Death watch for TV networks

Legal or not, the march of television into the file-sharing world is inevitable. But once again, the major television networks are barely visible in this changing landscape, even though Comcast and other established players in the business are engaging in high-profile experiments with the medium. And even if the networks do play catch-up, they already face an alarming decline in the prime-time attention span of younger viewers.

Most of the strides toward this pivotal evolutionary step have been made in public television, by in the United States and the BBC in the United Kingdom. All of which begs the question: Is it only a matter of time before the Big Three networks become extinct?

Blog community response:

"Downloading is today's equivalent of making a mixed tape, recording a show off TV or radio and giving or loaning the tape to the friend. I think honest people, like me, actually go out of their way more to support their favourite artists by buying their stuff. And downloading is a great way for smaller independent artists to get their stuff out there."
--Living in Limbo

"The arrogant programming practices of the TV networks are turning Australians into criminals. By interrupting series partway through, the stations force viewers to seek the missing episodes on the Internet, and risk charges of piracy, according to the Sydney copyright lawyer Alex Malik."
--terra is my nation

"I'm not going to go into the ethical debate about file-sharing--I do it, I like it, I'm all for it, so sue me. I live in Korea, and I needs my TV and movies, damnit!"
--Chow's

"Good job PBS! With the strides that the BBC has been taking IÂ’m glad to see that somebody in the U.S. forging ahead as well."
--Ramblings of a Retarding Monkey