Digital Journal — Technology shows are flooding broadcast TV, and now Wired is joining the party.
Wired Science will debut on Jan. 3 on local PBS stations, being billed as a one-hour show that “brings Wired magazine’s cutting-edge vision, stylish design and irreverent attitude to the screen with breakout ideas, recent discoveries and the latest innovations.” The press material makes this the pilot sound like Daily Planet 2.0, but with a hipper more adventurous tone.
One of the show’s personalities, Wired senior editor Adam Rogers, wrote in a recent online article that his report will focus on “a guy who hunts for fallen meteorites.” Also, expect stories about harvesting viruses, NASA’s training facility and stem cell research.
Correspondents contributing to Wired Science include Brian Unger, formerly of The Daily Show; Ziya Tong, former host of the Canadian arts “open source” show Zed; and Dan Neil, Pulitzer Prize winner and automobile columnist for the L.A. Times.
An even more unique contributor is the musician behind the show’s opening and closing credit. Talking Heads frontman David Byrne brought his talent to Wired Science, which only adds to the show’s star wattage.
As impacting as this show will be for both tech culture and the magazine industry, a Wired.com comment thread has questioned Wired Science‘s broadcast strategy. One poster wrote: “Seriously, you simply cannot launch this program without a downloadable or streamable parallel [sic]. Wired just isn’t old broadcast media. Or is it?”
Wired Science is a step in the right direction — after all, the magazine’s intriguing stories deserve to be displayed visually. But in order to keep up with the Web 2.0 times, Wired and PBS better listen to their customers and stream the content online. If they don’t, they’ll simply be harkening back to a very un-wired tradition.
Wired Science will air Jan. 3 on 8pm (EST) on local PBS stations everywhere.
