However, I don’t accept that Mark’s thoughts or that the long tail theory undermines the network’s importance of the whole broadcasting ecology. Any news you read about on-demand deals being struck at the moment tend to focus on the big shows as being the drivers of consumption in this space. We shall see whether this actually turns out to be the case in time, but at the moment I think it’s fair to say that the video i-pod might not have launched to such a fanfare if it was What About Brian and Inconceivable that Disney had decided to distribute on that platform instead of Lost and Desperate Housewives.

So the thinking may be turned on its head, but I suspect it may remain just that – thinking – while the practice differs.