In Search of TV

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Michael Malone and John M. Higgins]
Are Microsoft, Yahoo!, AOL and Google the future of TV? With their all-powerful search might, the thinking goes, the Internet companies will do to television what they did to newspapers: package others’ content and sell lucrative targeted ads against it. Like cable operators two decades ago, they'll become a vital content gatekeeper in a world where the viewer watches any show, any time. The once powerful networks -- broadcast and cable -- will watch their ad base erode. Ah, maybe not, say some TV observers and investors. What you won't find on the Internet is a wide selection of television’s top product, the popular shows that command 60 million viewers nightly. While broadcast and cable networks are pushing product onto the Internet, they’re hesitating at giving up video beyond short-term promotions. What gives the networks such sway in the $60 billion TV advertising market is a single powerful issue that will become increasingly difficult for companies to unwind: copyrights. Ownership of content has its rewards. Indeed, while the rush to air TV programs online has promotional value, it’s merely an elaborate experiment for now: Will people watch shows on their computer? Every veteran TV executive knows that any large-scale migration of a network’s best content would upset the delicate supply chain of station groups, syndicators and advertisers.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6283401?display=Features&refe...
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* The End Of TV (As You Know It)
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_47/b3960075.htm