Personally, I think the New York Times will go out of business before the network news divisions. If television networks are a dying bread, newsprint is an even deader one.
It will a long slow choke. It won't disappear overnight. Think about when you heard the news on 9-11. Where did you turn to watch it? CNN? FNC? For most, it was one of the three old stand-bys...ABC, NBC or CBS. Why? Because we know that when there is a major immediate news story, these are the ones with the resources to tell us what is happening right now.
Sure, they are biased. Sure, their potency is shrinking by the month. But when something like 9-11 or the Challenger disaster happens, people know the networks will stop everything and show what is going on. If it happens on a weekend, FNC is AWOL. If it happens in the middle of Larry King Live, CNN will mention it at the bottom of the hour.
The networks have acceeded the more mundane news stories to the all-news channels. But there is still a sizeable audience that has no cable (either they don't want it or can't get it), so the nets will still be the place folks go when there is a major immediate news story.
Maybe in another 20-30 years, this won't be so. But then we may not even be the same United States in 20-30 years.
Wouldn't it have to be a while longer before the internet can completely take the place of traditional news sources,simply because they are still the ones who have the access to the political figures and events,that make the news? Maybe the White House should give internet representatives a place at the press conferences.