MSN, Google, Yahoo and AOL have begun to "act, look and feel like networks in everything they do. They want to be programmers - just like traditional TV networks, only wielding tools that help you navigate the new universe of hundreds upon hundreds of websites and channels," writes USA Today (via paidcontent). The pursuit of advertising dollars has convinced AOL, for example, to in turn shift most of its "programming" from paid subscription to free access. Like the networks, the Big Four will make money mostly through advertising and are therefore constantly introducing new ways to keep users at their screens with free email, maps, sundry search tools, video and so on.

However, whereas TV networks are dependent on hit shows to hold viewers, and advertising dollars, online's advantage lies in that users, once hooked with an email or IM address and personalized rich content, are not likely to leave. Moreover, the history of their preferences and online behavior is a goldmine that can be exploited by advertisers - and publishers/portal-networks.

The demographic shift to online, coupled with the expansion of broadband driving media convergence, will result in homes with networks that "route programs from room to room and device to device as effortlessly as radio does today, and…we'll be using TiVo-like interfaces to access everything we watch," according to USA Today, paraphrasing a Forrester analyst.