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Will the purveyors of teevee programming be next since they don't seem to be doing all that well these days either. If they in fact have forsaken the middle class for nearsighted goals, have they not become the instruments of their own demise?

Television became the most powerful medium by virtue of its ability to reach a broad, near universal audience and motivate/inform them via the two primary senses -- sight and sound.

But television suffers from two unavoidable handicaps. Production is inherently expensive, by a considerable magnitude, compared to other media. Second, there is no such thing as spontaneity in television. Outside of sports and breaking news, you will never see an unprogrammed, unrehearsed event.

Once you have constrained TV programmers and writers with a budget and the inability to employ spontaneity, there is a finite limit to what amount of creativity is possible. With the arrival of so-called "reality" shows, it would appear we have reached that point...

But television suffers from two unavoidable handicaps. Production is inherently expensive, by a considerable magnitude, compared to other media.

True enough, but it takes a lot o' dough to keep any major enterprise going. And, given their almost unique "product", why would they have trouble generating enough revenue to create programming that "sells"? This powerful medium should be able to create a little something for everyone, but it seems they've chosen(?) to get down and dirty, thereby alienating much of their potential audience. A mystery?

Second, there is no such thing as spontaneity in television.

Maybe it's too dangerous. Still in all, it makes one wonder why?

FGS