[opendtv] Re: Bob likes COFDM

At 3:04 PM -0500 3/25/05, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>
>>  This morning I posted a story about the latest
>>  ratings period in the U.S. The broadcasters cannot
>>  win the majority of the audience even when they
>>  stack the deck during the most important sweeps
>>  period.
>
>I thought that most of this cable content was created
>by the major broadcast networks anyway?

About 90% of total viewing is for channels owned by the media 
conglomerates. But the other 10% is not junk. Discovery Networks 
produces a significant amount of original content, as do networks 
like Food and HGTV. The cable only networks are not run by the 
broadcast networks; they are separate divisions. Viacom recently 
hinted that they are about to break up their conglomerate into 
separate companies for broadcast distribution, cable distribution and 
content production. This is already the case for most of the 
conglomerates.

What is really important to this discussion is whether you can get 
the content that the majority of people now watch via OTA 
exclusively. You cannot.


>If so, why isn't it all a matter of how they
>re-negotiate with the cable companies, once they
>develop their DTT multicasts? All they would have to
>do is incorporate one or two of their more
>popular cable channels in the DTT multiplex.

Sounds simple, but this would totally upset the apple cart. They have 
used re-transmission consent to build the new cable network 
franchises. The pot of gold at the end of the cable/DBS rainbow is 
the monthly subscriber fees that the conglomerates collect for EVERY 
home in a market that subscribes to extended basic cable. If they 
offer these channels free in an OTA multiplex, cable and DBS will 
rightly get really pissed off.

In order for broadcasters to compete in a multi-channel world, the 
underlying business model must change. Rather than exclusivity, the 
economic basis must shift to payments for what a distributor actually 
delivers. This would likely lead to ala carte pricing, where you pay 
only for the channels you want.

Competition is the key word. I seriously doubt that broadcasters have 
the ability or desire to compete...at least until all the low hanging 
fruit is gone.

Regards
Craig
 
 
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