Yeah, because television is SOOOO comparable to newspapers. Hey, if people are willing to pay for Spotify, Apple TV+, HBOMax, CBS All Access, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc, why aren't they willing to pay for visual news content in the same way? Especially, if they can get the content JUST catered to them (microtargeting). It's the big newspapers that are being gutted and haven't converted well because A. Owners are treating them like slush funds (like these big station groups do to their stations) and B.They are using technology to promote an old model of journalism, not evolving it (which they could digitally). Small community papers have been growing for that very reason! I have quite a few local papers that I love, but it's just not the same video storytelling. Reading a story about Iran isn't the same a seeing the visuals and hearing the content. You get more nuance. Why do you think NPR is so damn successful? That kind of storytelling you can read, but it doesn't have the same power.
If the cost to produce a fictional show during a pandemic isn't more expensive than the revenue returns from a CBS NewsNight program.