How to save the TV industry using only print media’s mistakes (and a Bill Murray movie)

The false dilemma of cord-cutter vs cord-forever has newspapers fiasco written all over it

Not Fight Club, not The Matrix, and not even Pulp Fiction. The best movie of the 90’s, by far, is Groundhog Day — if the original ending had survived Hollywood’s narrow-mindedness.

For those under 30, Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, tells the story of a TV reporter that gets stuck in a time-warp and must live the same day over and over again. “Like Palm Springs?”, some young lady raises her hand at back of the room. Yes, dear, like Palm Springs, but lonelier.

There are many other movies with this same time-loop plot, sure, but what makes Groundhog Day remarkable — and the same applies to last year’s Palm Springs — is its ability to mock the ephemeral nature of human existence without invoking any truisms.

Both Phil, the main character from Groundhog, and Nyles, the one from Palm Springs, quickly escalate from self-absorption to existential sarcasm and life disdain which unwittingly leads to two of the most clever lessons from the movie — in both cases. (No, none of them is “love will set you free,” and if you even considered that, I envision a life of disappointments).

Number one: there’s a big difference between getting smarter and more resourceful in a world in motion, and getting smarter and more resourceful in an environment that never changes. Number two: if you’re experiencing the same event over and over, maybe it’s a good strategy to ditch the self-absorbing attitude and start deconstructing the reality around you.

Take TV networks and media companies as an example, given that we’re talking about getting stuck in time.

Last year, two research firms published distinct reports that, combined, only confirm what we have already known for quite some time: the traditional pay TV expiration date has passed. “Subscriptions fell by a record 1.8 million in the first quarter, the worst quarterly result on…