I don't exactly "subscribe" to the "Nightly News", but I'm on the verge of abandoning my routine of watching it.

My early evening ritual is eat supper around 6, then sit and watch the national news from 6:30 to 7:00, then go for a 15-20' walk (supposed to be good for burning dinner calories). Well, now it's too dark to be walking at 7, and with DST ending in two weeks, I may not be walking at all. But I digress.

I'm getting fed up with the evening news. I don't object to the anchors (Williams, Sawyer, Couric). I like them all, and flip channels to see and hear what's going on in the world. I need to keep informed--or so I think.

Last night, typically, was a waste of air time and my time. Lots of politics (although that Christine O'Donnell "separation of church and state" debate flap was hilarious), economic news, Paris burning, same ol', same ol'.
But that's why I watch it. I don't want to miss anything important or interesting.

However! After 10 minutes of "real" news, here comes the commercials. I probably don't have to tell you what they're about (Cialis, Boniva, etc. etc.--for old people--repeated over and over). And then the "fluff" stories: Person of the week, caring for Alzheimer patients, some good news (since people always complain about there being nothing but bad news on the news). This really isn't "news", but it draws the viewers.

And before every commercial break, they have to say, "Coming up, blah, blah, blah.." That wastes several minutes of actual news time. Not to mention the time wasted on "greetings" to and from the anchor and field reporter ("Good evening Sam". Pause for satellite transmission. "Good evening Brian". Pause, etc.)

I had an "Ah ha" moment when I turned to CNN and watched the news headlines running on the bottom of the screen. There were so many more things happening in the world! True, they were just brief sentences with no reporters or videos, but at least I was getting some real news! (I muted my most unfavorite news person, Wolf Blitzer, the "uh" man.) Actual world news!

Bottom line: For the time being, I will watch the first 10' of the world news, turn it off and go for a walk, turn on CNN for another 10', turn it off and read. I'll be moderately informed without getting too upset, at least politically.