Opinion: Will cable actually help us cut the cord to ... cable?

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Time Warner Cable had better be careful what it wishes for.

Its legal head-butting with Viacom could wind up with Viacom yanking its channels off cable TV in about 12 million homes in LA and elsewhere before 2009 arrives at midnight tonight.

I wouldn’t blubber over a blank screen where ‘Spongebob’ used to be, though I might feel some initial pangs of separation anxiety when it comes to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

But then again, I know that I can always find Stewart’s and Colbert’s best bits online. And that’s Time Warner’s dangerous gamble -- that people can learn to live without what it’s selling. I already have, to some extent. When Time Warner pulled Turner Classic Movies from its basic cable lineup -- in Hollywood, no less! -- and substituted the Golf Channel, I didn’t bite and upgrade to premium. I’ve ended up buying a lot of the black and white classic films I love, and can now watch them on my schedule, not Time Warner’s.

I don’t know what Viacom -- or for that matter Time Warner -- has planned for my viewing pleasure for New Year’s Eve tonight, but I’ll be micro-programming and watching my own DVDs.