The economics of downloading video

The economics of downloading video
Edward Jay Epstein writes in Slate on the economics of shifting movies TV and movies from broadcast and theatrical distribution to downloading: “The real issue for the studios is how they can dig into this potential gold mine without undermining their existing revenue streams. Since the 1980s, the studios have managed their revenue by employing a system of “windows” to release their products to different markets…. With the possibility of costlessly providing millions of downloads to consumers of both their older and new films, the studio heads, including Disney’s Robert Iger, are openly discussing radically revamping the window system. “