Dec. 26, 2021 12:03 pm ET
Peggy Noonan is right that movies have lost wide appeal because of streaming ("'West Side Story' and the Decline of the Bijou," Declarations, Dec. 18). But she comes closer to the root when she writes, "You lose something when the whole town isn't there." Wide appeal became more difficult to achieve when particular audiences could be satisfied with targeted material. More factions could be found willing to consume specialized material. That mimicked the magazine market of old, when tailored material was sold to youth, homemakers, motorists, golfers, coin collectors, the fashion-conscious, whomever.
Broadcast television changed when cable expanded beyond the delivery of a good wireless signal. An explosion in delivery methods plus marketing analytics proliferated commercial enterprises. Appetites have been spawned that cannot be satisfied easily. Maybe this dynamic helps explain why family members seldom gather for supper.