Education Quote by Will McDonough

McDonough’s line reads like a polite shrug that’s actually an indictment: educational TV isn’t failing because nobody wants it, but because the medium’s economic DNA is wired against it. The first clause (“I don’t think there is enough”) carries the faint, weary cadence of someone who’s been in the room when these decisions get made. It’s not a moral panic; it’s an insider’s complaint. Then comes the kicker: “unfortunately, television is built around advertising.” That “unfortunately” does real work, naming a structural problem while letting individuals off the hook just enough to sound reasonable. He’s describing a system where virtue has to clear a profit hurdle.

The subtext is blunt: television doesn’t primarily serve viewers, it serves advertisers, and advertisers don’t buy “education,” they buy attention at scale. “Those shows don’t get the big ratings” isn’t just a ratings report; it’s the market’s veto. McDonough frames educational programming as culturally desirable but commercially misaligned, which is why it gets treated like public service garnish rather than the main course.

Context matters here: McDonough lived through the era when broadcast networks were consolidating power, cable was expanding choice without necessarily expanding ambition, and “edutainment” was often the compromise that made learning palatable to sponsors. His intent isn’t to romanticize a golden age; it’s to point out that if you want more educational television, you can’t just scold producers. You have to change what TV is for, and who pays for it.