Contrary to popular belief, not all of that $150 you give to Comcast each month (ouch) goes to buying yachts for Comcast's CEO Programming costs alone are goin

Contrary to popular belief, not all of that $150 you give to Comcast each month (ouch) goes to buying yachts for Comcast's CEO Programming costs alone are going up about 10% per year while the average provider rate increase is only about 5% per year. Over the next 2-3 years we're going to hit the point where selling linear video service is unprofitable for cable providers. The ESPN 360 model of IP services being bundled with access is probably the future. I could see Hulu, Netflix, etc partnering with providers on this. Apple is probably at a disadvantage because you know they won't be interested in offering iTunes Store access on some cruddy Motorola or Cisco set top box. This makes me wonder if the new iTV could perhaps be something Apple sells through partnerships with cable / telco video providers. They got into bed with AT&T so it's not unthinkable they would do the same with Comcast or TWC.