Network ending explained

What happens

Beale's ratings fall again, and the network can't cancel him without losing money. So the executives have him shot dead on live television by a terrorist group they already feature in Diana's show. His death becomes just another broadcast.

The last line

"This was the story of Howard Beale: the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings."

What it says

The ending is the film's argument carried to its end. A medium that treats rage and grief as product will, in time, treat a life the same way. Beale's murder is cold, funny and barely surprising, which is the point.