Abstract:

The television industry in the U.S. has always been tempered by a competitive marketplace, a commercially driven environment, which has been uniquely shaped by the size of the audience. Luring the past ten years, competition has heated up dramatically. The U.S. television viewers have always been in control, with the advent of new video alternatives this is more the case today. What does this U.S. viewer-controlled market presage for other nations, as they open their video markets to new competition? Beginning with a brief historical overview of U.S. video market dynamics, followed by a discussion or. the viewer, this paper attempts to shed light on the questions raised by the interaction between the viewer and a new television environment.