There’s always free cheddar in a mousetrap, baby
— Tom Waits, “God’s Away On Business”
If there is a record book for most money donated in any election cycle, we are living through the winner.
Who needs to vote? I've got MONEY!
The $100 million mark was expected to be broken on 5-14-12
According to Open Secrets —
Here’s one way to look at how much more is being spent in the 2012 cycle: A single super PAC, the pro-Mitt Romney Restore Our Future, has already spent more — $44.5 million — than all outside groups combined had spent by this point in 2008. That 2008 number, about $30.9 million, is roughly one-quarter of this cycle’s overall outside spending total of $122.7 million
For more details and an eye-opening info-graphic, go to the website.
WBW
Has Network TV lost so much of its audience during the past decade (or two) because it can’t show nudity? Because it only grudgingly and inconsistently allows “strong” language? Because it doesn’t dare to attempt to cover really deep, raw, gritty story subjects.
From the New Yorker, June 2006
Part of the problem stems from the above reasons. But ALL of the reason boils down to the reliance on commercial sponsors.
Since the dawn of TV, the sponsors have owned the programming and — as a result — the networks. None of the major networks will dare to cross the advertisers.
How about the FCC? No — networks challenge the FCC all the time. Sometimes they have to pay fines. But they seem to be OK with that.
The biggest problem is satisfying the advertisers that there will be people watching the programs that a Network puts on the air.
And not just any people — the RIGHT people.
Dividing the audience by sex, income level, age and other factors is called “demographics.” TV