Cable's bill

Cable TV gives viewers more choices, but the price is ever-raunchier fare, even on the broadcast networks | Gene Edward Veith

As of this summer, cable TV channels have passed free, over-the-air broadcast networks in attracting prime-time viewers.

According to Nielsen Media Research, since Memorial Day, 53 percent of prime-time viewers watched one of the ad-supported cable channels. Only 37 percent watched one of the seven broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, WB, UPN, PAX).

The era of free TV seems to be ending. More than 80 percent of American television owners now subscribe to cable or satellite, and the 174 cable channels are eclipsing the "Big Three" networks.

In many ways, this is a good thing. Instead of only a handful of broadcasters monopolizing news and entertainment, viewers now have access to a wide range of choices, from family-friendly children's channels to the conservative Fox News Channel. Viewers can tune in to channels that zero in on their specialized interests—history, cooking, golf—and can refuse to be part of the mass market whose lowest common denominator rendered broadcast TV such a vast wasteland.