COMMENTARY BY SHARON WAXMAN
Future Of Broadcast TV Under Scrutiny
Despite the umpteenth Emmy for ABC’s Modern Family, network television is most definitively under the microscope as a business. Compared to movie studios, television divisions still produce significant revenue, but that’s only because they have cable networks to lean on. The conclusion emerging is that over the long term network television is challenged — declining ratings, viewers’ ability to zap away commercials, Netflix fees on the decline and retransmission fees propping this up for who knows how long?
