The ABC Network, a part of the Disney empire, lost money, as did the CBS TV network. To make up for lost revenue, companies that own networks are pursuing broad strategies. They've diversified, invested in the Internet, and in cable channels which earn their money from subscriber dollars as well as from advertising. For the networks, not only is income down, costs are up. There's a bidding war over successful programs.
Big hits remain important to the networks' viability.
But with so many channels and remote controls, even top network shows don't get or hold the audiences they used to. You still need to give audiences a reason to speed on the freeway and get to their television sets. If you don't have that, you're out of business. We're getting less money to create the product that will go on the network, which doesn't have as much patience as it used to, so there is kind of this built-in failure mechanism unless you are operating incredibly efficiently and have a great show. And he complains the networks are too quick to cancel new programs if they don't get high enough ratings.