Cable channels confront online 'death spiral'

摘要

The growth of online video and online television could sound the death knell for cable channels as well as the declining DVD business, according to a report from investment bank Credit Suisse.rnThe report, The Future of Home Entertainment, argues that the increasing availability of cable-television programs on the Internet threatens the revenue streams of the providers of basic cable channels in the US.rn"We think it is a US$21.5 billion revenue risk for the basic cable industry," says the report, which argues that if a critical mass of television content becomes available freely on the Internet, "at some point the utility of pay-TV services provided by cable and satellite decreases."