Honestly, I don't think you'll be able to separate it because it has the word "decay" in it. People treat decay as bad.
Fight smart, not fair.
Actually Jack Mackerel
Strange, you'd think the "Decay" tropes would have been made subjective a long time ago.
We could salvage it so it's only about massive Network shifts instead, like Adapation Decay was supposed to be.
The "Jack Mackerel's main account is bork" account.IIRC, it's treated as an inherently negative trope (effectively legitimizing They Changed It, Now It Sucks!) and split into several subjective gradations.
The problem is, how do you objectively describe, say, MTV's decay?
I'm noticing a few parallels with the Adaptation Decay
thread.
Right now, we're at the phase where we debate on if we can get this objective.
Well, the concept is rather clearly objective, but we aren't going to get people to be objective about this one. Especially not with this name.
Oh, and Wikipedia's name for it is "Channel Drift". Incidentally, that page has a link to Network Decay.
edited 6th Feb '11 10:38:01 PM by Balmung
So, should we try to fight the complaining, try to rewrite the article as objective, then clean the whining? Or should just do what we did last time and go with fanspeak and no examples?
Also, I followed the link to CN Real, and look at all the bile! Especially on the YMMV page! I'll have to give that its own thread.
edited 6th Feb '11 11:06:06 PM by SpellBlade
I think it needs a new name. In fact, all the "X Decay" tropes probably need to lose that word "decay" if they are to be neutral. Following Wikipedia's example, "drift" is at least not overtly negative.
Unless the article has changed greatly since I last read it, it should be, itself, objective, but the examples are going to need massive cleaning.
edited 6th Feb '11 11:00:42 PM by Balmung
I think "Drift" is a much better term for the phenomenon anyway. I'd be all for changing the title if we didn't have over 38k inbounds on it. Network Drift and Channel Drift added as redirects.
I think it is an objective phenomenon and it doesn't deserve any negative connotations that it's picked up.
We still need to do something since it's a complaint magnet. Worst case scenario, we could preform an Example Sectionectomy and leave the definition, preserving the inbounds.
I'm really not a fan of Example Sectionectomys, but I don't think this problem's going to go away with out either doing that, or at least getting rid of the "Decay" part of the title.
I'm just wondering, could we change the name and keep "Network Decay" as a redirect and clean up all the wicks so that they lead straight to "Network Drift" so that, at least, on this wiki, we might do something about the problem with the word "decay"?
Or if that isn't in line with the policy on how we handle this kind of thing, just perform the Example Sectionectomy.
I tried to clean up some of the examples a little and got as far as Bravo. The Example Explanation Density and Thread Mode are pretty overwhelming, and the page is full of time-sensitive edits like "Recently, Channel A started going back to blah" and then "Now they've given up on that and are back to blah" and ick. It's possible I'm using a scalpel where I should be using a Hedge Trimmer.
Unlike Adaptation Decay I think this trope has a basis of discussion outside of giving it a subjective qualifier. It's about the development of a network channel to include shows far outside of its original target range, sometimes to the point of making its own name an Artifact Title. Cartoon Network not airing cartoons, History Channel not having history-based programming, hypothetically ESPN airing teen comedies that merely has a sports related subplot, things like that.
Maybe rename it to Network Drift, since it's more related to Continuity Drift than any of the "decay" tropes. Channel Drift to me sounds more like a channel getting a new channel number.
The Thread Mode is legitimate, since many channels have gone through multiple bouts of decay. For instance, Cartoon Network's origination as a vault network for old theatrical shorts and Hanna-Barbera shows, then going to modern cartoons syndicated from other networks, then original cartoons, then live action.
Well, that's because everyone thinks it's a trope about bitching about anything about a network they don't like, and if there's one people love to do, it's complain. :)
I'd say Channel Drift was a better title than Network Drift, simply because Network Drift implies it's the whole network.
It just needs a bit of cleanup to get it going.
edited 8th Feb '11 2:27:29 AM by halfmillennium
Agreed. Either Channel Drift or Network Drift (I'm somewhat partial to the latter, but either works) and an examples pruning plus cleanup of any natter.
We call it Channel Drift and allow Network Drift to be the redirect and call it a day.
Or go the opposite, either way, we're using the neutral term.
The Blog The ArtI like Channel Drift better. But now we need to clean up the examples.
edited 8th Feb '11 8:32:54 PM by nuclearneo577
Crown Description:
What would be the best way to fix the page?

This is intended to be objective. When a channel drafts off of what it started as. People think thats it is for complaining. Can I get some help?