Last Fall for Broadcast?

Ask media buyers if they believe broadcast TV has irredeemably slipped into senescence, and you'll get an earful. There's no denying that broadcast and cable ratings have been passing each other heading in opposite directions for a decade, and it's only a matter of time before a TNT or USA Network chalks up eight-figure deliveries. As such, cable nets are beginning to counter-program in the fall, a strategy that was once tantamount to ratings suicide.