The End of TV as We Know It

摘要

Imagine a world in which the producers of buggy whips and the distributors of buggy whips are engaged in a vicious fight over who gets what percentage of whip-sale profits-even as more and more of their customers trade in horses for cars. That's a lot like what we've seen lately as CBS, the U.S.'s most popular broadcast network, has faced off against Time Warner Cable, the nation's second biggest cable company, over retransmission fees, the money paid by cable operators to ESPN, A&E and other channels for programming. While the giants have been busy arguing about how much pipe owners should pay content creators for top shows, viewers have begun unplugging. They are increasingly watching TV over the Internet, where they can get what they want for free (or for a lot less than the $100 or more some shell out for cable and satellite).