Hollwood Reporter columnist Diane Mermigas wrote a rather chilling assessment of what is about to happen to the media distribution industry status quo. Comcast's Brian Roberts apparently has good cause for concern, regarding the DBS players next move.
"Cable is about to encounter more potent competition from satellite rivals DirecTV and EchoStar, soon expected to announce their $2 billion-plus collaboration in a broadband wireless venture and triple-play offerings of video, voice and data services. Add to the media mix the mounting participation of chip-maker Intel, computer manufacturers IBM and Dell, software giant Microsoft and other unlikely rivals in the bid for in-home and out-of-home wireless digital hubs, and a host of new interactive sensibilities, standards and economics also come in to play. These new entrants can hardly be blamed for trying, having seen Apple create a $1 billion-plus ecosystem of accessories and related products around its wildly popular iPods, which didn't exist five years ago."