Programming: Wall Street, Play by Play

Of all the things television does badly, the stock market may be the worst. Despite the fact that 24 million Americans now own stocks, TV coverage of the market is almost universally restricted to a brief and bewildering recital of the Dow-Jones averages and the ten most active stocks. But now, from the never-never land of UHF comes a startling switch. Eight U.S. TV stations, most of them new, have gone on the air with a play-by-play account of market transactions from open to close, Monday through Friday.

Originated 18 months ago by Los Angeles' Channel 22 ("The Station...