Abstract
The Internet promises a very different technological and regulatory future for film and television. As older media are produced for and delivered through the Internet, how might the content be reshaped? The development of cable and satellite networks promised to bring more channels of more diverse programming to households around the world. Internet access to film and television content is similarly enabling more on-demand access to content from anywhere at any time. Will ever-faster broadband networks change what we will view? This chapter takes a systematic historical and economic approach in speculating about how ‘super-broadband connectivity’ might provide video entertainment unprecedented in its richness and customization for individuals. This example of the application of a multi-disciplinary perspective on the interaction of next generation networks and content shows the potential for reasoning about the future of communication by keeping a firm grounding in the history and economics of communication technologies.