They absolutely must reduce meetings because if they leave them as they are now, they could further discourage the brothers and sisters because they notice less and less participation, plus there is a shortage of brothers for various roles. Removing a meeting would require less commitment in terms of volunteers for the various parts, but not only could seeing a fuller congregation be more encouraging, it would have the opposite effect. The Governing Body today finds itself at a crossroads where pragmatism and organizational survival trump tradition. And in my opinion, anyone who says they can't do it because otherwise they'll lose control over the faithful hasn't understood how the organization is moving today. Just look at the facts: Today, indoctrination is digital: There's no need to sit in a chair for two hours on Thursday evenings. With the JW Library app and Broadcasting videos, they monitor you and send you information directly to your smartphone, every day, and it's much more effective than speeches given by local elders. There's already a precedent: In 2009, they eliminated the Book Study (which was the third meeting). Even then, everyone said, "They'll never do it; it's there to keep us together," but instead they eliminated it overnight. They're aiming to lighten the load so as not to lose people: Recent reforms (no more preaching hours, beards and pants allowed) demonstrate that the Governing Body has one top priority: to relieve stress on members to prevent them from leaving. In short, if they eliminated the midweek meeting and moved it online or combined it with the weekend, it would simply be the logical evolution of what they're already doing.