What impact will the Disney / Hasbro media war have on the toy industry?

In my last blog posting, I wrote about Disney's decision to close down its cable channel SOAP Network and replace it with a preschool channel named Disney Children.  It was my take that Disney is making this move in part to counter Hasbro's efforts with the Discovery Channel to launch its new Hub Network aimed at children and families.

I think that this kind of competition has to be good for the toy industry and those who feed its hunger for intellectual property.  Here is why:

Costs for advertising and promotion on these channels should come down.  I know that costs in the advertising world work differently than they do in the rest of the world.  If, however, the laws of supply and demand do prevail, it should put downward pressure on advertising rates.  If that is indeed the case, this should be good news for anyone who wants to advertise on any of these channels.

There should be an increasing demand for the intellectual property needed to build programming.  That means that all of those creative types upon whom the toy industry depends should find new opportunities for their creations. 

So, as far as the greater toy industry is concerned, the more the merrier.  Who else wants to get into the game?