Remember when all those technology companies thought they could end-run big-TV?

Adorable, weren’t they?

Nowadays, pretty much everyone, from big tech like Apple and Microsoft to the sexy startups like FanTV and Roku, aren’t so much end-running big TV as giving it a big old hug.

Sure, there are a few who are choosing to beat their own drum - like Aereo - but the true go-it-alone disruptor is rapidly becoming an endangered species.

So what happened to all the TV disruptors? 

To put it quite plainly, most of them realized that beating big TV - which includes broadcast media, studios, cable and satellite multi-channel operators and sports networks - is just too difficult given the huge entrenchment of the video entertainment industry and the vast resources at their disposal.

But maybe even more importantly, these would-be disruptors realized that the entertainment industry itself is evolving, and each part of it - from content creators, broadcasters and cable networks, multi-channel operators - is trying to reinvent itself to adjust to the new reality of the Internet.

And if the big guys are finally changing, it doesn’t take a genius to realize there’s probably more money (and likely success) in helping them change vs. trying to replace them.

Examples of the fast-changing incumbent are all over the place: From HBO’s huge success with HBO GO (and their whispers of going independent of authenticated cable subscribers) to Time Warner Cable’s partnerships with pretty much every over-the-top box maker, to Comcast’s rapid-fire investments in next-gen content and TV tech startups like FullScreen and Zeebox, it’s clear the incumbents are reinventing themselves as fast as they can.

And what about the old disruptors like Apple and Microsoft, the gray-haired tech companies that used to surprise us once in a while by shaking up an industry or two?

Well, not in TV. Apple is apparently working within the system, and Microsoft is making sure they run all their out-of-the-box Xbox TV ideas by the likes of Comcast and other big-TV big wheels to make sure they’re not too out of the box.

And even the more recent disruptors, those like Roku’s Anthony Wood, have decided to work with the system rather than against it, in large part from lessons learned  and scars gained from earlier battles.  

And those startups that do try to get a little out of line tend to find themselves shut out or shut off, and those kinds of early battle wounds can have a cascading effect long-term.  This is something that Fan.TV (formerly Fanhattan) seems to look to avoid, choosing to work directly with incumbent pay TV providers out of the gate with their next-gen set-top.

I’m not hear to say that TV disruption is dead or that it’s gone away. In fact, the TV space is changing faster than I can ever remember and is a hugely exciting space to be in right now. 

What I am saying is that many of today’s disruptors seem to have learned from the battles earlier this century, when the likes of Real Networks, TiVo, RePlayTV, Kaleidescape all fought fights that were either draws or near-death experiences.

And while there will always be a few Aereo’s around to fly around the the heads of the TV giants, for the most part the little guys (or even the big guys) are looking to avoid getting swatted by the incumbents.