14 DAY TRIAL // All of the old media businesses have been affected, most would say negatively, by the Internet. The harder hit was the newspaper business, which has seen a massive drop in circulation and revenue, and the music industry, which is also facing years of declining CD sales. Movie theaters are also getting fewer visits and only the TV seems to be faring better. But, in an effort to keep it that way, TV media moguls have apparently learned nothing from the music industry and are proposing a system for controlling what users can see on the Internet.
Time Warner Inc. and Comcast are expected to announce today a new system called “TV Everywhere,” with which people can view TV content online at no extra cost, but only if they are cable or satellite subscribers. The technology is is “OnDemand Online” and would require users to authenticate before having access to the online content.
It is clear why the media companies are excited about such a system, as having the content available online for free might make some people cancel their cable subscription. This has been the problem with Hulu from the start and, while it was clear that the TV networks had to do something to counter the rise of file sharing and YouTube, many aren't convinced today that offering their content online for free is a good idea.
In fact, it isn't a good idea, not with their current business models. But, instead of creating new models, adapting to the current environment and the public's needs and expectations, they are still doing what they can to stop a trend that is evidently, to anyone but them, unstoppable. The music industry also tried to and failed, but slowly and reluctantly it has began to change, offering music in the DRM-free mp3 format, for example. However, if the music industry failed, it's hard to see why TV moguls think that they won't.
UPDATE: Time Warner and Comcast have made it official.