I think the bottom line is that a person's answer to this question will be totally dependant on their cooking skill and interest.
For example, I learn things or get ideas from Top Chef, Iron Chef, Iron Chef America, Emeril Lagasse once in a great while, Mario Batali, Ming Tsai, etc. Others may not because the food is too intimidating to cook, it's beyond their skill level, they have no interest in eating or cooking high end food.
I learn practically nothing from Ina Garten, Giada, Rachel Ray, Sara Lee, etc. because for me, what they make is so basic. I can walk into a kitchen that I've never been in before, look around in the pantry for 5 minutes, and put out a similar meal or dish. For others, the ease and simplicity of what they make is much more appealing and much less intimidating.
With the term "chef", the problem is the same problem that plagues many terms, words, ideas, etc.: the media. Unfortunately, mass media can take something, even though it's wrong, and make 50 million people think it's true. Chef is a title. It is something that is earned, much like attaining a black belt in martial arts. If you advance to say, a brown belt in jiu jitsu, you don't get a black belt just because you get a tv show teaching people how to do it. It's the same with being a chef. You earn your title by leading a kitchen.