[opendtv] Re: Barriers eroding to LCD TV adoption

  • From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 19:31:07 -0700

You've got it absolutely 180 degrees out of phase with reality again, Craig.

It's the cable firms that are hitching a free ride (no payment for content)
on the output of broadcasters.  Broadcasters provide a few channels of
locally flavored content that, in a 200 channel cable universe, still gets
more than half the total viewership.  Isn't that called diminishing returns?

The only local flavor in cable is local spots (mostly for new, expensive
cable services) and public access.  Yeah, that's the way to establish a
completive service.

John Willkie

-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 3:50 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: Barriers eroding to LCD TV adoption


At 5:18 PM -0700 8/6/04, Eory Frank-p22212 wrote:
>That is ludicrous Bob, when so few people rely on OTA reception. The
>fact that newer receivers work better than older receivers is what
>is irrelevant. DTV reception quality or lack thereof was never a
>significant reason for the slow adoption of OTA DTV by consumers,
>and no matter how well these receivers work, most people STILL don't
>want them -- especially not if they have to pay extra for them.

Frank hit the nail on the head. OTA distribution is largely
irrelevant to consumers today. Broadcasters are not offering a
competitive service to cable and DBS; they are just hitching a ride.

By the way, the dramatic growth phase for new TV stations (especially
UHF) was in the mid '80s. This was fueled by several factors, not
necessarily in ranked order:

1. Mandated cable carriage (must carry);
2. Major cost reductions during the '80s in virtually all of the gear
required to put a station on the air;
3. Satellite distribution of programming, which made more content
available to independent stations (especially networks like HSN and
QVC).

Many of the new stations were little more than a satellite receiver
and low power transmitter to get a signal over the city of service so
that they could get on cable. The total number of stations grew from
about 1000 to more than 1500 in the '80s.

Regards
Craig


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