The Death of Network Documentaries

Ted Koppel believes documentaries on network television are dying. In a Q&A with Entertainment Weekly, he says:

“…If you look at magazine programs, for example, they have gotten so much softer over the past few years, and as far as actual one-hour documentaries on serious subjects, they’re almost nonexistent. I think Peter Jennings’ program on health insurance on ABC, which aired posthumously, may be one of the last you’re going to see.“

> Update: 12:34pm: An e-mailer responds: “Koppel fails to remember Brokaw’s great one-hour documentary/special on the 5 veterans who returned home from Iraq that ran a few weeks ago, and the fact that CBS’s 48 Hours has been on the air in a single-topic format, for more than 12 years. While 48 often focuses solely on crime mysteries, it is a critically acclaimed show that often scores very well when it runs originally over the summer, and is Saturday’s #1 show.”