Erick Schonfeld recently posted a piece on TechCrunch about the power-struggle ensuing between cable TV providers and the Cloud.
Here is the original piece:
The TV industry is digging in. Starz is walking away from its content deal with Netflix. Hulu seems to be treading water while it tries to sell itself. Even Apple is having a hard time changing the model. It recently stepped back from its attempts to offer TV show rentals (a move we saw coming a month ago) because the TV networks ever only participated half-heartedly.
It is most certainly true: the cable TV corporations are digging in for the long haul, much like their wireless phone brethren. They are waging a corporate war to hold on to their precious delivery methods. Embracing online delivery is simply not in their playbook. Erick describes this in good detail in his article, and has a very good point early on:
But does anyone really doubt that eventually the Internet will triumph here to smash the rigid program guide that cable and satellite companies shove down our throats?
The answer is yes. The cable TV companies know this. They are not that naive (or are they? yeah, I’m referring to you Blockbuster.) to know that eventually all media will be delivered on the internet.
I have a larger proposition to make here however:
The time is ripe for a smaller cable/satellite provider to leapfrog all their competitors. How? It’s simple, be the first mover in fully embracing online delivery of television programming. Not a half-assed attempt, but a complete package offering precisely what Erick describes in his article. There is no better time than now for one of the small guys to take a crack at it. The way I see it, they can all follow suit of what the industry giants are doing, only taking the online plunge when the rest of them do it, or they can seize the moment and do it now. The first option virtually guarantees they will remain the same small dull-drum company they are now, but the latter gives them a shot to pull an upset on the industry and play in step with the big dogs.