How the Net Is Threatening Cable's Cozy World

After decades on Easy Street, the year ahead is looking tough for the country's biggest cable operators. Tech juggernaut Apple (AAPL) may be on the verge of lining up media giants Disney (DIS) and CBS (CBS) to participate in a new service that streams TV over the Internet and could debut in 2010, according to The Wall Street Journal. Facing competition from Apple -- with its unmatched place in the consumer imagination -- is never easy. But Apple is just the latest in an expanding list of competitors taking aim at the future of televised media, and the combined assault could finally deliver a major blow to cable's immensely profitable business model.