> Broadcast news started out as an FCC mandate for licensing purpose, and a differentiator where more quality made a difference in the performance of the network.
Given the history of news, this is very doubtful, unless you define 'quality' as 'more entertaining'.
Broadcast news started out as an FCC mandate for licensing purpose, and a differentiator where more quality made a difference in the performance of the network. As the number of channels increased and mandates decreased, they shifted to a more "entertainy" format to keep viewers.
This stuff is all available online. Look at the information density of a random broadcast in 1965, 1975, etc. Signal goes down, noise goes up.