All four Arab stories made headlines, plus the drawdown of US troops from Iraq and the continuing Israel-Palestine conflict, despite relentless decade-over-decade downsizing of the networks' foreign bureaus. ABC cut back most; CBS least.

Domestically, we enjoyed peace and prosperity. Wars made far fewer headlines. And since the economy only dominates when hardship hits, its reduced role, featuring a bullish stock market and falling unemployment, signified continued expansion.

Public policy featured the federal budget thanks to the Tea Party and healthcare reform thanks to Obamacare, then illegal immigration and gun control. CBS specialized in each.

In electoral politics, Campaign 2016 was a blockbuster: the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton broke records, then reverberated with the probe into the Kremlin's role and President Trump's impeachment. Each was led by ABC.

Climate change attracted little coverage, yet the weather extremes that are its symptoms -- blizzards, tornadoes, wildfires and Superstorm Sandy -- were bigger than ever. ABC loved winter weather. Environmental disasters were led by BP's oil leak, which was NBC's beat, and the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Soft content grew as the calamities of the last decade -- the 9/11 terror attacks and the financial crisis -- receded: more sports, more shobiz-&-media, and a rebound for the globe's premier celebrity brand, the royals of the House of Windsor.