Crazy Like a Fox Television Station

I just got back from a PBS conference. A gathering of public television employees discussing, what else, public television. While I was there, Reuters reported that Fox Broadcasting was going to drastically reduce commercial time during a couple of new programs they'll be airing soon in an "effort to reinvigorate broadcast television."

Peter Liguori, Fox Entertainment chairman, said that broadcast TV needed "a jolt" and a focus on the viewers, providing them with more content, more value. "Remote-free TV. It's a simple concept and potentially revolutionary," he said. "We're going to redefine the viewing experience."

Revolutionary. Redefining the viewer experience. Uh, yeah.

PBS has been showing programs uninterrupted by commercials since the late 1960s. For all of Liguori's grand proclamations, the only thing Fox is redefining by showing less commercials during their programs is the Fox viewer experience. And their advertising model. As for the "jolt" that provides viewers with more content and value, it already happened. It's called the Internet. Welcome to the revolution, Peter.