I think MJ has got it right. If the traditional OTA networks were to abandon the local affiliate model, the affiliates would suffer the worst.
This whole Comcast/NBC deal will be interesting to watch. Some years down the road I can see Comcast wrestling the NBC affiliations away from local stations in certain markets where they (Comcast) own a cable operation. The local Comcast cable operation would then be the local NBC affiliate. It seems like a shrewd business move. No need to pay compensation or try to wrangle compensation from an affiliate. Plus, all revenue goes back to NBC/Comcast, not to a third party OTA station. The question is, how would Comcast run their local, cable-only NBC affiliates? Local news? Will the same sort of daytime & evening syndicated programming available on the local Comcast NBC affiliate?
Interesting.