Allow me, this one time, to peel back the curtain. My editors for this column wanted me to write about Channel 10’s announcement this week that the sun would set on The Project after 16 years, nearly 14 of which have involved me. I didn’t want to do it.

What would I say that was of any use? Would I identify the things I felt made the show special, perhaps accompanied by a catalogue of highlights? Too self-serving. Would I detail the full maelstrom of emotion which engulfs you in a moment like this? That gets dangerously close to self-indulgent pap; a glorified journal entry, not an opinion piece. And anyway, as a general rule, I don’t commentate on my own work. So, no, I’d write something else. My editors urged me to reconsider, then left me to it.

Industries rise and fall, but are comfortable with the total dominance of the tech companies?Credit: Dionne Gain

Improbably, then, here we are. But only because there are bigger things at stake than the fate of this or that television show. That matters to the people involved – often viscerally – but shows have always come and gone. The difference now is that this is happening in the context of an industry staring into the abyss, trying desperately to find the formula for its continued survival. Of course, that is not entirely new, either: industries too, have always come and gone. What matters in this case – what is of genuine social concern – are the reasons for the collapse.

Some of them have been frequently rehearsed. The rapid emergence of streaming services and social media has cannibalised free-to-air television audiences. Hereabouts you will find endless statistics about........

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