It will be greeted with applause when I say I will do my best to reduce the background sound in TV4 programming.
And then there are some people who are concerned about the new Jeopardy.
The Swedish Pensioners Confederation [Sveriges Pensionrers Riksfrbund] (membership, according to its own website, www.sprf.se/org/, approx. 50,000) holds a conference in the Z Room at ABF-huset on Sveavgen in Stockholm. An early February afternoon: gray, temperatures slightly above zero.
The headline is: Why are we elderly being written off as a group in matters of pensions, influence and media?
Around 150 spry pensioners listened to a question and answer session about how pension developments can be changed and what is needed to strengthen the influence of elderly people which included Joakim Palme, professor at the Institute for Future Prospects [Institutet fr framtidsutsikter], and Ylva Johansson, Minister of Health and Social Affairs.
After coffee (and rolls for those who wanted them) it is time for us: How can we better meet the programming wishes among the elderly?
It was I and Leif Jakobsson, Swedish Television [SVT] Programming Director, pleasant, professional and well-prepared.
He sets SVTs programming, and I present viewer opinions on TV4s.
He has PowerPoint and tables of SVT programming, SVT viewers, what 60-75-year-olds watch, what 75-99-year-olds watch.
There are many conclusions one of the most important being that the older people get, the more they watch SVT.
Swedes over the age of 75 generally watch more than 4 hours of TV per day, those between 60 and 75 almost 3 and a half. The average for Swedish TV viewers is appr. 2.5 hours a day.
And then it was time for the questions:
Why are long movies broadcast so late on SVT?
(Answer: they want to broadcast their own productions in primetime.)
Why are American series and movies so dominant?
(Answer TV4): More people watch programming in English, although Danish series are extremely popular (Nikolaj & Julie, The Homicide Commission [Mordkommissionen])
(Answer SVT): We have made an effort to have French and Spanish films. But the truth is that most movies are made in the USA, India is in second place, but I do not believe that most Indian films would go over well with Swedish viewers.
How is news prioritized, what comes first, is it about the most important event of the day?
(Answer TV4): Yes, it is about what the editorial department deems to be the most important event that has happened, or what affects the most people, or what is most unexpected. But in certain situations it is obvious what is the most important, for example the tragic bus accident in Arboga or when a terrorist organization unexpectedly wins the Palestinian election.
What is happening with Jeopardy and That Is How It Should Sound [S ska det lta]?
(Answer TV4): Jeopardy will return on Monday, it is by and large the same, but the host is new.
(Answer SVT): S ska det lta will continue for many years, but for only one season per year.
And other questions:
# How are viewers counted? (See www.mms.se)
# Why does SVT have so much advertising during sports broadcasts, for example?
(SVT: the government authorities have told us to do so to finance operations)
#There are too many soaps and the background music is too high and drowns out the dialogue.
# Missed the debate between Reinfeldt and Persson that was on P1 the other day, why was it not on TV?
(Answer: There have already been, and there will be more, debates on TV)
#There are too many trailers for upcoming programming.
And there were those who said: I am so glad to see you, Janne, in News Morning [Nyhetsmorgon], you are on our side. SVTs morning programming is much more boring, and their viewer ombudsman is never on.
(Answer SVT: SVTs ombudsman is on every 2 weeks, and surely it is a good thing that the morning programming is different.)
Then it is over, after a little over an hour, and each of us received a rose and flower checks and people waived when I left the room, and I thought about what Leif Jakobsson said at the beginning:
- Let us not forget that each and every one of us is an expert on TV but only on our own TV viewers.
