Network television, not the mainstream media, but prime time television, is reacting to President Trump in an interesting way.
Networks say Trump is a wakeup call; that they've ignored Middle America in the past. They are getting pilot shows ready that have small town themes; shows with both religious and military themes. Pop culture experts Robert Thompson at Syracuse University told KTRH it's about time.
“American television has not been very good at presenting some segments of society, and small-town life is one of them,” Thompson stated.
Part of this shift is happening because of how the election turned out, and Thompson says part of this is because of ratings and revenue.
“The reason a program wants to get good ratings is because the amount of advertising dollars they earn is tied to how good their ratings are,” Thompson explained to KTRH News.
But, he says only time will tell if this becomes a trend or not. If these new shows do well we'll see an even bigger shift in network TV. If not, we'll go back to what we're seeing right now.