After reading this thread and being 5 months into my free trial of cable TV I have arrived at these conclusions.
The entertainment industry has a very little respect for the intelligence of their audience and a tenuous grasp of reality as far as science is concerned.
There is very little imagination and creativity left in the industry. It seems like 99.99% of what comes along is recycled television programs, recycled movies, recycled comic books, recycled fairy tales, and of course reality programming.
Newton Norman Minow a former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission referred to television as a "vast wasteland" in one of his speeches. I think he was an optimist.
I am currently in the fifth month of a six month free trial of cable TV, and will be returning their cable box shortly. There are many better things to do with the money and time than watch TV. For the occasional time when I need some entertainment to unwind I will be watching a movie or TV show on Netflix.
The real problem is that you have an audience that is happy with the garbage that is being served them as entertainment.
As for thelack of demand for science based content, the problem starts at home...when parents do not emphasize math and science as primary content, one cannot blame the kids for not knowing better.
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The sad thing is that millions and millions of Americans watch it...and want more of it.
If you want it to change, educate the public that they deserve better.
While I do not subscribe to cable, I have access to it in hotels when I travel.
What I see is nothing I would be willing to pay money for.
With the Internet today, one has the ability to select the quality of what you view.
And for all of us who cannot retrieve any hour of our lives once spent, one should choose wisely how we use each and every hour we have.
The real problem is that you have an audience that is happy with the garbage that is being served them as entertainment.
As for thelack of demand for science based content, the problem starts at home...when parents do not emphasize math and science as primary content, one cannot blame the kids for not knowing better.