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TV and me Dennis Prager 09/01/97 American Enterprise
During 1994-95, my national television show was on 156 stations, covering over 80 percent of America. Yet of all the people to have their own television show, I must be the most ironic choice. First, I almost never watch television. Since elementary school, with the exception of animal shows and some sports, I may have watched 20 hours a year. Second, I have continually urged people to decrease the hours they devote to watching TV.
But since on any given day, about 100 million Americans will be found in front of their TV sets, and since my primary goal in life is to bring my ideas, which I call "ethical monotheism," to as many people as possible, how could I turn down the opportunity to have a national TV show when Robert Turner, the head of Multimedia, uttered magic words to me: "I want to do something good on television." The more I learned about him-including that he subscribed to my journal, Ultimate Issues-the more allayed were any fears I would be asked to be different from who I really am.
As I quickly realized, however, the question was not whether I would want to do television. It was whether I could do anything good on television and be successful. It is extremely difficult to do anything constructive, let alone profound, on daily commercial television. I say this with sadness. But three factors militate powerfully against serious programs:
The medium is inherently superficial. Television appeals almost entirely to the most superficial of our receptors, the eye.
Programming is solely determined by the bottom line, which is in turn determined only by ratings.
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