But viewers have been cheated. For example, people expecting quality shows about history on the history channel find the schedule crowded with shows not about history. The Learning Channel...what a joke. While some of the channels have some good programs, overall many have fallen afar from their original intentions.
Take the History Channel. When it came on the air, I thought it would be all shows about history. After a period of time it went the reality route. I like "Pawn Stars" (it actually has some interesting historical info on a number of pawned items), but it is not a true history show. "Axe Men" and "Swamp People" are not remotely history-centered shows.
The Travel Channel looked promising when it first came out. Now it's basically shows about people gorging themselves.
When BBC America first came on, there were lot of the old Brit comedies and msytery shows I loved. They all disappeared after a few years.
Why is this so? Why are most cable channels nothing but dreck like most network channels?
The answer is easy....like the network shows it loves to disparage, cable channels go by ratings too. And the taste of most Americans in shows is awful. Conservatives can criticize PBS as gov. programming, but it actually puts on far more interesting programs than network tv and most cable channels.
Even the Food Network isn’t really about cooking anymore; it’s games shows mostly.