> ...TV today is a marginal or money-losing business and covertly subsidized by other parts of the company's business. This is probably true, but I don't think

> ...TV today is a marginal or money-losing business and covertly subsidized by other parts of the company's business. This is probably true, but I don't think it's permanently true. What we're seeing right now is a war between the old distribution networks and the new streaming networks. And the actors, show runners and tradesmen who produce TV are the weapons being used in that war. Just like it's great to be a defense contractor during an actual war, it's great to be in the business of producing TV during the period which will ultimately mark either the shift to online distribution, should Amazon, Netflix and Hulu win over customers, or the insurgency of online distribution should Cable survive. But one side will win and the gravy train will end. What's interesting is that the premium services are likely to be okay no matter what. They've had to survive in a world where they've had to justify the cost of their programming for quite a while now. For them, this war will only determine how their programming is delivered to viewers so long as they hedge their bets and allow viewers to watch through both distribution channels. The only important thing for them is that their shows remain popular. That's why HBO has publicly said they don't mind people sharing passwords for their service...they can afford to leave money on the table right now so long as it means they'll still be relevant once the dust settles. As long as that happens, they can crack down then and ensure that everyone is paying. However once a winner emerges, which I think most of us believe will be streaming, production will scale back and profits will increase. There is too much TV being produced right now and customers are forced to either miss shows that they'd otherwise like to watch or devote way too much of their lives to trying to keep on top of that. We could pull back by a factor of 2 and almost everyone would still be able to find plenty enough to be satisfied.