[throwawayjava]

I think this issue is a bit subtler. Month to month viewership statistics are not the same as an explicit ballot.

Grown adults consistently reveal preferences that are different from their stated preferences.

In other words, people may lose what they really want by voting against it with their eyeballs and pocket books. Even when they woukd vote for it in an explicit ballot.

"I would prefer to eat healthy, but ice cream is just so much better tasting than broccoli."

One check on this is a regulator who imposes the choices for you based on your stated preferences, which is a check that grown adults often choose to add to their lives. Dieticians and personal trainers are popular for a reason.

[jstanley]

It's perfectly reasonable for you to setup your life such that you achieve the things you want even if your laziness might thwart them.

It's not reasonable to try to setup other people's lives so that they achieve the things you want.

[throwawayjava]

I think this just strengthens the case against ratings-oriented broadcasting decisions (side-note: broadcasting, by its very definition and due to the scarcity of spectrum, necessarily requires making decisions for others. The only question is whether ratings are the best way to determine what people really want!)

Our office has someone in charge of food. That person used to pay attention to what people would/would not eat and then purchase accordingly. LOTS of pizza/brownies, not a lot of salads. We (unanimously!) asked that person to just ignore our gluttonous choices and gather explicit preferences. We now eat more healthily. Of course, our preferences did not change -- we'd all totally opt for the pizza and brownie over the salad. But the choice is easier to make on a ballot than when both options are in front of you and you're salivating... needless to say, the person who just does what we explicitly ask them to isn't manipulating us into eating more healthy food.

Similarly, pure ratings-driven programming in an ad-driven business model almost necessarily means setting up others' lives (building viewing habits) to achieve what you want (selling ads)!

So, de-emphasizing ratings is NOT equivalent to manipulation! And emphasizing ratings can sometimes be in service to a manipulation!