Nolte: Another Reason to Love AI – It’s Killing Cable TV

Actor, director and cinematographer Mark Gray holds a sign reading "No A.I." as
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping to kill off cable TV. So now we have one more reason to love AI.

Just imagine how much better the world will be if AI actually accomplishes everything we’ve been told it could accomplish…

AI will hopefully replace all those Hollywood writers who hate us and destroy our beloved franchises with their ham-handed politics, sexual fetishes, and intolerance towards us normal people.

AI will hopefully replace all those Hollywood actors who hate us, destroy our beloved franchises, and spout their hatred and bigotry for us normal people on social media.

Imagine if, on top of that, AI can kill off the left-wing affirmative action known as cable TV.

Good news… It’s already happening

Cable simply can’t keep up as AI sifts through massive amounts of data about your viewing habits to give you better recommendations and personalized trailers on all your major streaming platforms. That means you watch more and churn less.

At the same time, on the production side, AI-enhanced data-driven decisions enable the streamers to make better (lower risk) financial bets on content, and then bring those bets to their target audiences more cost-effectively. Those bets don’t necessarily translate into higher art, but they certainly please Wall Street bean counters.

In this media era now punctuated by majority viewing via streaming, Netflix, Apple and Amazon are best positioned to excel in their use of AI vis-à-vis the major streamers brought to you by more “traditional” media. All three, after all, boast Silicon Valley tech DNA that immediately sets them apart. By their very nature, they are likely to feel more comfortable accelerating their use of AI than the others who are more beholden to the ghosts (and executives) of Hollywood’s past.

So why is this good news?

Because the only thing keeping hate outlets such as CNN, Comedy Central, MTV, and the rest alive is the affirmative action of cable/satellite TV. Yep, all those channels you never watch you still subsidize through your $150 cable/satellite bill. Yes, you are keeping CNN on the air even though CNN could never survive on merit, meaning revenue based on advertising dollars based on viewership numbers. CNNLOL just hit an all-time low in demo viewers, which is what advertising rates are based on.

CNN would be doomed without cable TV, as would MTV and Comedy Central, and dozens of others.

You might not believe streaming services are much of an improvement over cable TV, but at least streaming services have to survive on merit, meaning direct subscription fees. That’s why every streaming except Netflix loses hundreds of millions of dollars — their content sucks. But here’s the difference… That content sucked on cable TV, but cable is so rigged that the studios still made billions. That won’t work with streaming because streaming revenue is solely merit-based.

Eventually, these streaming services will have two choices: file bankruptcy or deliver normal content for normal people.

If AI speeds up the death of cable TV, then God bless AI.

If AI rids us of the writers who hate us and the actors who hate us and kills cable TV and, by extension, CNN, MTV, and Comedy Central, I’m ready to gay-marry AI.

John Nolte’s debut novel Borrowed Time (Bombardier Books) is available today. If you enjoy the book, Amazon reviews help ENORMOUSLY. You can read an exclusive excerpt here.

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