tv-white noise

with the tv networks rolling out their fall schedules during the upfronts, the future doesn't look so bright as only one-in-four young tv viewers can name the tv networks (admittedly in a non-scientific online poll).

this potential lack of brand awareness along with the rise of ad-skipping even as commercials increase reveal a troubled tv business model. a(n outdated) forbes-wired article tells the tale of failed pilots, and the mind-boggling numbers involved

But though the networks commission some 100 pilot episodes of new shows every year, at a cost of more than $300 million, they will only end up adding 30 or so to their 2006-2007 schedules.
[snip]
But despite efforts on the parts of the networks that pay for the pilots and the studios that make them, pilot season remains an expensive exercise in futility: Lots of time, money and effort is spent creating entertainment no one will ever see.
[snip]
Television economics, which are convoluted to begin with, get even more twisted during pilot season, when networks and studios spend more on shows no one may ever see than they do on their regular programming.

no one has really come up with another way, but this sounds pretty inefficient