele, Jessy, Aria, Amber...Of course you have no other choice now, because almost all the beauties are gone. There are some exceptions, but only maybe 10 girls look erotic, for me Alexa and Carolina(when she would strip). And of course Jaya-sorry also gone...I miss times of Tamara, Larissa, Michelle, Jaya, Ashanti, VERONICA, Samira, Monika, Ivet, Slaveya, Silveta, Lolita, and the list could be longer. But they are all gone, for now. At least Gia is back today...We shall see. But if any of directors reads this stuff from us,...well who knows. Maybe it will help some day. Because saying that "Were are not porno channel, we can not show that." ...doesnt look like a good excuse any more in 21st century. You know, PLAYBOY is also "only" erotic channel. I wish you all the very best in 2008. Bye Bye.

ok. So I have choosen to archive just the shows without the effects. I'm impressed by myself...     ;-)

Quote: And I can fondly remember viewing that service at 01.00 CET which lasted all of 30 seconds until the plug was pulled.
What are you talking about? Did I miss something???

'Happy Hour' was IIRC the name of the fully clothed service specially for Turkey. The 'manager' informed me that one this day, a monday, during a fetish show no less, there would be no split service and those Turkish viewers would see the real deal. I think it was Malena who started to undress and there was a very quick cut-away. Again, if IIRC that was the last day of 'Happy Hour'. Viewers to the standard Astra or Hotbird service would have noticed nothing. You would have needed to tune in to E+ for the 'action'

Quote: In many ways the shows of now are little different to what they were a year ago or even two years ago.
Sorry, I think they are very different. The introductions of 2007: all those hectic cutaways, the lack of focusing on the action, the horrible effects

Remember the set with the cage. From summer 2006. There was certainly little total focus and plenty of camera effects. Yes, we had more effects this year in the latter part of the year. It's quite possible that they have also been confined to the trash can now. They have not been seen for a few weeks which could well have something to do with the perprators have that nonsense also leaving the tv.

The flavour of ETV has not changed, the viewers tastes have.

Quote: Lose the callers and you end up losing the people who make the tv as there is no longer the motivation to stay.
Do you really think the girls stay or leave because of the callers??? I belive (and in some cases I know) that they are very unhappy with their job. They do it just for the money, which they will use for something they couldn't afford otherwise (like emmigrating to canada, studying in germany or italy, having their own fitness studio (???), ...)
Quote: The callers who you know not those who you hope are out there.
The callers you know have gone with the models they were interested in. With new girls you have to convince new callers.
Quote: And I can fondly remember viewing that service at 01.00 CET which lasted all of 30 seconds until the plug was pulled.
What are you talking about? Did I miss something???
Quote: Over this weekend I have been on a trip. A trip down memory lane. Looking at some old recordings.
I had the same idea ... ;-)
Quote: In many ways the shows of now are little different to what they were a year ago or even two years ago.
Sorry, I think they are very different. The introductions of 2007: all those hectic cutaways, the lack of focusing on the action, the horrible effects, every second sentence of the moderaters is a lie, the big exodus (forced and unforced) of the models,... if someone likes to continue, feel free to do so.
Quote: But they had a certain sparkle.
Very right. The attitude seemed to be totaly different. I have the impression that they changed the business-model from "What would you like? We will try to offer you that." to "This is what we offer. Get lucky or get lost." I also spot a difference in the attitude of the models from "You know, this is actually not what I would like to do, but as I'm here and you are calling I can give you a good show, so maybe we both have at least some fun." to "You know, this is actually not what I would like to do, so don't bother me." And it's not only the attitude ... for me a lot of the older models had a stage presence and a personality which makes you notice them. Most of the newer models I wouldn't notice even if they sit on my knees... But maybe this is just my impression.

Excellent mate! True words ... unfortunately. Happy new year from me too!