Cause:

The number of Americans who have broadband at home has jumped from 60 million in March 2005 to 84 million in March 2006 – a leap of 40%. This is a substantial increase in the rate of broadband adoption compared with the previous year. A significant part of the increase is tied to internet newcomers who have bypassed dial-up connections and
gone straight to high-speed connections. This is a striking change from the previous pattern of broadband adoption.

As of March 2006, 42% of all American adults had a high-speed internet connection at home. In March 2005, 30% of all adults had high-speed internet at home.

This growth in broadband adoption has been fueled in part by an increase in internet penetration in the past year, from 66% to 73%. Nearly half of these new internet users subscribe to high-speed services at home.

The 40% increase in home broadband adoption from March 2005 to March 2006 is double the 20% rate of increase that occurred from March 2004 to March 2005.

We’re talking about a total audience drop of over 20% in just six months (from roughly 27 million to 21 million). Sure, it’s summertime, but I’m skeptical that the total viewership numbers will recover at all in the fall, even with (especially with?) the arrival of Katie “Don’t Call Me Perky” Couric at CBS. Barring a recovery I don’t see happening, the nets have lost one-third of their evening news audience in the past 5 years, while the general population has grown 5% or so.

Okay, much of the long-term change in viewership has to do with increased television and other news and entertainment choices. But all of those choices were already in place six months ago, so that excuse doesn’t wash in explaining this year’s steep drop.

I daresay that the Big Three Nets are finally paying a substantial accumulated price for their years of endless leftist bias, and especially for their past 5 years of undisguised Bush-bashing. It couldn’t happen to a more worthy bunch.

The crumbling is so severe that one of my predictions from last year may not be correct — The higher-ups at Disney, GE, and CBS (spun off from Viacom) might actually notice and do something about these dying dinosaurs.

My God, man--isn't that enough radical change for one decade?

Update: Here are more statistics in that Pew report which should worry Big Journalism:

Overall, 35% of all internet users have posted content to the internet.1 Specifically,
we asked about four types of online content: having one’s own blog; having one’s own webpage; working on a blog or webpage for work or a group; or sharing self-created content such as a story, artwork, or video.

An even higher percentage of home broadband users – 42% or about 31 million people – have posted content to the internet. They account for 73% of home internet users who were the source of online content.

Having a fast, always-on internet connection at home is associated with users’ posting content to the internet and thereby shaping the environment of cyberspace.

Although home dial-up internet users get involved in putting content online, they do not do so at the same rate as broadband users. Just 27% of dial-up users, or about 13 million adults, have placed some sort content online.

Sharing a variety of creations online is among the most popular kinds of user-generated content. Overall, 36 million internet users have shared their own artwork, photos, stories, or videos on the internet. That comes to 26% of internet users. Home broadband users account for about two-thirds of this number.

Read the rest of the Pew report--because it's a safe bet that the boys in the networks won't.