Adam, AMA, ABC, CBS, WTF?
Nov. 27th, 2009 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ABC hosts Chris Brown after cancelling Adam Lambert
So, ABC Network, after canceling Adam's morning show concert since they seemingly had trust issues of Adam being able to deliver a G-rated concert, will only a week later air, in the exact same spot, an interview and a performance of a convicted woman-beater? What were they smoking?
ABC made a big mistake of seeing things only from their viewpoint. As they see it, Adam can no longer be trusted to perform live because he is unpredictable. On the other hand, Brown's interview is pre-taped and therefore under their control. So no problems for them! Right?
No. What they forgot is how all this looks on the outside, what message it gives. They are supposed to be media professionals, for fuck sake! ABC gave a statement addressing the issue, saying that the Chris Brown appearance had been already booked. What a lame excuse. Adam's concert had been already booked too, but they didn't have problems canceling that. Also, as Brown's interview was pre-taped, it would have been actually easier to just move it forward a week or two.
I believe that their reason for Adam's cancellation truly was their zero-tolerance policy for uninformed live stunts. They both felt like Adam couldn't be trusted, and that they saw a some kind of punishing act to be in order to give out a message that ABC was not accepting the AMA stunt. The idea of Adam not being reliable for live shows is actually a bad thing if it spreads wider.
And ABC's final slap in the face for goodbye? As we know it, ABC actually kept the info about the cancellation for several hours from Adam and his management because Adam was giving an interview to ABC's Barbara Walters. So they kept quiet until the interview was over and only then told that hey, no concert tomorrow how about that. (At least I get a certain kind of glee from thinking the financial losses they suffered from the cancellation.)
CBS, who snatched Adam for their morning show, did a generally good job in arranging the appearance in a mere hours of time, but even they enforced the double standard. While re-capping the AMA show, they blurred the Adam/Tommy kiss but seconds later, broadcasted the Madonna/Britney kiss, giving a message that showing two females kissing is okay but showing to males kissing isn't. (one insightful article noted that woman/woman kissing is not seen bad because it's for the entertainment of straight male audience, but male/male kiss is bad because it makes the straight male audience uncomfortable, and entertains people who don't matter in the society; women and gay males.)
Again, the television station only saw it from their viewpoint and forgot the big picture. They gave out an explanation saying that Madonna/Britney kiss picture was a time tested and standard, i.e. showing that couldn't get them in trouble. However, the Adam/tommy kiss was so fresh that they couldn't take a chance of it leading to legal troubles. Yeah, they totally didn't see the big picture of how it all would look like. And again, these are supposed to be media professionals? They could have left out the Madonna/Britney pic altogether to avoid the comparison. Without comparison pic, no-one would have complained the blurring in the morning show.
But when all this is giving a heartburn to a fan, it could end up as a success. Adam's album came out on Monday. The AMA show was on Sunday night. This is the about of publicity in this week:

That amount of publicity will probably translate to sales numbers, which were originally estimated to be about 225 000 units but are now expected to rise. (To give some context: Kris Allen's CD sold 80 000 in its first week, low for an American Idol debut but almost the highest of Jive Record's 2009 albums. Susan Boyle is expected to be the year's comet with estimated 500 000-700 000 albums sold.)
And for ending this on a bright note, here is a super cute clip of Adam using a bedazzler:
Just how precious is that?
So, ABC Network, after canceling Adam's morning show concert since they seemingly had trust issues of Adam being able to deliver a G-rated concert, will only a week later air, in the exact same spot, an interview and a performance of a convicted woman-beater? What were they smoking?
ABC made a big mistake of seeing things only from their viewpoint. As they see it, Adam can no longer be trusted to perform live because he is unpredictable. On the other hand, Brown's interview is pre-taped and therefore under their control. So no problems for them! Right?
No. What they forgot is how all this looks on the outside, what message it gives. They are supposed to be media professionals, for fuck sake! ABC gave a statement addressing the issue, saying that the Chris Brown appearance had been already booked. What a lame excuse. Adam's concert had been already booked too, but they didn't have problems canceling that. Also, as Brown's interview was pre-taped, it would have been actually easier to just move it forward a week or two.
I believe that their reason for Adam's cancellation truly was their zero-tolerance policy for uninformed live stunts. They both felt like Adam couldn't be trusted, and that they saw a some kind of punishing act to be in order to give out a message that ABC was not accepting the AMA stunt. The idea of Adam not being reliable for live shows is actually a bad thing if it spreads wider.
And ABC's final slap in the face for goodbye? As we know it, ABC actually kept the info about the cancellation for several hours from Adam and his management because Adam was giving an interview to ABC's Barbara Walters. So they kept quiet until the interview was over and only then told that hey, no concert tomorrow how about that. (At least I get a certain kind of glee from thinking the financial losses they suffered from the cancellation.)
CBS, who snatched Adam for their morning show, did a generally good job in arranging the appearance in a mere hours of time, but even they enforced the double standard. While re-capping the AMA show, they blurred the Adam/Tommy kiss but seconds later, broadcasted the Madonna/Britney kiss, giving a message that showing two females kissing is okay but showing to males kissing isn't. (one insightful article noted that woman/woman kissing is not seen bad because it's for the entertainment of straight male audience, but male/male kiss is bad because it makes the straight male audience uncomfortable, and entertains people who don't matter in the society; women and gay males.)
Again, the television station only saw it from their viewpoint and forgot the big picture. They gave out an explanation saying that Madonna/Britney kiss picture was a time tested and standard, i.e. showing that couldn't get them in trouble. However, the Adam/tommy kiss was so fresh that they couldn't take a chance of it leading to legal troubles. Yeah, they totally didn't see the big picture of how it all would look like. And again, these are supposed to be media professionals? They could have left out the Madonna/Britney pic altogether to avoid the comparison. Without comparison pic, no-one would have complained the blurring in the morning show.
But when all this is giving a heartburn to a fan, it could end up as a success. Adam's album came out on Monday. The AMA show was on Sunday night. This is the about of publicity in this week:

That amount of publicity will probably translate to sales numbers, which were originally estimated to be about 225 000 units but are now expected to rise. (To give some context: Kris Allen's CD sold 80 000 in its first week, low for an American Idol debut but almost the highest of Jive Record's 2009 albums. Susan Boyle is expected to be the year's comet with estimated 500 000-700 000 albums sold.)
And for ending this on a bright note, here is a super cute clip of Adam using a bedazzler:
Just how precious is that?