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If you're looking for people predicting the impending demise of broadcast television as we know it, Las Vegas is not the place to go. At least not during the annual NAB Show.

That is, after all, a gathering of the National Association of Broadcasters, which hasn't always been the most forward-thinking group.

But today, the NAB is all about change and technology and the future. Well, there's also a bit of bragging about the present — from inside and outside.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai acknowledged all the changes that technology is bringing to television and radio, but added, "I remain fundamentally optimistic about the future of broadcasting.

"There is abundant evidence that broadcasters are continuing to thrive in the digital age. The overwhelming majority of the most-watched shows are still on broadcast TV. And each week, 93 percent of Americans over the age of 12 — 93 percent — still listen to that radio, which is about the same as a decade ago, and the decade before that, and the decade before that."

Pai insisted he wasn't "just … spraying sunshine." And he actually has a point.

The age when TV was dominated by three broadcast networks is long past. The age when broadcast TV was competing with just cable and satellite is becoming a distant memory. People are watching TV programs online, on streaming services, on their phones, on their gaming systems … the list goes on and on.

And, yes, the vast majority of the most-watched shows are indeed on broadcast TV.

"Even in this era of unprecedented competition for eyeballs, broadcast TV airs 90 of the top 100 most-watched television shows every week," said NAB president and CEO Gordon Smith. "And 268 million people tune into broadcast radio every week."

Smith, a former two-term U.S. senator from Oregon and a BYU graduate, is in the business of spraying sunshine about broadcast TV and radio. And nobody wants to spend money to attend a convention and be told they work for a dying industry.

(Although what better place to distract yourself from that kind of news than Las Vegas?)

But the doomsayers haven't been proven right. Broadcast TV and radio aren't what they once were, but they're still incredibly powerful.

"We will always need shared experiences that connect our communities," Pai said, "whether it's a show on TV that makes us laugh, a Rick Astley song on the radio that makes us sing along, the wrong winner being announced at an awards show, or a widely disliked football team mounting a dramatic comeback to win the Super Bowl."

There is more good TV on broadcast stations than ever before. But the whole concept of a shared viewing experience? Other than the Super Bowl, that just doesn't happen anymore.

There will never be another event like, say, the "Roots" miniseries, which drew an estimated 130 million viewers in 1977 (when the U.S. population was 221 million). Back then, if a show wasn't getting about 30 million viewers a week, it was probably in danger of getting canceled.

In 2017, with the U.S. population up by a third (to more than 326 million), the most-watched TV outlet — CBS — is averaging 9.8 million viewers in prime time.

Broadcast TV isn't going away anytime soon. But you're not just spraying sunshine, you're spouting lollipops and rainbows to think that the future for the industry is altogether bright.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.