I think both are doomed. The only thing cable has going for it is the bundling of their precious broadband services. Otherwise, their subscriber numbers would be 1/3 to 1/2 lower than what they are now.There's an interesting post over at CableTechTalk, Big Cable's blog, about the future of cable television. It's a response by Paul Rodriguez to an Atlantic Monthly article titled "Cable TV is Doomed," penned by Max Fisher. Rodriguez calls it "one of the most uninformed articles [he's] ever seen on the cable industry" in his pushback piece titled "Cable TV - Doomed Like Dinosaurs."
We wouldn't go that far, but Rodriguez makes some smart points. The fight centers around which economic model works better for consumers: cable or Internet TV. But the titles suggest that the real debate is over how long cable television is going to last. The answer to that question involves looking at markets and consumer preferences, but it also has a lot to do with government. More.....
http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/201 ... roblogging
With Internet video, the greed machine will get greedy and before long, we will have to sit through an infomercial before we can watch Big Bang Theory.
Similarly, how long before the Red Box and Blockbuster kiosks start raising their prices? I am shocked that they are both still a buck-a-day... while Amazon and Blockbuster Video On Demand still charge $4 to $6 for a 24 hour rental.