Old Media Showdown

The Economist recently published an article questioning the long term viability of broadcast television.  If their chart (below) is to be believed they are probably right.

CBS however found the economist's article too "dramatic."  Their response letter is printed below.

----

SIR – Your article “The not-so-big four” (April 11th) is certainly dramatic, but is excessively negative and misleading. Your claim that “broadcast television is declining at an accelerating rate”, while true for some, is not the case with the CBS television network, where ratings are higher this season then they were a year ago.

Over the past four decades many have predicted the demise of the broadcast medium. Yet we continue to deliver higher numbers of viewers than our media competitors, night after night. We believe our business model will prevail, not “collapse abruptly”, as you predict. And we believe news of the impending death of the magazine business is also premature.

Gil Schwartz
Executive vice president
CBS Corporation

----

The bold print is my addition, ham fisted yes, but I wanted to make sure that you the reader was saying "Oh no he didn't!" along with me at home. 

I maintain that they're both screwed.  After all, I read about this on The Economist's website and you read about it on a blog.