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4 edits | reply to Linklist
Re: Price goes up, demand will drop Then the cable companies will end the constant price increases and they will stop paying Hollywood's outrageous price demands for content. I'll believe that when I see it. Broadcasters want their money, and cable TV operators won't eat those costs, and both face the pressure of expected quarterly revenue bumps. It's a dance of death that opens the door wide for a disruptive, low-cost, a la carte Internet video alternative.
The only thing stopping Internet video right now is the broadcasters' restrictive licensing, and if cable operators stop being willing to shell out the cash, guess where the broadcasters turn instead? The very Internet video services they've been constricting for fear of cannibalizing revenue they'd now be losing...
It's all set up like a bunch of bowling pins over the next ten years. I bet cable execs see it but respond late in the game by finally lowering prices or offering a la carte or much smaller channel bundles. |
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1 edit | It seems to me that producers, broadcasters, cable tv operators, and every other distribution operator would want things just as they are as that is where the money is.
Look at ESPN 360. You can tap an ISP with 10,000,000 subscribers for $1 per subscriber or you can try to get individual subscribers at $10 a piece. Maybe you get 1,000,000 people to sign up, maybe you only get 10,000. Look at it from production too. Want to produce a prime time network show at a cost of millions per week and sell it over a network of millions or put it up a la carte and hope millions sign up. Cable operators can maintain their networks and overhead selling $10 a la cart per subscriber with a $3 gross profit or $75 package with a $20 gross profit.
I like American Idol and watch it anxiously every season. But I only watch it because it is included, so to speak, in my programming. I wouldn't sign up and pay to watch it. Some would I'm sure. But the 10's of millions that watch it now? It seems to me that every producer down to the in home distributor wants things just the way they are.
The money, from every angle, seems to be in the numbers. Big numbers of subscribers. a la carte seems to be contrary for everyone involved in producing and providing content. Unless, of course, you and I want to pay $10 for every little thing we watch like today's pay per view porn or $30 wrestling show, or $30 Blue Ray. |
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| reply to Karl Bode
As long as the cowsumers do little more than bitch about the rate hikes they will continue. If a large majority take a stand and vote with their feet the Cable Cos will take note. Until the masses do that it will be business as usual. |
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 SLDPremium
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA | reply to Karl Bode
Yep, just like manufacturers that refused to sell online for fear of upsetting the stores that carried their products either started online sales or mostly died. |
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| reply to Millenniumle
There is a slight flaw in your comment which actually rather invalidates your example - American Idol is on a broadcast television station, which you can watch for free over the airwaves, and sometimes even in considerably better quality than through a cable box.
So why do you pay for cable?
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 thenderScreen tycoonPremium
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY
kudos:1
1 edit | Because I still want TV reception when it rains or is cloudy.
As a child who grew up learning how to get on the roof with a ladder for the sole purpose of fucking with the antenna just to watch channel 7, 9, or 11 on a cloudy day, I value internet video, usenet, & FIOS/cable TV.
OTA can bite me hard.
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If you're going to repair your own Macbook, benefit from my experiences. |
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 MrMasterjetsetterPremium
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI
 ·Sprint Mobile Br..
| said by thender:Because I still want TV reception when it rains or is cloudy. As a child who grew up learning how to get on the roof with a ladder for the sole purpose of fucking with the antenna just to watch channel 7, 9, or 11 on a cloudy day, I value internet video, usenet, & FIOS/cable TV. OTA can bite me hard. rainy and cloudy messes with satellites. I grew up on OTA TV. Never went on my roof to adjust. Neither did any of my family.
Besides, the picture quality of OTA digital is sooo nice now. I like it.
My stations growing up were 2,5,11, then 26 and eventually 32. I loved watching scooby do on the black and white tv.
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One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done. -Marie Curie |
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| reply to TheRogueX
Idol flourishes over broadcast (free to view), and rebroadcast over cable and satellite (included in a package). The question remains: Would it survive a la carte, where people had the choice whether to subscribe and pay for the network. |
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thenderScreen tycoonPremium
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY
kudos:1 | reply to MrMaster
A good television provider doesn't compress much over OTA, if at all.
It may have worked for you, but it doesn't work for everyone. A blanket statement on why everyone doesn't use OTA doesn't apply to people who live in areas where OTA is a joke.
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If you're going to repair your own Macbook, benefit from my experiences. |
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 LinklistPremium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5
1 edit | said by thender:It may have worked for you, but it doesn't work for everyone. A blanket statement on why everyone doesn't use OTA doesn't apply to people who live in areas where OTA is a joke. the reason cable TV even came into existence was because OTA TV was so limiting and even giant rooftop antennas couldn't bring in good signals in many areas. Digital TV makes pictures better, IF YOU CAN GET A SIGNAL. But it also cuts off much faster than the old analog signals. With analog you could get fair to poor pictures in weak signal areas. With digital you either get a picture or you don't - often you don't. |
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thenderScreen tycoonPremium
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY
kudos:1 | Precisely.
The beauty in FIOSTV is never having to miss a show because of a cloud. |
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