Though limited in scope for now, the deals announced at CES signal a significant shift in the operators' thinking about the challenges and opportunities of new technologies. Traditionally, subscription network operators regarded those technologies with suspicion due to the destabilizing effect they have had on other media sectors such as music and publishing. Consequently, they kept consumer electronics (CE) companies at arm's length. This dynamic seems to be changing however, as the country's largest operators have begun to embrace new platforms in earnest. They have calculated that early alliances with the appropriate manufacturers will give them a leg up in the race to carve up the burgeoning online video market by having their apps featured prominently and integrated seamlessly into these devices.

Consumer electronics companies, for their part, stand to benefit from such alliances, which will grant them quick access to troves of content that would have taken them years and considerable resources to aggregate.

It is important to note, however, that this form of alliance may not be appropriate in all cases. It is not surprising that the company with the most deals at CES was Samsung. The South Korean manufacturer has lured TV operators with its strong app platform and, more importantly, its lack of play in content services. Sony's limited deal with Time Warner Cable, in contrast, demonstrates that operators' are still uneasy about striking deals with CE companies with extensive media businesses. By the same token, Sony, which not only owns a studio but is also developing Over-The-Top service Qriosity, may not want to strengthen the operators' hand in the online video space.

IP delivery blurs the distinction between conventional cable TV service and web-based over-the-top distribution, strengthening the case for keeping IP video within the subscription orbit of traditional pay-TV services. If this goal is to be accomplished cost-effectively by operators, initiatives like the abovementioned ones are necessary. CE companies' cooperation will reduce the R&D costs associated with porting operators' platforms on the growing number of devices consumers use to consume video content.