This article uses the neoclassical economic principles of substitutable goods and switching costs to examine how the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) intended its digital media ecosystem, UltraViolet, to intervene in the U.S. market for long-form digital video. The article provides a detailed blueprint of the ecosystem’s industrial arrangement, an account of its bungled rollout, and an analysis of the DECE’s long-term strategy. The piece also contributes to a dialogue on the use of economics within the field of digital distribution scholarship by arguing for the value of neoclassical principles within this field.