02 November 2006

HBO, Broadband, and Network Neutrality

In case you missed it, this story in BusinessWeek has some interesting aspects that seem to me to be closely related to the ongoing debates in the telecom industry. The short story here is that HBO, the premium television channel, lacks an on-line presence. So, the question that faces them is how to establish it. Certainly they can go it alone (as STARZ did), or they can partner with broadband access providers (eg. Comcast).

By partnering, do they set a precedent for the kinds of payment structures that some content providers oppose in the guise of "network neutrality"? Is this an example of private contracting to overcome a "small numbers" bargaining problem? So, is this the vanguard of the future or is this a "last gasp" of a legacy, mainstream media business model?

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