I've been too busy to read anything today except for the Espresso Economist this morning.
It was the mini television trade which claimed that we had never been to a better age of television based on the positive comments given to the TV series. There's an increasing number of highly rated series these twenty years than before.
The reason why the average has barely budged is that the onslaught of new shows includes plenty of rubbish.
Budge means move slightly.
E.G. The queue in the bank hasn't budged.
The onslaught of means an overwhelming number of people or things