No Free Ride From Cable Programmers

The web may be packed with free content, but don’t look for cable programmers such as Time Warner, Disney or MTVN to follow suit any time soon. During a panel discussion at this year’s Cable Show, the networks rejected the notion that they will have to give away their content in order to remain competitive.

Broadcasting & Cable quotes George Bodenheimer, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks, as saying that just because the Internet has lots of free, user-generated content, “I wouldn’t be too quick to give away [professionally-produced content] for free.” He added that, “I think we deliver value and I think we need to keep that dual stream going.”

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