For-profit education.
A broadcast television station, airing accredited courses in a variety of degree programs. The broadcast facility is funded by commercial advertising, just like any other station. Viewers can watch and videotape courses- regular testing and/or "homework," via fax, mail, or email, is charged a small fee for grading. Final exams would be administered at rented locations, again for a relatively small fee.
This project requires the purchase of a broadcast television station, a startup budget to pay salaries the first year or so, and 9,000 hours (approximately) of orignial educational programming.
I believe degree courses in several areas could be offered- math, physics, engineering, history, literature, etc.
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Google: online educationFind abundant educational opportunities online. Broadband easliy supports video. Ad-supported education generates controversy about conflicts of interest. Ad-supported course aids exist, but there may be additional demand for effective instructional aids.
The targeted audience are those who are not computer-savvy, or may not have access to broadband, or may not have any internet access. Televisions are cheap and almost universal, computers are still not found in most homes.
Television University is an anti-elitist concept.
We are, in fact, already being educated by television, in the guise of entertainment. We are bombarded by bad science, improper ethics, inappropriate behavior- but no one complains that "Seinfeld" or "Friends" or "NYPD Blue" has created any conflict of interest.
I'm proposing that bad, misleading information be replaced with good, accurate information, and that viewing TV be transformed into something constructive. Turning a profit will insure a continuing private investment, rather than existing at the whim of political hacks.
A better idea would be a satellite channel, and fill time with somewhat related, but not directly tele-college courses.
I think TLC started that way, and CLT in Canada sometimes runs college courses (and they have some neat foreign language courses). There also might be PBSU.
The hope would be that the programming would be picked up by a satellite service, once the concept has proved itself to investors to be profitable. Actually, the programming could be started as a cable-access channel operating 24/7/365. I would have suggested this first, but the real stumbling block is obtaining the 8,760 hours of original college-level programming.
As said, you wouldn't run all telecourses, you'd run other programs as well. Plus you could pre-produce a course series, and repeat that over again, plus have one program of a course run about 3 or 4 times a week (look at how some cable channels repeat their programs throughout the week). OR have and 8-8,8 schedule (8 horurs of courses, that 8 hours run again, and 8 hours of non course, but educational programming)
Also, my logic is that you put it on satellite first (which will supply a much wider audience than a terrestrial TV broadcast will), getting it on broadcast later.
A few years ago, I went so far as to make out a programming schedule, having 13-week semesters, 4 semesters a year, so that a BS or BA degree could be earned in two years (of very intense, condensed study). I think I calculated I could schedule 20 or so possible degree programs running simultaneously- thus the name Television University. Some material would be run at odd hours, but that's what VCRs are for.