Tenuous Links – The Media, The 911 Commission And The Truth By William A. Mayer - June 18, 2004 In 2002 a highly placed network news executive scoffed at the hullabaloo surrounding the cable industry’s supposed audience gains with the observation that on average, the unique evening audience for the big three – ABC, NBC, & CBS – stood at approximately 36 million. At the time, that figure was roughly ten times greater than that of the combined total of all the cable news providers. Two years later, the best estimates on these figures places the network audience at...