Until they can get rid of those clunky glasses, I never thought there was much hope at 3D TV would catch on. In fact, even without the glasses, there's still a gimmicky quality to the next technological advancement after HDTV.
You can view the technology in electronics stores, like Best Buy, and decide for yourself if it's worth another technological upgrade.
But there are signs that the only 24-hour 3D TV outlet, ESPN 3D, could be shutting down.
ESPN's denying it, but that's the buzz. And it wouldn't be a surprise, but a combination of the weak economy (both in TV sales and advertising) and technical exhaustion from TV owners have stalled sales of the new sets.
And, of course, the technology is still hampered by those clunky glasses, although some ultra-expensive eyeglass-free sets are in the pipeline.
PC World notes the low ad sales on ESPN 3D, quoting the never reticent Mark Cuban as calling the technology "a bust."
At the very least, waiting a year (or maybe three) may be wise if you plan on spending much on a new TV. Go ahead and buy, just don't gamble on 3D.
Here's a promo for ESPN 3D, from when it was launched last year:
How the Packers did last week: With 27.2 million people tuning in, Thursday's NFL season opener from Lambeau Field was the second-most watched first game of the season, according to Nielsen Media Research overnight numbers. Only last year's season opener had a bigger audience, at least partially because of the focus on a guy named Brett Favre in the Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints match-up.
Locally, preliminary Nielsen overnight numbers showed that nearly 482,000 southeast Wisconsin households were tuned to the game on Channel 4, almost 71 percent of TVs on at the time. It's just one more example of the power of the Packers on Milwaukee TV.
Meanwhile, the president's speech – which aired before the big prime-time audience gathered in front of their televisions – brought in 31 million viewers over 11 TV network and cable outlets, Nielsen reports.
On TV: Channel 58's new noon newscast is scheduled to launch today. It won't be disrupted by CBS coverage of the U.S. Open Men's Final, which starts at 3 p.m.
- Last week's "Rescue Me" finale drew in a healthy 2.3 million viewers to FX. While it's the most-watched episode in four years, it's not nearly as much as last week's season premiere of "Sons of Anarchy," which had around 5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers.
- Lifetime's "The Protector," with Ally Walker, has been canceled. If you haven't heard of it, that would be why it's being canceled.
- NBC News' Twitter account was hacked Friday, with hackers posting bogus tweets about a plane attack on the site of the Sept. 11 terror attack in New York City.
In case you missed it: The cast from CBS' "Two and a Half Men," including Ashton Kutcher, the replacement for troubled Charlie Sheen, delivered the Top 10 List last week on David Letterman's show:
Here it is:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
