For every episode of Masterpiece Theater and Fawlty Towers, however, the Brits must sit through a dozen of darts and snooker. Commercial television in the U.S. still delivers much higher-quality programming overall. Elsewhere, the bureaucrats appointed themselves as exclusive buyers of programs, and, by spending tax dollars, crowded out even the cereal companies. At least we let advertisers bid for programs. As a result, Sony still rushes to America to buy its movie studios.
Consumers everywhere demand Dallas.
Governments everywhere, from Canada to the European Community, frantically erect trade barriers to exclude the same. If Japan's airwaves were as open as our highways, Hollywood would soon help us forget Japan's small-time assault on Detroit. And if we behaved like the Japanese, undoubtedly we would be consolidating our strength by letting consumers pay directly and fully for the entertainment they want to watch. Instead, we have spent the last 30 years trying to force Hollywood to sell most of its wares to cereal makers. Fortunately, so far, the rest of the world has run things even worse.