Sigh. MTV model is right. They aren't going to improve their ratings; they're going to push away loyal viewers in exchange for fickle ones. I want to watch a ballgame on ESPN, not a soap opera about the players' wives. I cannot understand specialty cable networks abandoning their raison d'etre.
About $3 of your cable bill goes to CNN and will continue to do so until 2008, IIRC.
So, by putting the crap on the "flagship", they force cable (and satellite) to take that station as well as the ones people really want. Just like MTV. Gotta go a la carte. I don't think any cable or satellite company should negotiate fees with any commercial station.