Apparently, Jeff Bewkes, the CEO of Time Warner, woke up last week and discovered I am not the only one who can't stomach it anymore. Since I just blogged about this state of affairs earlier this week, before April's ratings were released, I am waiting for the call to take over CNN or MSNBC any minute. I have a sneaky feeling FOX won't be calling, even though their ratings dropped like a lead balloon as well. April 2012 was CNN's worst month in a decade and the other networks all suffered a miserable month as well. Gee, I wonder why.
I don't think this has anything to do with global warming (as in it was so nice outside, no one was watching TV), although I do believe this past month was something like the hottest April since Julius Caesar was CEO. Maybe April was "Read a Book on Your New Kindle Month." Maybe not. No, I think the answer is right before our very eyes. All these cable news stations now officially suck. My earlier blog was about the BREAKING NEWS of the week: Obama is taking credit for killing Osama and the Republicans think he is shameless. Jon Stewart ran a wonderful, historical montage the other night about one Republican after another taking credit for some act of war, while calling the Democrats sissies when it comes to national defense. Heck, I don't expect anything different from either party when it comes to politicking and I, frankly, don't care. It's just stupid politics, plain and simple. But how in the world does that become a news story, let alone THE story of the week?
This need to find BREAKING NEWS every week, or worse yet, every hour, has reached the end of its useful life (as if it ever had a useful life). Cable news is just impossible to watch anymore. A few months ago (when I finally broke myself of the habit of watching the news), the succession of breaking news stories was about the new front runner of-the-week in the Republican presidential campaign. President Bachmann, President Perry, President Cain and on and on. These folks had no more chance of becoming president than you or me. And the brilliant minds at CNN, FOX and MSNBC knew that all too well. They just were hoping we were all stupid enough to watch their dribble. I am hoping April is a sign of things to come.