Down the Tube: An Inside Account of the Failure of American Television

In the beginning, commercial television was filled with promise. Offering convenient, round-the-clock and easy access the latest news and information, it became the reliable medium whenever anything out of the ordinary came along. We came to believe that it was a truly democratic medium, which enriched people's lives. Today, the airwaves are inundated by programming that panders to the audience's most base interests. Americans are spoonfed shows by a communications industry that regards human beings as little more than demographics. Explaining that the USA surrendered virtually the entire command of its public airwaves to the commercial sector, this text reveals that television's primary purpose has nothign to do with quality programming. Its main concern is to deliver certain audiences or demographic groups to advertisers.