Well yes but that's the author's point. Where it used be that 'the men in Whitehall' resisted consumer culture and aired programs which were not necessarily som

Well yes but that's the author's point. Where it used be that 'the men in Whitehall' resisted consumer culture and aired programs which were not necessarily something the public wanted but something that was good for them, they've now given in and just air whatever gets the most viewers. It's a case of consumer culture penetrating an area that used to be slightly protected from the revealed preferences of the public. And I suspect it's not even really an aversion to big ideas, I think it's an aversion to depth. People love big ideas, look at Malcolm Gladwell and similar authors, they have plenty of big ideas but there's a bit of a pop-shallowness to them. Unfortunately the depth is what's needed and I'm not sure a culture which focuses on individual preferences will ever give it to the public at large.