iMoan: Unemployment TV

My first encounter with 'unemployment Tv' occurred many years ago, back when I was in secondary school. I was the unfortunate victim of a football accident that left me 'bed bound' with a broken clavicle. 'Ouch' I hear you say, it was 'ouch' at the time, but after being patched up and then told "It will be 6 weeks before you can return to school" it was a 'Yippie Kiyay' from me! 6 weeks of being waited on, hand and foot. 6 weeks of watching the TV that I've not seen for years DAYTIME TV.

My fascination with daytime television was similar to the 'what happens when I go to bed' phenomenon that saw so many of us coming up with schemes to 'stay up late'. No matter how many times you were told that 'nothing' happens once you've gone to bed, you still had a serious desire to be up to see this 'nothing'. Equally I would be at school on occasion wondering what was on TV, what else was going on in the world, well now I have the chance to see!

Unfortunately I was disappointed back then. I dubbed daytime TV 'Unemployment TV', as back then I considered school to be my employment. My argument was, I wake up at the same time as my parents (who go to work), I spend 6 and a half hours 'at the office'. I have a number of 'managers' and the headmaster is 'the boss'....that to me was 'work'. Anyway the disappointment came about from program content... unemployment Tv was crap! Why in Jesus am I all bandaged up in front of a TV and all that's on are Antique Auctions. Where are all the good programs?!?!?!?

Fast forward to 2010 and I'm now at home again during the day, which ofcourse = 'Unemployment Tv'...so what has changed?

Well for starters antique auctions are still there, but now they are joined by Heir Hunter, Homes under the Hammer and Cash in the Attic and some other property investment programs. Now initially with that line-up, I automatically thought the programme schedule was out of kilter with the audience, I mean what does an unemployed person want with a property investment program...they don't have jobs so property investing won't be on their 'to-do' list.

It took days of contemplation before my simple brain came to a conclusion that could/would explain the daytime programme schedule. 'Unemployment Tv' was NOT especially for the unemployed! A damning realisation for me, because it leads to the notion that unemployed people are forgotten in the eyes of society. Its all good and well doing statistical reports on them and using them (us) as political tools when it suits the regime. Instead daytime Tv is aimed at the small/medium business owners who are looking to dabble in a little property investment, or mature citizens who have a few antiques they wish to have appraised.

So why isn't there any TV programmes for the unemployed? I mean, I have Sky at home, there are 1000 channels. Channels centred around almost every subject or idea you can think of. From News to Sport to Religion to Music to WildLife, conspiracy theorists have their own channel. There are porn channels, DIY channels, Radio channels, Advertising channels...there are channels for virtually everything BUT employment...

Imagine for a moment, that there was a channel dedicated soully to employment, I mean from am to am just about employment, from advice about CV's to interview techniques, advice and access to agencies/recruiters. Advice about starting up your own small/medium business, access to graduate schemes, I'm talking all the tools that are required to have an individual generate legal revenue via employment or via business means. Surely this would go a long way to combating unemployment and would give those who genuinely want to work a fighting chance of getting back on the 'money train' once falling off.

Am I the only one that sees this gap in the market?

iMoan because I have an eerie feeling that the conspiracy may in fact be a plan, maybe the government needs to maintain an unemployment tally...