Context is important: this was a piece for the BBC's 'Working Lunch' business news programme which went out at lunchtime on BBC 2. This is before 24-hour news channels and endless competition for attention. In 1996 there are four terrestrial TV channels in the UK, most people don't have access to satellite or cable TV, and as for video over the internet? QuickTime is at version 2, and downloading videos over my 14.4k modem wouldn't have been viable even if there'd been anything to download.
And despite that competitive market, almost no one is watching Working Lunch. It's daytime TV, so the majority of people are either working or in school, and the remaining unemployed/retired probably aren't interested in a slightly-more-laid-back format business news programme, and are likely just waiting for Neighbours on BBC 1.
(I was 16 when this was broadcast, and I regularly used Working Lunch as a marker for if I'd been up too late or should go to bed, probably more so a couple of years later than in 1996, but the style is very familiar even all these years later!)
And despite that competitive market, almost no one is watching Working Lunch. It's daytime TV, so the majority of people are either working or in school, and the remaining unemployed/retired probably aren't interested in a slightly-more-laid-back format business news programme, and are likely just waiting for Neighbours on BBC 1.
(I was 16 when this was broadcast, and I regularly used Working Lunch as a marker for if I'd been up too late or should go to bed, probably more so a couple of years later than in 1996, but the style is very familiar even all these years later!)