Me too. Cable television has far better programming, in my opinion. The plots are often phenomenal and they are much braver about introducing new faces.
So true. I think they can't actually make tastes or set trends, but are somewhat adept at feeding junk food to the herd. Over time, if you saturate the herd with something, they will eventually acclimate to it, but it's a slow process. To combat the bigotry of this society and mainstream non-white actors and storylines, they would have to saturate the airwaves and theaters with racially progressive imagery and storylines. And remember, they are also culled from among some of the same herd whose tastes need shaping, so they're loathe to support that objective.
PBS is also brave with those British shows. They never cease to amaze and entertain me. The Sundance Channel and Investigation Discovery also has some programs that feature an ir couple, even if the couple are either criminals or victims.