It’s a matter of what sells and what can be produced cheeply to get the biggest bang for the buck.
It is very costly to hire really good and talented writers for shows.
Whereas, it is does not take any talent or thought to appeal to the viewer’s fleshly appetites. The more base, racy, and “edgy” a program, the more attention a program will get.
In a very competitive marketplace, programmers know that they have to keep pushing the envelope further and further to cut through the noise and get people’s attention.
Additionally, people tend to gravitate toward entertainment that requires the least amount of mental involvement
This sets up a self-perpetuating spiral where the media pushes the “edge” (translated: lowers the values), viewers are “hardened” and their values lowered, then the media has to go down to the next level, and so on…
The majority of viewers just want to sit, turn off their mind, and absorb whatever garbage happens to be spewing out of the TV at the time.
It is our job as Christians to be salt and light and do everything we can to break this sprial.
First and foremost by not participating in this spiral in the first place.
Next, by shining the light of truth and calling people’s attention to the fact that what is wrong and immoral is, well, wrong and immoral.
What we can also do is vote with our dollars and support family-friendly programming anywhere we can find it.