A piece in this morning’s Wall Street Journal reports that local affiliates of what were once called the Big Three networks are hurting; viewership is down almost ten percent in some markets (like Las Vegas) and these are so-called free stations: the sevens and elevenses of ABC, for instance. 

They are suffering for the usual reasons: TV on demand, the explosion of choices on cable, the general disinterest in news and the world (all the stranger as the world often seems poised to implode). And of course, as station managers and producers struggle for solutions, no one is saying, ‘Hey, maybe we should make local programming smarter!”

Opposite day! On CNN you can see the creep has moved the other direction, imitating the happy-talk of local news (and national morning shows) all day until Wolf Blitzer appears in the afternoon, like some scold, to remind class there are serious political issues to discuss. Only to then proceed to discuss them in the usual bipartisan, sound-bite fashion with the usual parade of authors and think-tank pundits and (of course) the best political team on television. 

Until Wolf arrives, though, the substitute teachers rule, with John Roberts literally playing the fool in the morning and the reporters trying to outdo each other on the dumb-and-dumber front. Just this morning I heard a report about how Detroit is trying to attract Hollywood in the wake of the success of Gran Torino. “Before there was the Big Three, Motown had this big three!” the reporter said, showing footage of the Supremes.

Huh? You mean the singers of the sixties predated the auto industry? Why, then, did the label call itself Motown, ie Motor City? How stupid can you be? Tune in tomorrow to find out.