I was a young man working in television when Monday Night Football first came on the scene, and people under 40 can’t really imagine the phenomenon that it was. There were NFL games on Sunday afternoons, but that was it. There was no network “command center” where a group of announcers kept you up to date with what was going on around the league. The only way to keep up with what was happening in other cities was when the telecast you were watching cut to the scoreboard, and the announcers ran down the scores. Summaries were left for the late news or the Monday paper.

MNF brought the game into prime time blockbuster status and became the model for marketing all sports in the future. The halftime highlight segment broke new ground, because it gave us images from the previous day. There was no ESPN at the time to do so. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that ESPN — and many other things we take for granted in the professional sports world — would not be around today had it not been for the success of Monday Night Football.

For those who follow media, the passing of MNF is extremely significant, for it shows the difficulty of recreating what we lovingly call a “blockbuster” week-in-and-week-out. With blockbusters, as Umair Haque points out, attention is emphasized over production, and this is changing in a world that increasingly belongs to what he calls “the snowball effect.” What was once the blockbuster is now just another football game under the lights, and only the Superbowl now occasionally lives up to the hype. The importance of the Superbowl, however, is created by championship play in the league. That wasn’t the case with Monday Night Football. It was an artificially-created, weekly championship game.

Mass marketing rides the back of the blockbuster, and this is true whether it’s toothpaste or a football game. Once the public gives that stamp to any event — and this includes news — smart folks with dollar signs in their eyes rush in to duplicate it over and over again. People see right through that and are sick of it, which is why Hollywood, the recording industry and all of television are in such trouble. The digital world doesn’t much care for the artificial sense of importance that comes with the blockbuster mentality, and this is highly perplexing to those who make their living “driving” sales of anything.

So, like tube television sets, Monday Night Football — the original, artificial sports blockbuster — has faded into the mist of history, taking with it another slice of the heart and soul of mass marketing. I don’t think there’ll ever be anything like it down-the-road.

Here is the latest in my series of essays, TV News in a Postmodern World. This is my annual look ahead, and while nobody’s crystal ball is perfectly clear, these observations seem self-evident when viewing the forest from a distance. I’ve called this “The Unbundled Awakening,” because that’s what’s happening and what will continue to happen in the months ahead. The concept has been launched; the infrastructure is being built; and efforts to institutionalize it are underway. The awakening is taking place first among consumers, and media companies will have no choice but to respond or risk complete irrelevance. This is tough stuff for entrenched mainstreamers.

The Unbundled Awakening

Alicia and I would like to take this opportunity to send our love and best wishes to you and yours at this special time of year. I hope your stockings are full and your New Year is prosperous and filled with joy.

I’m going to be taking time off during the next week, so don’t expect a lot of entries. I’ll be around, but even bloggers need a vacation once in awhile. TTFN

Doc Searls has an important post on the media’s online failure during the strike. He writes of a complaint that nobody is updating the strike status with any frequency. Doc rightly argues that the “rhythms” of mainstream media don’t include such dedication. A worthwhile read for anybody in the news business, because these types of events are perfect for the www.

One of my personality quirks is that I tend to be drawn towards the future. I have to discipline myself to “stay in the moment” daily, because my nature pulls me forward almost constantly. I’ve often thought that this was why I was such a good Assignment Manager.

Of course, the downside fruit of such a gift is anxiety, and I’ve fought that monster all my life. I’ve learned the hard way that life is a day-by-day thing, and a personal crisis eight years ago led me to a place where I could finally find comfort just being me. My faith has dissolved the anxiety problem, but the future drift remains. It’s an interesting place to be.

I give you all that background to explain why today is such an important day to me (and, I suppose, others like me). To me, the first day of Winter isn’t about snow and cold and gloom. Like the ancients, I view the Winter Solstice as the rebirth of the sun — the day when our star begins its journey back northward and bringing with it new life. To me, this is a day of supreme joy and celebration. As I tell my family, it’s all downhill from here.

For the same reason, I feel a twinge of sadness on the Summer Solstice. Odd, eh?

We’ve heard a ton of arguments this holiday season about whether a Christmas tree should be called a Christmas tree or whether we should just call it a “holiday tree” to encompass all of the winter festivals of various religions. This is an easy question for me. I am a Christian, so it’s a Christmas tree. But my understanding of God has changed dramatically over the years, and I don’t think He gives a crap what we call the thing. Christianity glommed itself onto the pagan celebrations of the Winter Solstice in the fourth century, finding commonality between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. That’s fine with me, and I think we’re all being just a bit too pedantic by insisting that the holiday be one way or the other.

I hope you’ll take a moment today to think about our sun and welcome her on the journey back to our hemisphere. Winter isn’t the beginning of darkness; it’s the renewal of light.

Dan Gillmor is launching a non-profit Center for Citizen Media to “study, encourage and help enable the emergent grassroots media sphere, with a major focus on citizen journalism.” This is a big deal, folks. The Center will be affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University Law School.

Why do this? We need a thriving media and journalism ecosystem. We need what big institutions do so well, but we also need the bottom-up — or, more accurately, edge-in — knowledge and ideas of what I’ve called the “former audience” that has become a vital part of the system. I’m also anxious to see that it’s done honorably and in a way that helps foster a truly informed citizenry. I think I can help.

This is a nonpartisan initative. I aim to help anyone, regardless of political views, who has a constructive project and who is interested in expanding the reach of citizen media in an principled way.

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