In yet another example of "...the sky is NOT falling," video downloads of popular TV shows appear to be actually raising the ratings of some shows.
In other words, people are downloading shows they have not watched on TV, and then decide that a) they like the show, and b) they tune in during prime time to watch it.
So this is an interesting development, and not one that I (or anyone else, for that matter) predicted. It never hurts to try something new--if it works, you do more of it. If it doesn't have the impact you expected, hopefully you stop and try something else. That's much better than claiming the world is coming to an end, as the entertainment industry has been claiming since the development of the VCR.