"'What's going to happen is lower quality programming'"

Is this really the future of primetime network entertainment? "The decades-long three-hour primetime window could shrink by one-third to just two hours a night. [And the] growth of less-expensive reality shows over the past several years will continue to accelerate." Good news if you like Howie Mandel.

Then there's this: "In a presentation to investors, [GE CEO] Immelt said he would look to trim costs at NBC, including lowering its investment in primetime programming....Such moves have convinced many in media and ad circles that the business has moved into a new era driven by profits and cost-cutting rather than the hits that were once its hallmark."

First, doesn't that sentence make media and ad circles look a little slow on the uptake? Second, since the networks evidently don't want to invest in their news divisions either, what is it they do offer? Sports programming? If so, it suddenly makes sense that everyone was so quick to brush aside the Mitchell Report. Move along!