The Death of the Channel?

So, I am channel surfing the "modern" way... via the channel guide grid. As I do so, I end up stumbling into a channel with the schedule:

The 700 Club religious program at 7.
The Jerry Springer show at 8.
A hunting show at 9.
Some random 90's sit com at 10.

At first this seemed peculiar. Then I considered several options. I'm only hypothesizing, but one reasonable explanation is that this "channel" has lost all cohesion as a brand because it really doesn't intend to be viewed as a channel that holds your attention. One can nimbly schedule content in each half-hour block to compete with other channels' offerings, forgoing any attempt at a channel brand identity. In the new paradigm of on-demand tivo and content that is often discovered by a Search function moreso than channel surfing... this may be the next step beyond the virtual programming blocks like Adult Swim we saw surface a few years ago.

Perhaps to some in "the industry" they know this and can confirm it. But to me looking in from simply a technologist's perspetive, if it isn't the strategy, it certainly makes sense that it can now BECOME the strategy.

Not-so-super man?

For those who don’t follow comics, the movie character Iron Man comes from a long tradition of comic stories about a billionaire playboy who moonlights as a superhero. This hedonist-with-a-heart has played well for some time. It is no surprise Iron Man enjoys high popularity in today’s society. But now publishers are altering other, even more iconic characters in order to “relate” to modern audiences. This is not a crisis. But does it really serve us and our social dialog, or does it just further promote our propensity to live in bubbles of isolation?