Supreme Court Ruling a Big Win for Cable

For years, the legal battle between Hollywood and cable providers raged on about whether or not subscribers should be able to record shows to the cable provider’s central database. The Supreme Court has ended the battle by ruling in favor of cable, which means that cable users will be able to incorporate video storage into their own networks.
 
This is a significant victory for cable operators, who currently have to provide each customer with set-top boxes in order to allow DVR service. Upgrading these systems is costly, even for those who already have DVR boxes, which means that the Supreme Court ruling will allow the cable network to expand without the need for unwieldy and expensive boxes.
 
The ruling could also be a big win for consumers as well. Moving to central databases instead of set-top boxes will incite a price war between cable suppliers, according to analysts, and this would drive prices down.
 
The studios that lost in this ruling can still stand to gain from the situation, however. Many analysts have encouraged studios to stream more of their shows on the Internet, which would allow them to force viewers to watch ads through their own video players.

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