Archive through August 01, 2003
TV ClubHouse: ARCHIVES: Big Brother USA 2003 General Discussions Part 1:
Is anyone else as PO'd (ala Dana)as me about these feeds?:
Archive through August 01, 2003
Gypsy888 | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:05 pm     I used to post on this site last season, went thru computer problems, lost my favorites, forgot the name and finally someone posted it on another site I was on. Since then I have been doing updates here. (this is my favorite BB site). Anyway...I am furious at the feeds. I feel like this was a huge scam by CBS. They promise you 4 feeds. Technically they give you that, however, when we all know they have hundreds of cams in that house we assume that they feeds will be on different people in different parts of the house. Since I have been watching, pretty much all four feeds are on one location, while you can hear others in the background or you know others are in certain rooms...possibly scheming or who knows what. I feel that this is a way for CBS to take money for the 24/7 angle while keeping control of much of the game. I personally think that I should get 3/4's of my money back. When they were in lock down outside for the live show last week, I get two pics of Ali sleeping in a chair and the other two pics are of an empty table with BK bags all over it while I can hear the HG's talking else where. Right now we have HG's everywhere, but all cams are on the HT. I'm sure some of you have already brought this up, but since I just re-found my favorite site, I wouldn't know. Sorry that my first post in discussion is an angry one...but I just had to vent. What are other thoughts here? I know that I will definately NOT be wasting my money on this again next year! |
Twiggyish | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:09 pm     I noticed this too. They'll keep two and three cameras on the same people! Some of the angles are so far away you can't clearly see anything. |
Peachie | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:11 pm     Unfortunately it is done like this every year, it is aggravating but I suppose I have gotten used to it. Dont like it but am used to it. |
Gypsy888 | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:12 pm     I think we should spread the word to other BB sites and either send a huge letter to CBS so perhaps they will correct the problem now...or hold out on ordering BB next season so they can feel the red ink on their financials. They didn't do this before and now this is their way of gyping us in order to control the game. If you remember...last season many people were ticked at their editing...we knew the real scoop and they made people look good or bad at their will. Now they are editing our ability to see what is going on. I think something needs to be done about it. |
Gypsy888 | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:16 pm     Peachie....it wasn't nearly as bad as this last year. I was okay with the way they handled it last year, but they have gone overboard this year to a point where I honestly feel they are scre*ing people big time. During the time last year when they only used two feeds...at least two showed great conversations each. This year it is either all four on the same thing...or two on a conversation and another on turtles...empty room..someone sleeping, etc. |
Needavacation | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:31 pm     This is the first time I have paid for the feeds and I am glad to learn I am not the only one feeling jipped. I rarely bother turning them on. What a joke! |
Gypsy888 | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:38 pm     Needavacation, I am going to send an email to CBS on my own and you should as well. I just feel that it would be so much more powerful if all the BB Site owners and members out there would do it together. I can remember last year having cams on Nicole and Hardy and at the same time on Amy playing around in the yard...drunk off her butt, and still another with Dani and Lisa. My biggest problem last year was trying to decide which feed to go to. |
Peachie | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 09:46 pm     Bad part this year is these people really whisper very well, some have mastered it. |
Gypsy888 | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 10:01 pm     Just realized I mixed up seasons two and three. Oh well, you get the gist of it. All feeds had so much going on it was hard to decide which feed to take. I remember updaters telling eachother "You take feed two and I'll cover three" Now its like nothing. What a drag. If anyone is interested in contacting other BB sites to form a mass complaint, please say so. When it hits their pocket books they will listen. I can only imagine how much they make from these sites and the feed members. Oh...you are right Peachie...they do whisper well. I need to learn lip reading. |
Xarph | Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 11:54 pm     Contacting CBS will not help. It has been extensively for BB2 and BB3. The only thing that has a chance of working is coming down heavy on the show sponsers. |
Happycamper | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 12:06 am     How are sponsors involved in the feeds? |
Makays | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 12:14 am     Same subject, different year. This is just one of the reasons why I refused to pay. Does anyone remember the movie Groundhog Day? |
Jennywa | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 12:16 am     6:00am....."I Got You Babe" |
Cricket | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 03:35 am     I cancelled my feeds last night. I had the 14-day trial and it was awful. Same complaints as above and timed out all the time or froze every 30 seconds. It was driving me crazy. When I tried to cancel, Realplayer had a pop up that asked why I was cancelling. I noted the above and said also because CBS has the same thing on all 4 feeds. I was also extremely upset the other night after HOH when they kept leaving the feeds on Dana and her big mouth. Didn't we have enough of her for a week? When you try to cancel you finally get to a page where it says you have to CALL. So, I called and had to go thru automated instructions and finally someone came on the line and AGAIN asked why I was cancelling. I told her about the bad quality/freezing and especially about CBS have all 4 feeds on the same thing. Also, I had no sound a LOT of the time. All I can say is, if enough people tell RP they are disgusted with CBS doing this, maybe RP will force them to change because they are losing money. Xarph, I too don't understand how sponsors are involved in the feeds. |
Ocean_Islands | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 03:45 am     These problems which are clearly worse than last year, but despite that it is clear that if the houseguests were more interesting, it wouldn't be so bad. |
Bracken | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 05:46 am     I agree with Xarph that contacting the sponsors is an effective way to make your point. They can put the pressure on the network in a way a small consumer cannot. I don't even think that the income from the live feeds is important to CBS. They have to split it with Realplayer, etc. However, effective threats to sponsors can make them pull their advertising money and there goes the show, also. This tactic can be a doubled edged sword depending upon ratings for it. I really think the only reason that the feeds even exist in the United States is because this was the main purpose of the Big Brother game. The game in the US hardly resembles the original game. The only facet left of the original is the supposed 24/7 live feed and now we barely have that feature. We don't see much of what goes on, we certainly don't hear much of anything with the whispering and use of foreign languages for important alliance communications. In keeping with the dumbing down of broadcast TV, the producers have filled the house with young morons for the most part. Has anyone made the connection of the "separated at birth" thread at BB Sucks and this years hamsters? They resemble Real World participants, American Idol participants, or various models. With the exception of Jack -- this is one person out of 13, very bad odds -- and he has the look of some of our older fine character actors. At least the American Idol participants had some talent, none of the hamsters do -- unless Jun wants a cooking show entitled "what to cook when you can't get to the store." Frankly, this show is no longer Big Brother. They should change the name HOH to "Top Dog" and the POV to "Save their @$$." These names would be more in keeping with the maturity of the HGs. They can then rename the show to reflect the type of people who are in it and call it "Last Dude Standing." OK, rant over. |
Needavacation | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 07:09 am     Perhaps we can focus on BB5, boycot the feeds... If we could arrange that... then, I am sure they would make changes. I for one will not sign up next year. If they are making money, they will not care if we like the product or not, right? Bracken, I have noticed the trend on almost all the reality shows to cast the young and beautiful. When I look at the cast this year I can not understand why and how Jack made it. I think if he were not former FBI, he wouldn't be there. I am glad he is, but he is a good looking in shape older guy. I miss the variety of past BB's. I liked seeing average Joe. That is what kept the show from being a bore! Can you imagine Mega or Chicken George in this group? Marcellas? The X factor should have been called, the sex factor, they wanted their first, and they got it! Forget the eye candy, give us real people, of differant shapes, sizes, and backgrounds, hobbies, habits....throw them in the house for 3 months and let the entertainment begin! Variety is the spice of life...if we were all into working out, building muscle, and showing off our assets in cabbage and peanut butter we wouldn't be so bored I guess. |
Twinkie | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 07:37 am     I, for one, am so tired of seeing the weight lifting guys and food-bikini girls. YAWN! I want to see real people playing this game. No models, no wannabe actors, and definitely no PSYCHOS who get ejected by the staff. And the live feeds are worthless. I'm so glad I'm getting the free trial and not paying for them. I will never pay for them. I'm going to pay for 4 feeds all of the same thing? Or the FOTH for no reason? I think BB1 was the best season. Hearing Curtis's beautiful voice when he sang. What a real treat. The more they change BB the more I don't like it. And RealPlayer and CBS suck. |
Gypsy888 | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:21 am     Rumors abound on all BB sites that BB has personnel that read these threads. I, too, am sick of super models and beefcakes for contestants. I would LOVE this show so much more if they had real people. A couple of models and beefcakes are fine, mixed in with a variety of others. This show has become the Real World and Road Rules...it needs to be different. Next season I will not order the feeds. I will wait until the 3rd week is over and get the opinions of those that have it. If it is like this year...forget it. If they change it up, I will order. Other sites I look in on are bi***ing about the same things...the feeds, the types of people that BB is resorting to. Hopefully they will get a clue. I watched BB because it was different. |
Bastable | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:25 am     I feel like the feeds were MUCH worse last year. Last year, almost all of the Mac people got shut out of them for over a week in the middle of the game! I may be watching nothing but card-playing HGs, but at least they're coming in loud and clear. It's the frequent test patterns/color bars that annoy me. It's like there's an intern in the control room twisting knobs around just to annoy us. (Or probably, to wake us up.) |
Grooch | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:29 am     I'm enjoying the BB people. They are real people. I think most real people are a bit nutty in the first place and then when lock them up together in a house for 3 months, it makes them even nuttier. I like them even more than last year's bunch, with the exception of Dani. She was robbed! |
Grits | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:30 am     Don't forget that 50000 get the feeds, more than 100 times that watch the tv show. Add in all their research that tells them that ratings go into the toilet when you don't show the good looking people. Bottom line is the ratings govern the casting. |
Gypsy888 | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:30 am     Bastable, I don't have a Mac, but I certainly hope you received some sort of partial refund for that. The feeds last year were always tuned in to where people actually were so there were always at least two different juicy conversations to choose from, at least that is how it was for me. But, regardless, I will definately not order next year unless the people that have the feeds say they are pleased. I will just read the updates for the inside scoops and participate in the discussions. |
Diacritical | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:30 am     Gypsy888 -- see my open letter. You bring up some valid points. Unfortunately, we who pay are the sponsors of the live feeds and we who pay will have to comment to the producers. |
Ocean_Islands | Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:39 am     I would guess that CBS is having a personnel problem. Remember when someone kicked Amanda and Dave out of the diary room? Something is wrong with them. |
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