At the same time, the advent of digital technology offers new ways to distribute both films and television programmes.

ECONOMIST: Hollywood's fading charms

VCRs today are used to play rented films and not, as originally expected, to watch television programmes when it suits you.

ECONOMIST: Taking the ads out of television

It looks (and sounds) much like YouTube, but Victor Koo, its boss, likens it to Hulu and Netflix, American sites that deliver television programmes and films over the web.

ECONOMIST: Chinese internet companies

He bought programmes, especially American films and soaps, and offered them at very low prices to small, regional television stations.

ECONOMIST: An Italian story | The