Down near the bottom of this interview with NBC Television Group president Jeff Zucker, he states that there are a half million downloads per week of just one NBC television show--Battlestar Galactica.
Let's do the math. You can buy that show from the iTunes video store for a penny less than $2, so with just a relatively small portion of the population with both a broadband connection and the interest/know-how to watch video on their computer, NBC could be making as much a million dollars per episode, or not far from what they take in advertising (an average one hour show might cost about $1.5 million to produce).
Imagine what will happen when most of the population has a broadband connection and a small computer hooked directly to their television. Among other changes, we are likely to see more variety, less "formula" shows, and higher quality shows. Producers and studios will be able to design and write shows directly for fans, rather than for advertisers. And the pay to view system will provide immediate, high quality data about what people want to watch.
It's going to get very interesting.