History Main / BoringBroadcaster

->''"This is ''Moleman in the Morning'', good Moleman to you. Today, part four of our series on the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay."''

->"This is ''Moleman in the Morning'', good Moleman to you. Today, part four of our series on the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay."
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield 'Round Springfield]]"

** In another episode, DW is upset that her favorite show, ''Mary Moo Cow'', was cancelled in favor of a financial news program. It turns out that the anchorwoman was actually the person who played Mary Moo Cow, and had decided it was time for a change.

Some public access shows on community cable TV channels or community radio stations run by amateurs may also fall into this category if they are not [[PlayedStraight deliberately aiming]] for that [[StylisticSuck kitschy]], NoBudget feel. Even mainstream broadcasters may have shows that evoke this trope if they are low-budget shows for the barely-watched "graveyard shift". It can also arise with shows that the broadcasters are reluctantly putting on because government broadcast regulators require it as a condition of license. The station does the minimal effort to create a local news show about {{EverytownAmerica}}'s new stop sign on [[SmallTowns Main Street]] or does a cooking show to get the checkbox ticked.

Some public access shows on community cable TV channels or community radio stations run by amateurs may also fall into this category if they are not [[PlayedStraight deliberately aiming]] for that [[StylisticSuck kitschy]], NoBudget feel. Even mainstream broadcasters may have shows that evoke this trope if they are low-budget shows for the barely-watched "graveyard shift". It can also arise with shows that the broadcasters are reluctantly putting on because government broadcast regulators require it as a condition of license. The station does the minimal effort to create a local news show about {{EverytownAmerica}}'s new stop sign on [[SmallTowns Main Street]] to get the checkbox ticked.

Some public access shows on community cable TV channels or community radio stations run by amateurs may also fall into this category if they are not [[PlayedStraight deliberately aiming]] for that [[StylisticSuck kitschy]], NoBudget feel. Even mainstream broadcasters may have shows that evoke this trope if they are low-budget shows for the barely-watched "graveyard shift". It can also arise with shows that the broadcasters are reluctantly putting on because government broadcast regulators require it as a condition of license. The station does the minimal effort to create a local news show about {{EverytownAmerica}}'s new stop sign on MainStreet get the checkbox ticked.

It's no surprise that these outlets and shows are often a target for satire, stereotyping them as having little or no viewers due to their reputation or poor quality, attempting to stay relevant with a RatingsStunt or two, outright begging for money because they have NoBudget, or portraying a character's interest in such programs as an example of their geeky[[TheSmartGuy intellectualism.]]

Some public access shows on community cable TV channels or community radio stations run by amateurs may also fall into this category if they are not [[PlayedStraight deliberately aiming]] for that [[StylisticSuck kitschy]], NoBudget feel. Even mainstream broadcasters may have shows that evoke this trope if they are low-budget shows for the barely-watched "graveyard shift".

Similarly, television channels and programs devoted to public affairs (such as coverage of governmental sessions and other political events) are similarly intended to be a public record rather than exciting entertainment ''by design'' (that is unless a protester or quick-witted politician livens things up, or they're covering an informal event such as the White House Correspondents' Dinner). Some public access shows may also fall into this category if they are not [[PlayedStraight deliberately aiming]] for that [[StylisticSuck kitschy]], NoBudget feel.

It's no surprise that these outlets are often a target for satire, stereotyping them as having little to no viewers due to their reputation or quality, attempting to stay relevant with a RatingsStunt or two, outright begging for money because they have NoBudget, or portraying a character's interest in such programs as an example of their [[TheSmartGuy intellectualism.]]

* BBC Radio 4 (a sister station involved primarily in spoken word programming) broadcasts a series of shipping forecasts four times per-day, which provide weather conditions for sailors navigating the British isles. They are mainly fed on the station's longwave signals only, but two of them are relayed on the FM signals -- including one most famously aired at 12:45 a.m. before the station signs off for the night. Its reception, however, subverts this trope; the shipping forecast has a cult following for its iconic ThemeTune, mysterious subject matter (to those unfamiliar with where Tyne and Dogger are located, and why they are Northeast 3 or 4), and its strict and hypnotic delivery.

* Played with in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "The Vengeance Formulation". Sheldon gets an interview with Ira Flatow on NPR's ''Science Friday'' to a discuss a "recent so-called discovery of magnetic monopoles in spin ices", since they wanted to [[RatingsStunt "goose the ratings" for pledge week]] with something controversial. [[SitcomArchNemesis Barry Kripke]] [[HeliumSpeech pumps helium]] into the office where Sheldon was doing the interview from. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]] (and [[CoveredInGunge payback]]) ensues.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield 'Round Springfield]]", Lisa has the local radio station [=KJAZZ=] play a tribute to Bleeding Gums Murphy after his death so that Springfield could appreciate his music. However, it's revealed that the station has a very weak signal only able to reach 152 listeners, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and that]] [[ButtMonkey Hans Moleman]] was its morning host.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield Round Springfield]]"

Public radio and television, especially the U.S. Creator/{{NPR}} and Creator/{{PBS}} networks, tend to delve into more serious topics (such as education, politics, science, fine arts, classical and/or jazz music, and the occasional pledge drive) than the average commercial broadcaster. Similarly, the "soft adult contemporary" radio format tries to be [[LighterAndSofter inoffensive in its content]] to appeal to workplaces and an older demographic, focusing primarily on "soft rock" and ballads, new and old (although this is now a stereotype, as many Soft AC stations are subverting this by incorporating more upbeat yet "safe" fare).

* Played with in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "The Vengeance Formulation". Sheldon gets an interview with Ira Flatow on NPR's ''Science Friday'' to a discuss a "recent so-called discovery of magnetic monopoles in spin ices": he says they wanted to [[RatingsStunt "goose the ratings" for pledge week with something controversial]]. [[SitcomArchNemesis Barry Kripke]] [[HeliumSpeech pumps helium]] into the office where Sheldon was doing the interview from. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]] (and [[CoveredInGunge payback]]) ensues.

* BBC Radio 3 is thought of this way. It began in 1946 as the BBC Third Programme, out of the institution's built-in need to educate and inform as well as entertain. And it has been remarked that whenever the BBC feels a compulsive need to educate, then entertainment goes out of the window, as if the two are mutually exclusive concepts. The output of the station has always been slanted towards heavy classical music and seriously intellectually highbrow literary talk shows. It has been said that you need an university-level education to even understand the station's announcer. Very much a minority channel, Radio 3 has its ardent and fanatical devotees who remain alert to any sign of even the slightest "dumbing down".
* BBC Radio 4 (a sister station involved primarily in spoken word programming) broadcasts a series of shipping forecasts four times per-day, which provide weather conditions for sailors navigating the British isles. They are mainly fed on the station's longwave signals only, but two of them are relayed on the FM signals -- including one most famously aired at 12:45 a.m. before the station signs off for the night. Its reception, however, subverts this trope; the shipping forecast has a cult following for its iconic ThemeTune, mysterious subject matter (to those unfamiliar with where Tyne and Dogger are located, and why they are Northeast 3 or 4), and its strict and hypnotic delivery.

[[caption-width-right:260:KJAZZ: 152 Americans Can't Be Wrong]]

* Played with in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "The Vengeance Formulation". Sheldon gets an interview on NPR's ''Science Friday'' to a discuss a "recent so-called discovery of magnetic monopoles in spin ices": he says they wanted to [[RatingsStunt "goose the ratings" for pledge week with something controversial]]. [[SitcomArchNemesis Barry Kripke]] [[HeliumSpeech pumps helium]] into the office where Sheldon was doing the interview from. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]] (and [[CoveredInGunge payback]]) ensues.

** In "Idiot Box", Squidward's YourTelevisionHatesYou moment has him channel surfing through several shows bringing up boxes, one of them being a professor using one to demonstrate an equation (and then there's "Championship Boxing", which ends up being [[VisualPun somewhat literal]]).

[[caption-width-right:260:KJAZZ: 152 Americans Can't Be Wrong!]]

[[quoteright:260:[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moleman_in_the_morning.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:260:"This is ''Moleman in the Morning'', good Moleman to you. Today, part four of our series on the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay."]]

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield 'Round Springfield]]", Lisa has the local radio station [=KJAZZ=] play a tribute to Bleeding Gums Murphy after his death so that Springfield could appreciate his music. However, it's revealed that the station has a ''very'' short range (insofar that its sign has the slogan "152 Americans Can't Be Wrong!") [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and that]] [[ButtMonkey Hans Moleman]] was its morning host.

[[quoteright:260:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moleman_in_the_morning.jpg]]]]

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield 'Round Springfield]]", Lisa has the local radio station [=KJAZZ=] play a tribute to Bleeding Gums Murphy after his death so that Springfield could appreciate his music. However, it's revealed that the station has a ''very'' short range, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and that]] [[ButtMonkey Hans Moleman]] was its morning host;
--->'''Hans''': Hello, this is ''Moleman in the Morning'', good Moleman to you. Today, part four of our series on the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay.

Similarly, television channels and programs devoted to public affairs (such as coverage of governmental sessions and other political events) are similarly intended to be a public record rather than exciting entertainment ''by design'' (that is unless a protester or quick-witted politician livens things up, or they're covering the White House Correspondents' Dinner). Some public access shows may also fall into this category if they are not [[PlayedStraight deliberately aiming]] for that [[StylisticSuck kitschy]], NoBudget feel.

* Played with in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "The Vengeance Formulation". Sheldon gets an interview on NPR's ''Science Friday'' to a discuss a "recent so-called discovery of magnetic monopoles in spin ices": he says they wanted to [[RatingsStunt "goose the ratings" for pledge week with something controversial]]. [[SitcomArchNemesis Barry Kripke]] [[HeliumSpeech pumps helium]] into the office where Sheldon was doing the interview from. HilarityEnsues.

** In another episode, DW is upset that her favorite show, ''Mary Moo Cow'' is off the air, and has been replaced with a woman reading off stock reports. It turns out that she's the one who wore the Mary Moo Cow costume, and decided it was time for a change.

* Referenced by the quiz show ''Series/RemoteControl'', which featured a "Public Television" category with difficult questions involving subjects such as science]], rather than music and pop culture like the rest of the show. The host outright claims that nobody knew the answer to these questions because people rarely watch public television. However, there were moments when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPi2GMMbzTE a contestant correctly answered something from this category]] (of course, the contestant in the linked clip couldn't name the lead singer of Music/{{Queen}}: you win some, you lose some).