David Bianculli has been a TV critic for over 40 years. He got his start in college when he convinced his internship editor to let him review Saturday Night Live. Since then, he has reviewed thousands of shows. Bianculli especially enjoys finding lesser known shows that are of high quality to recommend to viewers. He also had an art exhibition that showcased his long career and the evolution of television. Currently, Bianculli believes this is the best time in history for television due to the large number of networks and streaming services creating unique, quality programming.
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
A report by thenetworkone and Kurio.
The contributing experts and agencies are (in an alphabetical order): Sylwia Rytel, Social Media Supervisor, 180heartbeats + JUNG v MATT (PL), Sharlene Jenner, Vice President - Director of Engagement Strategy, Abelson Taylor (USA), Alex Casanovas, Digital Director, Atrevia (ES), Dora Beilin, Senior Social Strategist, Barrett Hoffher (USA), Min Seo, Campaign Director, Brand New Agency (KR), Deshé M. Gully, Associate Strategist, Day One Agency (USA), Francesca Trevisan, Strategist, Different (IT), Trevor Crossman, CX and Digital Transformation Director; Olivia Hussey, Strategic Planner; Simi Srinarula, Social Media Manager, The Hallway (AUS), James Hebbert, Managing Director, Hylink (CN / UK), Mundy Álvarez, Planning Director; Pedro Rojas, Social Media Manager; Pancho González, CCO, Inbrax (CH), Oana Oprea, Head of Digital Planning, Jam Session Agency (RO), Amy Bottrill, Social Account Director, Launch (UK), Gaby Arriaga, Founder, Leonardo1452 (MX), Shantesh S Row, Creative Director, Liwa (UAE), Rajesh Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer; Dhruv Gaur, Digital Planning Lead; Leonie Mergulhao, Account Supervisor - Social Media & PR, Medulla (IN), Aurelija Plioplytė, Head of Digital & Social, Not Perfect (LI), Daiana Khaidargaliyeva, Account Manager, Osaka Labs (UK / USA), Stefanie Söhnchen, Vice President Digital, PIABO Communications (DE), Elisabeth Winiartati, Managing Consultant, Head of Global Integrated Communications; Lydia Aprina, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Nita Prabowo, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Okhi, Web Developer, PNTR Group (ID), Kei Obusan, Insights Director; Daffi Ranandi, Insights Manager, Radarr (SG), Gautam Reghunath, Co-founder & CEO, Talented (IN), Donagh Humphreys, Head of Social and Digital Innovation, THINKHOUSE (IRE), Sarah Yim, Strategy Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo (CA).
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
It’s important that you’re ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
You’ll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If you’re looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the world’s most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, it’s no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article “5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakers”, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
We’ve stripped back project management processes to the
basics – to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
“If you’re looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.”
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
A report by thenetworkone and Kurio.
The contributing experts and agencies are (in an alphabetical order): Sylwia Rytel, Social Media Supervisor, 180heartbeats + JUNG v MATT (PL), Sharlene Jenner, Vice President - Director of Engagement Strategy, Abelson Taylor (USA), Alex Casanovas, Digital Director, Atrevia (ES), Dora Beilin, Senior Social Strategist, Barrett Hoffher (USA), Min Seo, Campaign Director, Brand New Agency (KR), Deshé M. Gully, Associate Strategist, Day One Agency (USA), Francesca Trevisan, Strategist, Different (IT), Trevor Crossman, CX and Digital Transformation Director; Olivia Hussey, Strategic Planner; Simi Srinarula, Social Media Manager, The Hallway (AUS), James Hebbert, Managing Director, Hylink (CN / UK), Mundy Álvarez, Planning Director; Pedro Rojas, Social Media Manager; Pancho González, CCO, Inbrax (CH), Oana Oprea, Head of Digital Planning, Jam Session Agency (RO), Amy Bottrill, Social Account Director, Launch (UK), Gaby Arriaga, Founder, Leonardo1452 (MX), Shantesh S Row, Creative Director, Liwa (UAE), Rajesh Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer; Dhruv Gaur, Digital Planning Lead; Leonie Mergulhao, Account Supervisor - Social Media & PR, Medulla (IN), Aurelija Plioplytė, Head of Digital & Social, Not Perfect (LI), Daiana Khaidargaliyeva, Account Manager, Osaka Labs (UK / USA), Stefanie Söhnchen, Vice President Digital, PIABO Communications (DE), Elisabeth Winiartati, Managing Consultant, Head of Global Integrated Communications; Lydia Aprina, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Nita Prabowo, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Okhi, Web Developer, PNTR Group (ID), Kei Obusan, Insights Director; Daffi Ranandi, Insights Manager, Radarr (SG), Gautam Reghunath, Co-founder & CEO, Talented (IN), Donagh Humphreys, Head of Social and Digital Innovation, THINKHOUSE (IRE), Sarah Yim, Strategy Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo (CA).
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
It’s important that you’re ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
You’ll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If you’re looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the world’s most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, it’s no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article “5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakers”, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
We’ve stripped back project management processes to the
basics – to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
“If you’re looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.”
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
SJM_Bianculli_Dept_0415
1. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tv GuideWhen it comes to television—good or bad—Cherry Hill’s
David Bianculli never misses an episode. by Nicole Pensiero
ASK DAviD BiANculli to guess how many television shows he’s watched in his 40
years as a renowned TV critic and you’ll get a wry answer in response.
“Way too many,” he says with a laugh. “Some unforgettable ones—and some I
wish I could forget.”
50 SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE VOLUME 12 ISSUE 1 SouthJersey.com
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Still, Bianculli, a longtime resident of Cherry
Hill, doesn’t regret having to sit through any of
them. After all, watching TV shows—the good,
the bad and the ugly—is what he signed up for all
those years ago when, as a college student, he
convinced an editor at the newspaper he was in-
terning at to let him review a new TV show geared
toward college kids: Saturday Night Live.
While Bianculli only made $5 for that quarter-
page article back in 1975, he was “absolutely
thrilled” to earn anything for his writing, and even
more excited to see his name in print.
“That was a big deal; to actually get paid and
have some clips to show for myself,” he recalls.
“That’s when I realized I could maybe get some-
where with this.”
“This” being his lifelong dream of becoming a
professional TV critic.
Fast forward to late 2014, when Bianculli’s
decades-long love affair with television became
the subject of a six-week-long exhibition at a
Apexart, a Tribeca art gallery in New York City. The
show—Bianculli’s Personal Theory of TV Evolu-
tion—recountedhispersonalconnectionwithtele-
visionasamedium,spanningbacktohischildhood
diary entries (“Today on TV, they took off FUNDAY
FUNNIES. I love that program, and I don’t like it
being taken off,” reads what is possibly Bianculli’s
first piece of actual TV criticism, written when he
was nearly 7 years old.).
The gallery exhibition also featured many
original TV treasures, like a trademark Fred Rogers
cardigan sweater, and Twilight Zone creator Rod
Serling’s Royal 440 typewriter. Some of the items
displayed were Bianculli’s own—including his fa-
ther’soriginal1946RaytheonTV—butotherswere
loaned to him by everyone from Breaking
Bad creator Vince Gilligan to famed docu-
mentarian Ken Burns, a longtime friend.
“Itwasanincredibleexperience,”Bian-
culli says. “It grew into something bigger
than[thegallery]orIcouldhaveimagined.”
And beyond the physical growth of the ex-
hibit—as more and more items were col-
lected for display—Bianculli says it trans-
formed from something “just for fun” to
something “much more contemplative
than I could have imagined.”
“I could see all sort of things from
my life, as it relates to my love of television,
connecting in ways I’d never really
thought about before,” he said. “It was
really something to experience my history
in that context.”
Bianculli’s mad-juggle of a career—
which includes running his web-based
magazine, TVWorthWatching.com, (fea-
turing no less than 35 of his “Best Bets” cri-
tiques weekly) to ongoing appearances on
NationalPublicRadio’sFreshAir;alongtime
stint as a Rowan TV and film history asso-
ciate professor, and his work as a book au-
thor—couldputayoungerpersontoshame.
But,at61,Bianculli’scareerhasneverbeen
busier,ormorerewarding.Andtherehasn’t
been a more exciting time in the history of
television itself either, he says.
“It’s better than it’s ever been. There
are all these networks, and streaming ser-
vices, all trying things to help them break
outandbenoticed.Thatmeansthatthey’re
looking for off-beat, unusual and quality
shows,” Bianculli says. The American TV
viewing public, he says, has benefitted
most from this shift in direction.
From Breaking Bad—which Bianculli
calls “the best show ever,” to Downton
Abbey, Modern Family, Justified, and The
Good Wife—there’s plenty of fantastic stuff
on TV to choose from, he says.
“I sometimes say that you earn your
money as a TV critic by having to watch
the bad shows all the way through,” he
says. “But there’s a lot of great stuff out
there, too.” And by focusing on what Bian-
culli calls “the top 10 percent,” of shows
on TV today, he is able to use his writing
and broadcasting skills to “turn people on
to TV shows they might not discover on
their own.”
“Ifindthatveryrewarding—it’sprobably
the best part of the job,” he continues.
After four decades of critiquing televi-
sion shows, Bianculli says that “most of
the time, I have a pretty good track record”
of pinpointing the winners and clunkers.
There have been times, though, that he’s
been off-the-mark, like when the success
of 1970s hit The Dukes of Hazzard left him
“absolutely astounded.”
“I thought so little of it, that I gave it a
two-wordreview:“KineticRednecks,’”Bian-
culli recalls. But, people’s taste in TV has
evolvedoverthepasttwodecades—keeping
up with the increasingly sophisticated pro-
gramming—that he’s still surprised when a
show he predicts for greatness does well.
“It’s really weird, but for the first 20
years, if I really loved a show, it often was
endangered. … They would be the ones
that took a while to catch on, if at all,” he re-
calls. “Now, it’s almost the opposite, and
I’m sort of still caught off-guard when I like a
show immediately and it ends up that a lot
of other people do, too.”
Bianculli’s fascination with television
goes back to his childhood in Florida, where
hegrewupalongsidetheexcitingnewmedi-
um.Theyoungeroftwochildren,hisearliest
TVmemoriesincludeFredRogersperforming
withhispuppets—thiswaspre-Mr.Rogers—
and watching the annual airing of The
Wizard of Oz. By age 6, Bianculli was
keeping a diary that focused primarily on
TV shows he enjoyed. By high school, Bian-
culli and his then-widowed father bonded
in the evenings over the family’s small black
and white TV set.
“It’s going to sound geeky, but it’s a
favorite memory. After dinner, and before
prime time, my dad and I would play
chess and whoever won, got to pick the
shows we’d watch that night,” Bianculli
remembers.
Attendingwhatwasthenanexperimental
high school that had its own TV studio,
Bianculli got his first taste of TV production
in the early 1970s. He was also an avid
writer,contributingtotheschoolnewspaper,
and interested in theater.
“By the time I got out of high school, I
was so excited by journalism, by television
and by the arts,” he recalls. He was a student
at the University of Florida when he decided
to set his sights on a career as a TV critic.
“Since there was no major in that, I took
courses that I thought could help me, like
statistics, so I could understand ratings; and
law, so I could understand FCC regulations,”
he says. “I had the desire to do it, but I didn’t
really know if it would be possible.”
Things started to come together when,
as a senior, Bianculli landed an internship at
the Gainesville Sun, working under the aus-
pices of a journalism professor to put out
the state news pages.
SouthJersey.com VOLUME 12 ISSUE 1 SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE 51
Name:
David Bianculli
Known as:
TV Critic
Favorite Show:
Breaking Bad
SJM_Bianculli_Dept_0415_Cancer_7_09 4/3/15 1:07 PM Page 1
2. “It was the greatest internship you
could possibly have,” he says. It was also
where Bianculli landed that first paying
gig as a TV critic. During the internship,
his college offered to pay for Bianculli’s
graduate degree in journalism in exchange
for him teaching an undergraduate writing
class. It was a busy two years as he con-
tinued writing TV reviews for the Gainesville
paper, while teaching and working on his
graduate degree.
“By the time I got the master’s [degree
in 1977,] I had two years’ worth of clips,
which helped me land my first job as a
full-fledged TV critic at the Fort Lauderdale
News,” he said. After three years at that
daily paper, Bianculli moved on to stints
at the Akron Beacon Journal (1980-83),
the Philadelphia Inquirer (1983-87); the
New York Post (1987-93) and finally to its
rival, the New York Daily News (1993-
2007). During his years as a full-time
newspaper TV critic—where he says he
might still be if the world of print journalism
were more stable—Bianculli wrote two
well-received books, 1992’s Teleliteracy:
Taking Television Seriously, and 1997’s
Dictionary of Teleliteracy: Television’s 500
Biggest Hits, Misses, and Events.
In 2009, he took on the subject of one
of the TV shows that made a huge impres-
sion on him as a teenager, the provocative
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which
was cancelled after two memorable seasons.
The resulting book, Dangerously Funny:
The Uncensored Story of The Smothers
Brothers Comedy Hour, examined how
the show—with its mix of comedy, social
satire, political irreverence and generation-
spanning musical performances—impacted
television, and how the Smothers Brothers
themselves fared after it was canned.
He’s now at work on a new book that
explores how television has continually
evolved into a “true art form,” as he calls it.
Called The Platinum Age of Television, it
sumsup“wherewearerightnow…beyond
the Golden Age.”
While plenty has changed from the
days when Bianculli would drive to local
TV stations and watch video cassettes of
new shows, to the days when he had 12
analog TVs running simultaneously in his
basement, what’s remained constant is his
love of the small screen.
“One of the reasons I wanted to be a TV
critic was because I figured that everything I
cared about—politics, musical theater, jour-
nalism, documentaries, sitcoms, dramas—
sooner or later, all of it would show up on
TV. And it has.” n
52 SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE VOLUME 12 ISSUE 1 SouthJersey.com
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David Bianculli
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