The New York Times recently issued yet another story that aims to downplay the slow but steady rise of Internet video and "debunk" cord cutting, noting that 88% of those surveyed still pay for TV service. But while Internet video is certainly on a slow trajectory, it's silly to downplay the disruptive technology when nobody's really offered the perfect, inexpensive, and Luddite-proof broadband-driven living room solution yet. NewTeeVee notes that there is shift going on, illustrated by last quarter's cable subscriber losses:Cord cutting is very real, though right now it's being driven primarily by the economy, not broadband video. What happens when Apple, Google, or an unknown upstart finally creates a broadband TV service that provides an inexpensive, simple, a la carte alternative to those annoying bi-annual cable rate hikes? Several studies have shown there's a very significant number of TV watchers who are prepared to make the leap.

TV operators seem prepared to do everything possible to prevent that -- except reduce prices. Lodged in a dance of death between investors who want continual returns, and broadcasters who demand ever-increasing programming fees, the cable TV industry will likely continue to raise prices even as these disruptive upstarts start to seriously nibble at subscriber totals over the next decade.