For decades, commercial broadcasting made its owners rich. Advertisers flocked to the networks – there just weren’t any other ways to reach so many viewers.
At the same time, the government limited competition by restricting licenses to operate. This discouraged content innovation and led to little choice for viewers. People habitually tuned into whatever was “on” – even if they weren’t particularly interested.
That’s a far cry from where we find ourselves now. The internet age has brought unfathomable new depths of choice and content for viewers. Social media and search engines have handed advertisers powerful new tools. Commercial broadcasters have lost their sheen, just as we saw with newspapers two decades ago.
