Brave New TV Land

Step aside, BOOB TUBE. Networks are scrambling to make iPods, PCs and cell phones profitable new delivery devices

Dick Wolf looked skeptically at the shiny new video iPod he had given his 12-year-old son for Christmas, and prepared to watch a downloaded version of 24 for the first time. "Who's going to see anything on this screen?" shrugged the 59-year-old TV producer, whose Law & Order dramas favor gritty, realistic street scenes over high-tech gadgetry and geekspeak. But when Wolf inserted the white earbuds and started watching the 2.5-in. LCD, he had an epiphany. "The screen size became meaningless. I was in the moment. After 30 seconds, I knew it would change the game."

The game is the $60 billion...

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