Middle Men Get Squeezed, World Weeps

TV commerce director: "We're very aware about not letting Apple do to TV what they did to the music biz. There's nothing there for record labels now - at the bottom end bands can publish, promote and break themselves; at the top end, established acts can take themselves out of the loop and become their own brand + label + store in one."

Yes, that does indeed sound like another media industry preparing to defend their middle-man cut as their business gets rolled into the internet.

No TV doesn't quite let you make the equivalent of a hit single in your bedroom, and it takes some cash to avoid UGC hell (although cf. Doctor Who 70s-80s for an exception) but tools march ever downwards in price, up in quality. Middle men? Who needs it.