Perhaps CBS's worry was that pay TV wouldn't require advertisers for support and the lure of commercial-free broadcasting would suck all the viewers away. But you get the point. They have no incentive, with one very weird exception. Yes, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and television is the prime example of that dictum. Produce a special featuring O.J. Simpson and Timothy McVeigh clubbing baby seals with five irons while smoking unfiltered cigarettes in the middle of a rain forest, and the outcry would get you a fifty share, easy.
People love train wrecks.
After , a drama about nuclear holocaust and its survivors. Yet, nearly thirty-nine million people tuned in, making it the third highest rated prime time entertainment show as of that date. That's a typical Super Bowl number, and I don't need to mention the ridiculous premium price that ads go for on that annual testosterofest. Gross out the advertisers, then you'll have maximum audience wit h minimum interruption. It's the same answer you should give whenever some pundit tries to take television too seriously.