I think the graph shows that there has been a huge bidding war for U.S. programming. If you check through the numbers you'll see it's the bidding war more than anything that accounts for the financial difficulties television finds itself in. As Mr. Lind mentioned, four years ago they were making about a $250-million profit. Since that time their American expenditures have gone up by $175 million. So they've really spent all their profit on Hollywood. As the graph shows, this is not a recent phenomenon. This bidding war started in 2000, and the financial problems will continue if it doesn't stop.
On April 20th, 2009. See this statement in context.