Watching Players Battle it Out Over The Board... the lost art of watching chess?

1993 - Nigel Short versus Garry Kasparov. 
It was such a big event that the match was shown live in the afternoons on television here in the U.K. I was working at the time, so would video the programme to watch when I was at home.

I was so struck at watching these two G.M.s doing battle in one of the most mentally taxing sports/games. I was wondering how deeply they were thinking as they stared intently at the board and their pieces, considering which move to make next. It was pure, it was mesmerising and it was beautiful. 
Nowadays, broadcasters have so much technology to use to analyse the position for us, have G.M.s on the programme to give their view, to discuss different lines, and this is all great but... hasn't the essence of viewing the game being lost? Have we forgotten that at the end of the day, you have two opponents facing each other, both trying to mentally defeat the other player, the board and pieces themselves almost become inconsequential - players of this level can THINK the position - they don't need to physically see it. 
On Facebook I follow several different chess pages and groups, so random shots of tournaments pop up often on my feed, and just now this one of Cherry Ann playing against Kate Nicole stopped me in my tracks. Again, here is the image that for me IS what watching chess is about. How deeply is she thinking about her move?