"Digital distribution" aren't magic words that make the production costs go away. In fact, they make production costs the most expensive part of the whole proposition.
Business 1 produces content and sells it in one venue. Business 2 takes all of business 1's content and sells it in another venue. And people are wondering why business 1 cannot just use business 2's model instead.
I don't believe that people here are really so dense as to not understand the problems with that scenario.
I don't believe that people here are really so dense as to not understand the problems with that scenario
Nor do I believe that you are so dense as to conflate copying with theft, so can we dispense with the comparisons that wouldn't look out of place in *AA propaganda?
As with most forms of media, the distribution costs are a small fraction of the production costs.
Film crews, especially good ones, cost money. Post-production crews, especially good ones, cost money. Actors, even bad ones, cost money. The equipment, sets, prop, makeup, computers, and all other physical items that go into making/producing a show cost money.