without pretending to speak for Boxee or anybody else (I have no affiliation with the industry), I think they would like to see every TV network to make their signal (along with ads, etc.) to be available over IP, just like NASA and some others do today.

This will allow for ultimate a-la-carte subscription, something the cable companies are overwhelmingly opposing: it's much more profitable for them to send you a package of 200 channels when you only need 5, even if you're willing to pay a much higher price per channel for these 5.