Comment by SpikeMeister

As a fan of Time Team, that's very cynical.

Time Team is a good citizen of the archeological community. It has real professional archaeologists with academic credentials, not just entertainers.

It's funded via Patreon these days and is on YouTube, not TV, so ratings aren't as much of a concern.

Blame the media for the breathless hype if you like, they are the ones benefiting from the clicks here.