Legal and Economic Challenges to the Business Model of the Television Industry

Gaining access to content is critically important for entrance into the television industry; this is a necessary input to become a viable competitor against incumbent video industry players. However, incumbents have the ability and incentive to withhold programming that discourages potential competitors from entering the market. Entrants, built up over a long period of time, confront a symbiotic relationship between traditional content providers and incumbent content distributors. Access to video programming or access in the format (i.e., online) that a viewer chooses is in high demand. This demand is evident by an increasing number of legal, technological, economic, and political challenges to the traditional business model of the television industry. Many incumbents in the industry will fight disruption to the traditional ways of doing business. They may be successful in slowing down the evolution of a new business model but change is inevitable