[opendtv] Re: Democrats Air Concerns About Analog Switchover
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 14:34:57 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> From here it seems that the broadcasters have the upper hand in
> the negotiations with cable and DBS. I post stories on a regular
> basis about the deals that broadcasters are crafting under the
> umbrella of retransmission consent. The trend seems to be in the
> direction of subscriber fees in the range of $0.50 to $1.00 per
> month.
I think we're looking at this from different perspectives. You look at
it from the point of view of what cable companies need to do to get that
premium content from the major networks. I look at it from the point of
view of what OTA broadcasters have to do to keep that cable revenue
flowing to them.
It seems crystal clear that cable is extracting demands of the OTA
broadcasters that are detrimental to their OTA distribution medium. I
know you place no importance on that, but of course I do.
Cable and DBS companies advertize on OTA TV all the time. When was the
last time you saw an OTA broadcaster advertize his DTT offerings, or DTT
at all, on cable or DBS?
I'm sure you're right that this is caused by the weird affiliate
structure and the rules governing where cable companies have to go to
get the content of the major networks. And we both have our ideas of
ways out of this morass. Nevertheless, seems clear to me that as is, the
OTA structure suffers, not the cable networks. Cable subscribers are
good and addicted, and raising their fees does about the same thing as
raising the cigarette tax. Nada.
(By the way, the Hoyas are the athletic teams of Georgetown University,
whereas La Jolla is the swanky town connected to San Diego. Pronounced
the same way.)
Bert
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