re: HBO to offer Stand-alone Service Next Year

Cable companies aren't sweating over this at all.

For most individuals, their ISP is their cable company. You're simply receiving the same content over a different medium.

Let's say you drop your TV subscription to Cox or Comcast once ESPN offers a stand alone subscription to WatchESPN. Well, your ISP is already Cox or Comcast, and the delivery of content is still taking place over their network. They will simply employ novel methods of compensating for lost cable subscriptions.

DirecTV was also recently purchased by AT&T, which is one of the largest ISPs in the world.

The telecoms have slowly transitioned into ISPs, and the cable companies have positioned themselves as the sole provider within a given region.

We're not witnessing the extinction of TV, we're witnessing the evolution of the internet into TV 2.0. And with the destruction of net neutrality, it's only going to get worse.