The Broadband Incentive Problem

This article on the 'the broadband incentive problem and the economics of prime-time HDTV is worth a look.

I spent years in the late 1990s telling people - particularly commercial lobbyists - that they were underestimating the barriers to Web-TV.

Their arguments went as follows

• Web-TV is almost a reality now. Any day....
• Web-TV is hard to regulate
• If you try you will choke investment
• Therefore, you should abolish the BBC, rather than leave it to twist in the wind
• This will secure investment into original audiovisual content

Ten years later, with a robust and secure BBC, I reckon they were wrong.