The ability to watch TV programs on the Web for free, to download cheap or free programming to your iPod, and to stream video as part of your Netflix subscription is great news—or is it?

That’s the question raised by a thought-provoking article in the New York Times this week. The author, Nicholas Carr, says: “The more I play movies and TV shows from the Web, the less I use my cable TV service.” He’s cut down on pay-per-view movies, canceled Showtime because he can stream movies and programs like Dexter through Nextflix, download programs from Apple’s iTunes store, and watch full TV episodes on sites like Hulu, CNN.com, PBS.org and more.

What’s not to like? Carr and viewers like him can obviously save a bundle while still enjoying lots of TV shows and movies.

The problem, says Carr, is that this is eating into revenues for the companies that produce the programs we love to watch (especially when they’re free). He observes: “If the changes in our viewing habits stanch the flow of money back to studios, producing [the smartest, most creative] programs may no longer be possible. In their place, we’ll get more junk: dopey reality shows, cookie-cutter police dramas, inane gab fests. The vast wasteland will become even vaster. Even ‘free’ has a price.”

I love free as much as anyone and have taken some of these steps to trim my own entertainment costs. We’ve also talked here at Consumer Reports about the notion that consumers might want to ditch their pay-TV service, get free off-air HD, and use these other venues to get premium programming for much less than they’re paying now.

Still, I see Carr’s point, and friends of mine in the TV business are very worried about the future. Which worries me.

What’s your take? —Eileen McCooey