The discussion in this paper is based on three conclusions drawn from a professional lifetime in the media: that limited to a choice from among information, persuasion, or entertainment, the purpose of the mass media is entertainment; that given a choice between technology and content, technology such as cable TV predominates; and that faced with the choice between personality (the provider of the content) and the message (the content), the personality invariably wins out. The focus of the paper is on the first and third conclusions, and numerous examples are drawn from printed, broadcast, filmed, and videotaped media, with television programing emphasized. Suggestions are offered to conteract the lack of meaningful content in commercial television, the primary one being to refuse to view it. (AEA)