Caray, Caray!

Great topic. Yes, my viewing habits have changed and I no longer feel chained to the tv. Since I enjoy keeping up with the interaction on Caray, Caray I try to watch the telenovelas in real time and tape them if I am not home so I do not fall behind. Almost everything else I watch On Demand from my cable provider because there is no urgency to keep up. Things not available on On Demand, I will catch on the internet, Netflix or YouTube. With the availability of programming on On Demand and the internet, I feel also that I have expanded my viewing and am seeing things I would never had before because of the timing. All in all technology has been a positive change.

Jarifa
 

I love DVR technology, because I am nearly incapable of staying on schedule for anything, plus I frequently don't get home until after the show I want to watch has aired. I also like being able to skip through advertising and repeated scenes (although I do stop and watch William Levy's Pepsi ad, because that is hilarious. I also like the Target ads. The same old local car dealership and law firm ads that have been airing forever and are lousy anyway? ZAP. NEXT.).

I HATE how they keep cluttering up the screen with nonsense while I'm trying to watch. It's annoying to have promo for a different show taking up a third of the screen, or to have stuff popping up telling me to tweet or play games or give feedback. That stuff gives me a headache. Just let me watch my show!
 

Great question for this weekend's discussion, Urban. Mostly I watch the programs live and DVR capitulos that I have to recap, so I can rewind if I need to catch dialogue that I missed the first time.

I am so behind the times that I do not use Twitter, and did not even know that one could Tweet live during the program. Wow.I wonder if in Mexico, when these are first aired, it can make a difference in a story; say a bad casting decision or horrible writing. Do you know if live viewer reactions have had any influence on a current Mexican TN?

EJ
 

Elna June, the only one I know about was during Triunfo del Amor when Victoria ended up divorcing Osvaldo and marrying the doctor. That was apparently the result of a website poll.

Bad casting decisions usually can't be undone. Everything that I read about Mujer de Madera said that the cast change of the leading lady made the second half of the series significantly inferior to the first. However, the writers had no plans to make the character pregnant and Edith Gonzales became pregnant during production so Ana Patricia Rojo replaced her.

Julia, thanks for mentioning the on-screen promos. Those make my blood boil. They often hide things we need to see on the screen and they screw up subtitles for anyone who needs them.

About subtitles...

It seems that many networks now make the assumption that most viewers have huge TV screens because the subtitles are now very small. I can't watch operas on PBS anymore because of that. Other networks clutter up their own screens during the news so I can't ready the time or the weather in the corner anymore.

I'd also love to know why every network needs to have its logo in the lower right corner all the time during the programming (but not the ads).

The producing networks all pay some attention to viewer reaction because I've seen some ridiculous changes to Telemundo novelas that make for very bad continuity.
 

I still prefer to watch live TV, for two reasons.

First, I am almost always doing something else while watching (cleaning, computer, internet, games, etc.) so the DVR functions of FF, Rew, etc. don't make much sense for me. The TV is on as a companion not as the center of attention.

Second, I'm an inveterate surfer. If a commercial is on or there is a scene I don't like, I switch channels. I also like the serendipity of surfing. I've recently discovered 3 new (to me) interesting channels on our cable system.

I do follow a number of tweeps who chat about soaps or TV shows or sports. The tweets are pretty much meaningless to me because I don't watch what they do, but I assume the ones who participate do so because they enjoy it.
 

They really fired Edith Gonzalez because she was pregnant? Did she have to be on bed rest or something? Was the character a belly dancer? Whatever happened to carrying large purses and sitting behind desks and such?
 

I don't do live TV any more. (Every now and then my husband wants to watch a sports event and then he gets all upset because neither our daughter or I remember how to switch the TV back to picking up a broadcast signal.) For a long time I was just watching DVDs, and I particularly enjoyed picking a series to watch with my daughter--when she was young it was "That Girl," and now that she's sixteen it's "Friday Night Lights."

So for telenovelas for me now, it's either Hulu Plus, or (for Marido al Alquiler) it's the Telemundo website. This means I can't watch until the day after it's aired, and usually I start reading the recap and even commenting before I've finished watching the entire episode.
 

I don't think my habits have changed so much as I now have more stuff to watch at my connivence. I normally watch the novelas in real time and record my other conflicting shows on DVR, otherwise I can't comment on Caray,Carey. I don't like the idea of tweeting during a show and hate the idea of interactive TV where viewers can decided the ending or anything else. That makes scripted things as bad as "reality " TV. In Triunfo it was horrifying that a poll determined the outcome but I understood that a lot of that was driven by an actress' problems with her co-star. Guess if you are married to a politician in Mexico you can use your clout to get your own way.

Good writers and actors work at their craft and to have their words or actions or plots altered at the whim of the views is crazy in my eye. And with the awful screw ups that occur anyway viewer input could only make it worse.
 

I do kind of wish that we had been in on the voting for TdA during its initial run...we could have power-voted to keep that stupid oaf dead!
 

My comments were eaten by Blogger (Several times!)
Urban - totally agree with your comments about clutter on the screen.
Julia - Edith Gonzalez was a dancer in "Salome" not "Mujer de Madura".
I have been recording for a long, long time. I worked for a premium pay cable network in LA and had to preview shows since I couldn't get cable in the neighborhood where I lived. (It would have been free!)
I have heavily relied on recording and Caray Caray to keep me up to date as I have been traveling a lot the last 11 months to get Mom's house ready to sell (it is in contract!). I am still fuzzy about some of the plots, but am fairly caught up. Thank you so much for Caray Caray.
I live in San Francisco, but don't have cable. I get really good reception with a digital antenna and get Uni, Uni-Mas, Telemundo, Exitos, MundoFox and a few others.
When I travel to Portland I am usually stuck with just Uni or what ever the hotel has on their schedule. But, since they have free WiFi, I can stream programs from the websites. I don't do that at home because it eats up my data plan.
As for Tweeting, I am not there (yet) and I think it would detract from watching the program. I like reading the tweets from "Gordo y la Flaca". Sometimes they are funny.
As for devices, I've been bringing my 14' laptop on the Portland trips, but will be ditching it in favor of a 7" tablet. The screen is too small on my phone to really enjoy watching.
Great topic.
 

This comment has been removed by the author.
 

Yep. Ever since you can watch anything on the internet, I pretty much watch the novelas online while they're airing in Mexico. That's how I watch Mentir para Vivir and how I watched La Que no Podia Amar, Teresa and Sortilegio.
My Mom uses Hulu when she misses any novela episode on Univision.
 

Julia, I don't know the whole story but since that series had a lot of outdoor stuff perhaps Edith was advised to not ride horses or do other related things. It was probably not possible for her to hide behind desks or anything else.

I want to see her back at Televisa.

The idea of tweeting during the program is truly ridiculous. I don't even know if I would be conversing face to face with another person if we were in the same room watching. For me it ruins the intensity of the experience during the dramas. I'm not big on the comedies so for all I know it could be different for those.
 

I have to get up at 4:15 to be at work for 6:00 so I have to watch novelas that air at 9 or 10 PM On Demand. When I watched Amor Bravío, On Demand was usually behind in episodes by a few days so I had to rely on Caray recaps until I got caught up. I'm watching Marido en Aquiler mostly On Demand and only twice has the previous night's episode not been available the next day. On Fridays when I recap Marido I watch it live and I record it because On Demand's pause button doesn't stay paused for long.

As for tweeting, I'm just not into that. And no I don't think the audience should have a say in how the novela turns out.

I mentioned this on the Telemundo page the other day and I just saw another comment: Why are the local ads on my affiliate (and I'm guessing others too) so bad and poorly made? A lot of them just have this amateurish feel. I wouldn't shop in X Store because the ad looks so cheap and perhaps the merchandise is as well.

And don't get me started on the on-screen promos. English-language TV does it too and it drives me bonkers. STOP!
 

Screen clutter .... ugh! The tweeting stuff on the bottom of telenovela screens is really distracting and annoying. It is one more thing I have to train myself to filter out while viewing.
And,,, I do not "tweet." 'nuff said. Even the bottom-feeding ... er ... bottom-of-the-screen ads for other TV shows gets annoying, too.


DVR is the best technology for this viewer, because it is more convenient than VHS/VCR, whose tapes can stretch out and mess up a recording. I can FFWD--> thru commercials.

I don't watch telenovelas online, as the computer screen makes my eyes go wonky after a while. I spend too much time in front of my 15" computer screen (on a desk) as it is.

And I do not watch stuff like videos or TV shows on my smartphone or KindleFireHD. My aged eyes would truly go blind. Reading is hard enough on those small screens.
 

Cool topic UA. Interesting how everyone is all over the board in how shows are viewed. The times they are a' changing.

Have to say, I'm all over with viewing except for DVR.I like curling up at night with after dinner coffee and watch the 7 and 8 o'clock shows when I can. I found with my work sometimes having me on calls in the evening at the last minute or travel coming up, I forgot to set a DVR so started looking for online options. I use Hulu Plus mainly, especially with the shows that air at the 9 hour. I set an auto load of the episodes and do marathons on the weekends. I think I caught most of Amor Bravio watching that way.
And with my Kindle Fire, I can even catch anywhere with a wireless available. Watched some episodes of Absimo in an airport one day and found people watching with me over my shoulder. Was kinda fun. I use to use Daily Motion back in the day too.

Though I have Twitter, I admit to using it mainly to follow quick hits on sports results for the sports teams I follow, especially Euro soccer. I have other news sites, organizations and my kids I follow, but I almost never tweet myself. The idea of tweeting during a show doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. I'm with EJ - if they do that regularly on first viewings, is that why we get some of the weird plot changes, or loss of characters, we see now? Not a fan of that.
And Julia---amen to the ridiculous blurbs, ads across the bottom, logos, etc. that are popping up on the screens. I don't need reminders of what station and show I'm watching. My guess on the ads is they know full well people are either fast-forwarding on a replay or switching channels on breaks, so the advertisers want to get you somehow.

Daisynjay
 

Viewers wanted WL to ditch the wig in LT, so they will do it. And as was mentioned the chg in El triunfo, viewer request, which I didn't like.
Apparently Mejia needs a lot of help with his novelas.
 

I watch my novelas when they are shown on TV. I am too lazy to record them if I can't watch. I do not tweet or tweeter. The only technological change I've made is that I now have an Ipad that I use for everything I used to do on our computer...email, Internet, and checking out the recaps on Caraycaray...so convenient to sit on the sofa instead of in the office at the desk. ...best technology I own.
 

Back in the 80s when VCR prices plummeted there was a disturbing trend in movies that didn't demand big screens. That didn't last forever, but it is disturbing to know that some people are watching films like Gone With The Wind on iPhones and in pieces.

That's the sort of thing that leads to scenes being in segments of less than one minute.

I have to change and get ready to go out for my foreign film club tonight, but keep this going.

Is anyone up for doing the Movie Remake Game next weekend? The weekend after next we will be discussing the finale of this series so that would be a good time for a fun topic like that. We last did it in June.
 

I watch novelas on tv but everything else I watch on the internet now.

I find the novela episodes online useful to comment here though, so I do rewatches when I'm rewatching the novela with Caray Caray.

I find that sticking to a timeslot to watch weekly tv shows is too tedious now for me. I always forget which day of the week is what show so I just watch them on the weekends or when I have some free time.

Viewer opinions seem to matter more and more as time goes on but they always did matter in some way. It's just that now tv producers get the public opinions right when the episode is airing instead of waiting for polls that last weeks. Of course, the internet is only a small part of the audience, usually the younger one in Mexico, so they have to be cautious about what they choose to listen to so they won't lose other viewer groups by following demands from the internet that might not go well with the general audience.

Jarocha


 

I meant that I rewatch online when I'm commmenting on a novela with the Caray folks.

Jarocha
 

Great subject. My job and family life is such that I have no time to watch TV shows at an appointed hour, so I watch novelas, if I watch any at all because I'm so picky about what I watch, that I watch on my tablet or my laptop. I watch tns mostly to keep my Spanish language skills up, so watching online without CC1 has helped wean me off of reading the TN instead of listening to it. I noticed the difference in my understanding of the language by watching via YouTube-all the network websites for the tns have spotty playback, so YouTube is the best way for me to view online, and there are some really dedicated uploaders there who do a great job, so it's a win-win for me-I started to understand more and more of the Spanish language conversation I hear everyday because I was listening intently to the TN when watching via YouTube.

Like everyone else, I'm extremely annoyed by the clutter on-screen during TV shows. I don't tweet but while watching La Patrona, I noticed that most of the cast was pretty active on twitter, especially Aracely, Jorge Luis Pila and
Alexandra de la Mora, who played Patricia, was on twitter and it was good to hear their opinions and see their pics from the set. I think Twitter and social media in general is good for behind-the-scenes stuff:showing you how they make the TN, pics on set, etc, but not for much else. I do think there are some shows, like Scandal, which I don't watch, but know folks who do, that are live-tweet worthy if people are funny and witty, but not with every show. There's a really funny blogger named Luvvie that does great Scandal live-tweets and recaps, so good that cast members have tweeted her, shouted her out, for the great job she does.


That being said, I think I watch tns now via recap than actual viewing because I have no time to watch. I also didn't know Telemundo re-ran La Patrona at midnight until two weeks before the show ended. I used a whole lot of my data plan trying to watch that show when I could've watched it for free since I got home around midnight.
 

I always record the novelas and then I begin watching the recording about 20 minutes into the broadcast. That way I can FF through all the commercials and the recording usually finishes at the same time as the broadcast. So it only takes me 40 minutes to watch the 60 minute program.
 

I always record the novelas and then I begin watching the recording about 20 minutes into the broadcast. That way I can FF through all the commercials and the recording usually finishes at the same time as the broadcast. So it only takes me 40 minutes to watch the 60 minute program.
 

Hello to All...

I also almost always use the DVR,
however I really do watch mostly in real time & use the pause feature if something comes up like a phone call, someone at the door etc.. then I am free to catch up. I do sometimes have my lapetop at my side but I hardly ever chime in
because I dont want to pull myself
away from the action.(unless it's really boring! then I'm going to be vocal about that.). commercials
exist, (at least most of them) to give you time to stir soup & flip
laundry.

Thanks for the topic
 

I have to admit that Caray Caray was the reason why I got a dvr a couple of years ago. Because I was recapping, and it was helpful for pausing and rewinding if I missed something while I was typing; and because I love being able to keep up with the conversation here, and wanted a way to record the episodes when I wasn't able to watch them in real time.

Comcast/Uni used to be really bad about getting the tn episodes up On-Demand quickly, so that also made the dvr a necessity. All other shows I watch, except PBS shows and the news, I watch On-Demand.

I have a Twitter account because work wants me to have one. I only retweet education-related stuff, but don’t really write my own tweets, and wouldn’t do so about my personal life. I do follow a few tn stars that I like to be able to see behind-the-scenes photos and to see what they’re doing next.

 

"It's just that now tv producers get the public opinions right when the episode is airing instead of waiting for polls that last weeks"

Seems I heard or read, somewhere, that the cable/satellite TV providers do the tracking now, maybe for Nielson, instead of those polls. Also heard or read that they know what we are recording, and can provide the data to the TV networks. Makes sense, because producers and advertisers need to know if a show is being watched, even if it is recorded and watched later.
 

Absolutely. Cable systems have had the capability to track viewing for ages now. Their data wasn't used for a long time because cable/sat penetration wasn't at critical mass.
 

DVR is a blessing, too. It's great for recapping. I no longer have it, but when I did...boy did I go to town dvr-ing. Even my nearly 80 year old great aunt loved the dvr.
 

Televisa as a 2 hours later channel on cable so I can watch the 7 pm novela at 9 pm. I always wondered if they also measured that.

I only use twitter to read the news, local, national and international.

I do, however, like to see what some actors are tweeting but I don't do that often. I find that twitter can be a double edge sword for them, they can stay in touch with their fans but there are also many haters and trolls on the internet who like to use social media to attack them. Eiza González right now is getting attacked everyday with nasty comments from Miley Cyrus fans, for example.

Jarocha
 

I DVR everything I watch, then watch at my own time and FF through all the commercials and the boring, repetitive scenes. If there is a particular character that is grating on the nerves, ZAP! he/she's gone! I just set my DVR to record the whole series (new episodes only) and if there is an episode that sounds boring, I just delete it. Sometimes I'll have mini-marathons on the weekend when there is nothing much of interest on tv. I don't like watching anything online for some reason, and watch rare things On Demand here and there.
 

I am busy most of the time that I'm awake, so don't often get to sit down and really pay attention to the TV. Thus I am not willing to spend a lot for it. Therefore, no special channels, no On Demand, no Hulu, etc. I do record for time-shifting convenience of the few things that I really want to watch, though. And I have a zillion DVDs that I haven't watched yet. I don't lack entertainment options.

I haven't taken much advantage of other technologies that involve the computer (youtube, hulu, etc.) partly for bandwidth reasons (slow connection), but mainly because I'm less and less willing to spend any more time near a computer than absolutely necessary. Nor do I want to watch TV on a little tablet screen.

The idea of tweeting about a show while it's on doesn't appeal to me at all. My attention is already divided too much and I would never seek an additional distraction! If I don't like the show enough to pay attention to it, why am I watching it at all? Anyway, I am probably washing dishes or something.
 

I have been developing the opinion that the Twitter thing is meant to be a deliberate distraction from the risk of our spotting poor quality and super-superficiality in our entertainment these days. It is so easy to miss nuance (or lack of it) when one is distracted by tweeting.

Announcement

Since there will be no weekend topic on the weekend of October 4th due to the finale of QBA, I'd like to know whether anyone is up for the Remake Game next weekend (Sept 27, this Friday). If so, I will create the article and post it on Friday morning.