Memo to the Travel Channel

I know this is somewhat of a departure from my normal travel tip or info posts, but I feel something should be said on behalf of all of us who love travel. So here it goes...

Travel Channel:

Please be aware that a few of your long time "loyal" viewers are becoming increasingly disgruntled by your show content. Don't get us wrong, we like (maybe even adore) Samantha Brown. You actually have her doing shows 100% related to travel. You let her show the various sites, hotels etc to see and stay at in each destination. We all like that because well…it is related solely to TRAVEL. And don’t get us wrong, we like Andrew Zimmerman and Tony Bourdain and that other guy who keeps trying to eat himself to death, but those are FOOD shows and frankly belong on the Food Network more so than on the TRAVEL Channel.

But worse yet, you have now seen fit to add movies to the channel-programming lineup and that may be the last straw for some of us. We may have tolerated the airing of poker tournaments for what seems like hours on end, but now you are wasting precious programming space by trying to become a movie channel as well.

You have lost your identity. You would think that a TRAVEL Channel would have shows actually derived around TRAVEL; shows maybe devoted to how to avoid travel mishaps, or shows about all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, or shows giving tips on how to make a trip less stressful, or shows following families as they go on various vacations here and abroad and on and on. You know…shows about TRAVEL. I have found that other channels, channels that don’t call themselves a Travel Channel, actually do have shows similar to the ones I just mentioned. So maybe you should look at their programming and figure out that they are filling a void that has been left by other channels who refuse to air such content which is surprising since there is a channel called THE TRAVEL CHANNEL on the air.

So this memo is to you, Mr. or Mrs. Executive of the Travel Channel. We urge you to get back to what your purpose was when your channel first aired so many moons ago and find your travel identity again.