7 Decline and fall of the networks. Read this book view from The Economist and answer the questions.

THREE BLIND MICE by Ken Auletta

For years ABC, CBS and NBC have been the most powerful institutions in the American media, perhaps in all of American life.

But in 1985-6, with their profits falling as viewers turn increasingly to the smorgasbord of choice offered by cable television and VCRs, the networks were taken over by Wall Street dealmakers who thought they could be run more efficiently. The clash of cultures was as dramatic as any in business history. Mr Auletta was allowed to witness all this from a rare angle and he produces some stunning reporting.

He recounts how Mr Tisch craftily took over CBS without its board noticing; and of his, and the other owners' draconian attacks on spending. So frugal is the 'evil dwarf as he is nicknamed by his colleagues that he tells the head of CBS's record company, which has just made a $160 million profit, that he cannot have a bagel at the Beverly Hills Hotel because it costs too much. With its descriptions of such lunacy, its huge cast of characters and its vivid portraits of the egomania of some in the television industry, Mr Auletta's tale has strong hints of Balzac and Dickens.

It is a story told in numbers that reveal the long, slow, inexorable death-march of the networks: the networks' declining audience share, from 92 per cent in 1976 to 75 per cent in 1984 to 60 per cent today; their profits falling from $800 million in 1984 to (probably) zero this year; the number of channels quadrupling since the mid-1970s; VCRs in 70 per cent of all homes. Mr Tisch and his peers may not like television, and may not even watch it; but to number-crunchers such as themselves the data are pretty plain.

1 Does a smorgasbord restaurant give you a lot of choice?

2 What does VCR stand for? a) variable channel receiver, or b) video cassette recorder

3 A clash is a conflict. Which two cultures is there a clash between?

4 Is stunning reporting impressive?

5 If you do something craftily, you do it in a clever way, perhaps without people n _ _ _ _ i n g

6 Is a draconian attack a) a strong one, or b) a weak one?

7 'Evil dwarf.' A dwarf is a very short person. Is someone's nickname their real name?

8 Do frugal people spend a lot of money?

9 Lunacy is mad behaviour. What example of lunacy does Auletta give?

10 If something is inexorable, will it continue?

11 Which three networks is Auletta talking about in his book?

12 If a figure quadruples, does it get a) twice as big, b) four times as big, c) six times as big?

13 Are Tisch's peers a) other TV bosses, b) his employees, c) members of the British House of Lords?

14 What do number-crunchers do?

15 The data are plain to them. Are the figures a) clear, b) unclear?

Zapping

viewer

couch potato

zap

zapper

remote control

tube

box

telly

Even if the set is on, there is no guarantee that viewers are giving it their full attention. 45 per cent say they read during programmes, 27 per cent talk on the phone and 26 per cent do housework.

Do you think there are a lot of high-powered lawyers, doctors, educators out there who say they don't watch TV and secretly go home at night and turn the tube on and play couch potato?

People think that because you're on the box and act like a fool, you must be like that all the time. Despite its claims to superiority, the BBC is likely to start as the 56th button on an American viewers zapper

Whatever they pay, customers are left with a remote-control zapper that looks as if it could land a spaceship.

Zap through the television channels in a big American city. You will naturally get at least one Spanish-language channel beaming in news of Latin America and lurid Spanish-language soap operas.

8 Sorting out the channels. Two articles about zapping, one from The Times and one from Today, have been mixed up. There are six sections in the first article and five in the second.

1) Say which headlines and sections make up each article, (a is the first section of the first article and b is the first section of the second.)

2) Find all the expressions in both articles that mean change channels'.