Opening A Pandora's Boxee

By shifting programming from television to the Web, TV networks are on a "slippery slope" that puts the combined $300 billion market valuation of the industry at risk, warns a new report. Analyst Laura Martin of Soleil Securities points to the implosion of the music and newspaper businesses as cautionary examples of what happens when media companies "unbundle" content (selling individual songs via iTunes instead of albums) or give it away free online. The same destructive trends are now threatening to undo the business models of CBS, NBC Universal, Disney/ABC, Fox and other TV networks through their own online TV initiatives such as the NBC-News Corp.-backed Hulu and CBS' TV.com. Martin argues that by offering single episodes of shows such as "The Office" or "The Simpsons" on-demand online -- separate from cable, satellite or other pay TV packages -- they are letting consumers watch the hits without funding other programming.