The "hypothesis" is that broadcasting is "dead", that only cable viewers watch it, and that to "compete" with cable, broadcasters need to do (fill in any absurd thought). Here's a way to test the hypothesis. This fall, Monday Night Football went from being a staple of ABC's fall Monday line up, to being a staple of ESPN's fall Monday night line-up. At the same time, Sunday night football moved from being on ESPN to being on NBC. Aside from a change in a few announcers, and the ability of NBC to change the line of of games late into the season, that's it. So, the questions are: when Monday Night football moved to cable, did it gain/lose or stay the same in average viewers? What was the delta as a percentage of last season's viewers? Did Sunday Night Football gain/lose or stay the same in viewers? What was the delta as a percentage of last season's viewers? Of course I know the answers, but looking into the figures and thinking about them is as important as the answers. John Willkie P.S. One hint: fall 2005 on ESPN, Sunday Night Football had on average, 9.7 million viewers. This fall, the NFL network is said to be under-performing. It averages 7.9 million viewers per the 8 NFL games it aired.