Game Over

AT&T emerged victorious from its courtroom battle with the Department of Justice. What this means for the future of TV:

1. The Big 4 Are Omnipresent If Not Yet Omnipotent: The real heavyweights in the global video market are not Dish Networks, Comcast, or any of the other legacy pay-TV providers. Instead, AT&T’s real competitors going forward are Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Facebook, along with Netflix and (to a lesser extent) Microsoft. These companies all have deep pockets, access to over a billion users (and the associated data), and a demonstrated commitment to create and deliver direct-to-consumer original video content on a worldwide basis without the need for a pay-TV provider whatsoever. 
2. The Dumb Pipe Era is Over: For the large players at least, the era of the “Justas” (as in ‘Just a pay-TV provider’ or ‘Just a broadband provider’) is rapidly coming to an end.