Don't Kill the Nightly News. Really

DON'T KILL THE NIGHTLY NEWS. REALLY
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Fine]
[Commentary] Why keep the nightly network TV newscasts? Not for notions of quality and public service -- let's not pretend the evening news is rarely a whole lot more than carefully distilled twaddle. What's important is that the newscasts remain profitable, and, according to current and former insiders, still bring in around $100 million -- each -- in annual ad revenue. The per-viewer cost of advertising for the newscasts, according to one senior media buyer, continues to rise -- albeit more slowly than in, say, prime time -- illustrating again a classic media paradox. Broadcast audiences diminish. What advertisers pay doesn't.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_43/b4055097.htm