Occasionally, I’ll still watch one of those network evening newscasts. For the most part, I’m a fan of Brian Williams’ / NBC’s curation—I find it reassuring to receive a relatively trusted package. It’s a start. If I want more I can serve myself.

Continuing with generality—as the story goes, America used to eat its collective dinner in front of those big three evening newscasts. We know that story. There was less access to mass market organic foods back then too, I hear. Back then, as America ate iceberg lettuce and casserole (again?), it consumed news. These days, if I watch an evening newscast at all, it’ll probably happen while I’m at the gym on a human hamster wheel type thing. This isn’t very often*, although as the promise to oneself goes: it really should be. 6:30p ET? If we never punch out, we’re either never or always wearing workout gear…

During one of my recent infrequent gym visits, I was watching NBC Nightly News and stuck around through the barrage of advertisements for, among others, stool softener, erectile dysfunction medication, and some government sponsored spot about phone scams, featuring The Now Ready for Primetime  “I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up” Players. These ads are interspersed with higher production stuff from the likes of Pringles and Alka-Seltzer. If I really didn’t want to die before punching-in at the gym, the commercials helped the conviction.

So, the real question here is, of course: when is my gym going to swap out the old school TV-equipped elliptical machines for a fleet with VOD or steaming capability?

[* So infrequent, in fact, that the owner/operator of my gym sends out an obnoxious automated email after you haven’t been there in a while, asking where you are. It is automated, right?]

Cross-posted on usblog.havasdigital.com