For a peek at what happens when audiences find entertainment options better suited to their evolving tastes, one need only to stroll down South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, where the dinged-up marquees of shuttered movie houses-the Rialto, the Palace, the Roxie-belie their former grandeur. The theaters, a 15-minute walk from the Microsoft Theater that hosted the Emmys, served as a reminder for anyone in the programming business just how fickle audiences are in this cataclysmic digital age. Broadcast chiefs speak frequently of their nets' stranglehold on big-tent events. But while next year's Super Bowl, with that fancy '50' attached, will surely surpass the 114 million who watched last year, one wonders how much longer the Emmys can be considered a majorTV event in the digital age. The reviews for Fox's September 20 telecast showed that it was more than TV's prom-Andy Samberg nailed his opener, the show chugged along at a good pace and, in a year fraught with racial tension, it showcased the raw emotion of African-American winners.
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