I would suspect they were going to do a show regardless of what was or wasn't found.
That's right. Discovery sees value in covering the process.
Haven't we all seen enough of such shows on Discovery etc. that serve only to tease about potential solutions and discoveries?
If you're not interested in what happened, don't watch the show.
Well, think about it. If i recall correctly they set out with the deliberate claim that nothing would be retrieved for analysis during this expedition so any corroboration and subsequent conclusion would be by visable means only. Wasn't that the same level of proof that Ballard presented when he "found" PT 109?. Without rock solid, documentable proof - the smoking gun as it were - best had by in hand analysis of evidence, then there's still the possibility that the mystery hasn't been solved. anthying less than 100% certainty means you still don't know.
What Bob Ballard claims is up to Bob Ballard. We made the decision not to recover artifacts on this trip because the recovery and conservation of artifacts is a completely separate process than searching for them. Wreckage is often tricky to recover without damaging or losing it completely and aircraft aluminum that has been immersed in salt water for 75 years is highly unstable. It would be irresponsible to recover it without being ready to conserve it, and we can't be prepared to recover conserve something that is unknown.
You can rest assured that, regardless of what we have found or may find, I will not proclaim anything to be a "smoking gun." That's not my call. That's up to each individual to decide based upon the evidence presented.