I don't understand British tabloids.

[mrv3000]

I really really really do not understand British tabloids. Shouldn't they be writing articles about Madonna's alien baby? I don't understand their obsession with Doctor Who. I don't read them to know for sure, but I don't think American tabloids spend their time writing about what "REALLY AND FOR TRUE WILL HAPPEN ON [insert show] OMG!!!"

I'm not going to even cut this, this latest "spoiler" is so ridiculous. The Sun's claiming that in the final eps, Martha and Mickey get married. Which, if you've even watched S4 of DW and S2 of Torchwood, you know is completely impossible.

Prof Docherty: Well dear, apparently you're supposed to marry Mickey.
Tom: Um, my name's Tom. Who's Mickey?? o_O
Martha: The guy I met once on the TARDIS? Bitch, please.

So to sum up in a question, do writing about nutso spoilers for a TV show really sell papers? (Not linking lest they get ad revenue for this nonsense.)

Comments

[papilio-luna.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Maybe tabloids over here do write about American Idol. Don't know though.

Oh, they certainly do. It's a bit different from SPOILERS! because it's a reality show, and live. But they gossip about the contestants and such ad nauseum.

It's just that the UK is such a wee little nation (*pets it*) and something home-grown that is as popular as Doctor Who is, it is in the national psyche in a way that I don't think anything could be in the US. For one thing, we don't have popular "family" shows. That doubles your viewership right there, by broadening the demographic. US TV is all about microdemographics (this show is for males 18-24 and that show is for females 32-40, etc...), but Who is about getting as many different sorts of people as possible to watch. And it's been very successful at it.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

*nods* There's absolutely nothing like it over here. There might have been a few decades back, when there were only a handful of channels and everyone watched the same things.