Sydney Olympics decathlon gold medallist and current MP Erki Nool has lambasted ETV in an opinion piece in Postimees for failing to give the people what they want. In it, he waffles on a bit about sport and uses sporting metaphors to make his point, but the top and tails of the article should give you an idea of where he's coming from.
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There's an old adage that people vote with their feet. They go wherever things are good, and they prefer whatever is good. If a new production doesn't take off in the theatre and plays to empty halls, no theatre manager is ever going to blame the public for failing to understand the art of it – he simply cancels the play and puts on a new one that will get bums back on seats.Television is one big stage. But it is one which seems to be subject to different laws, at least where dear old ETV is concerned. Although the public here are voting with their remote controls (if not their feet), it doesn't appear to be bothering the management in the slightest.
Am I just not seeing it or is good entertainment on ETV so well hidden that anything similar put on by other channels is laughed out of the room? I mean come on, if the Swedish Ambassador is unashamed to take part in Dancing With The Stars, why isn't it good enough for ETV to show? Is charity, self-depricating humour and a bit of glitz and glamour for the audience really so vulgar? And isn't labelling the hundreds of thousands of viewers who watch the programme a 'tasteless herd' more than a little arrogant?
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Well, I'd say that one's open to debate, Erki. To me he seems to be missing the point entirely. How many countries can you name where the national broadcaster's role is to provide tabloid-style entertainment to the masses? Surely that's the job of the commercial channels. Fair enough, many of the programmes ETV shows wouldn't rate high on the excitement scale, but at the same time a lot of what they broadcast is thoughtful and topical stuff.
You only have to look at the kind of things Kanals 2 and 3 churn out, both imported and home-grown, to see the kind of audience they're aiming for. And the fact that they're winning it is reason enough for ETV to eschew such programming, if you ask me. It's telling and ironic in turns that the highest rated programme broadcast by ETV each year is usually the Estonian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, if not Eurovision itself.
Perhaps our Erki - flag waver as he is for all things Estonian, as well as for the nationalist Pro Patria party - wants ETV to be a ratings success, full of programmes like Dancing With The Stars and Pop Idol, for the good of its image and reputation. Personally, I feel the fact that it is a little more cerebral than its terrestrial competition is something it should cling on to for dear life.
Besides, I can't shake off the feeling that Erki's simply smarting from the national broadcaster taking a pop at the banality of a programme he himself took part in last year (i.e. Dancing With The Stars, not Pop Idol). Wounded pride, anyone?
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