Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Television Group, graces the front page of The Wall Street Journal today. So, naturally, the announcement that landed here there was a hot topic in this morning’s National Show general session, in which Sweeney was one of six panelists. The announcement: ABC’s decision to deliver episodes of its most popular shows—including “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives”—free on the company’s web site, starting the day after they air. The service is expected to launch on a redesigned abc.com late this month. [Here’s the link to the WSJ article, but you’ll need a subscription to view it.]

What does the move mean for cable operators? Comcast Chairman & CEO Brian Roberts happened to be sitting beside Sweeney on the stage. Neither they nor the other panelists seemed concerned that ABC’s announcement or similar copycats sure to come would drive a bigger wedge between cable ops and programmers. Roberts said he seriously doubts the marketplace is headed toward a model where “if distribution is up, then content’s down, or vice versa. We need each other.” Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO of Time Warner, used a phrase he attributed to his predecessor, Gerald Levin: “If content is king, distribution is the power behind the throne.” Parsons called alternative content delivery mechanisms “additive.” He said they help “make the pie bigger” and predicted there will be plenty of pieces for all players—distributors, content providers, equipment manufacturers, etc. “We’re not fighting over a static pie,” he noted.

Sweeney referred to her company’s TV-over-the-Internet plans as a “learning opportunity” and a way to let advertisers experiment with a new outlet for reaching consumers. She further called the decision a “recognition that none of us can live in a world of just one business model.” Internet TV and other new delivery methods will put the “consumer first and the business model second,” she said. Clearly, the “echo boomer” generation—Gen Y or the Millennials, if you prefer—plays prominently in Disney-ABC’s plans. Said Sweeney: “Forty percent of them go home at night and use between five and eight technologies, some of them simultaneously.” On the other hand, she noted, “Forty percent of baby boomers go home and (just) watch TV.”

Of course, the telcos couldn’t escape without mention in the panel discussion. Said Roberts, “There’s a lot of dust being kicked up (by the RBOCs), but if you take away their wireless growth, they’re flat.” That’s a distinct and negative comparison to cable’s continuing growth, which Parsons predicted will be a big story when the publicly traded cable operators begin announcing first quarter results soon.