Can Chess On TV Work?

Can chess work as entertainment on television for a lay audience?  And even if it can, is the internet a better medium anyway to spread and promote the game?

Many years ago, before Tim Berners-Lee had his stroke of genius, British television aired a show called "The Mastergame".  It was an interesting attempt to edit chess games for general consumption, using audio recordings of the players made after the game, describing their thoughts move-by-move.

I have very fond memories of the show, and think that it worked well.  With a bit of updating, I see no reason why it wouldn't still work today.  It certainly wouldn't be expensive to make!

I was delighted to see (h/t Mark Weeks) some videos of The Mastergame are available on YouTube.  The example below is the first game of the final in 1982, between Karpov and Spassky (part 1 of 3).  The players themselves start talking at about 3:00.  (Game 2 is also available - Spassky plays the King's Gambit!)