[opendtv] Re: Digital TV: Brazil to Adopt Anything But the American System
- From: John Willkie <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 04:05:04 +0000 (GMT+00:00)
You guys just enjoy your daisy-chains, don't you? Pardon the intrusion of an
adult.
Here are the competitive advantages of broadcasters:
1. Over the air, ubuquitous reception (of various quality)
2. Exclusive access/market exclusivity to first run (and re-run) programming
that is entertaining, arrives at a regular, predictable schedule, and WHICH
TRUMPS ALL OTHER PROGRAMMING IN THE MARKETPLACE. 90 million people watched the
super bowl this last weekend. Were it only available on cable, the number
would be much smaller.
3. Broadcasters do charge viewers anything but their time; even pubcasters
merely ask for contributions (although I believe this will change in the
future).
4. Free local programming on local news, public and cultural affairs.
5. A broad audience of all social/cultural/demographic/sociographic strata.
These advantages are distilled by cable as "the prime-time network HDTV
programs." It's great positioning, if you enjoy jaundiced attitudes.
Cable/satellite has NONE of the above. The highest rated program on cable is
the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. It's national audience is smaller than the
number of people watching the middle-ranked Spanish language news broadcast in
New York City. And, as Bill O'Reilly likes to point out, the ratings of his
third rebroadcast (at 2 a.m.) of beats the live broadcast of his much-touted
competition on MSNBC.
A TV station in the smallest TV markets produce MORE local programming than the
largest cable system in the nation, Cox Cable San Diego. That facility
produces about one hour on their own per week (Padres games are actually
produced by the Padres and branded Cox and distributed exclusively on Cox.)
When cable produces "news" it's done as a joint venture with real news
organization, and is always done cheaper than even the current state of
broadcast TV news. It's always branded and marketed as a Cadillac.
Cable is a telephone company that pimps itself to be better than a broadcaster.
The least popular broadcaster in a market has better positives than any cable
company -- nobody is really happy to pay for cable, PARTICULARLY for carriage
of local TV stations. It's easier to whine than connect a cable. The cable
response is to sell a larger bundle of services to existing customers. That
will have diminishing returns, as they get more and more competition from
satellite, ISPs, and telco for those markets. Cable could compete on the local
programming basis, but the likely response will be more PEG (public,
educational and governmental channels)
Cable has a declining market share and has for several years, and the market
decline is faster than the decline of local TV audiences caused by cable
"competition."
Satellite has even more disadvanges; sure you can get access to a wide variety
of national channels. People prefer local channels that FOR FREE would give
them the same access.
You guys go on with your mutually penetrating "insights." Just don't expect me
to watch. I like to watch train wrecks, but that requires two opposing bodies
to actually be making progress -- of sorts.
John Willkie
------------------------
Bob Miller wrote:
> In the end all terrestrial broadcast DTV will be receivable portable and >
> mobile and fixed. All that survive that is. The battery problem will be >
> solved. Doesn't make sense to me to tailor your broadcast model to a >
> battery limitation. That is a short term model.
Apart from a few decades of expensive lobbying, the only competitive thing OTA
broadcasting has going for it is that it is OVER-THE-AIR. For fixed receivers
it can't really match the bandwidth of tethered optical cable lines. But it
could be obviously much better at delivering all kinds of info without wires to
things that move.
That much seems pretty obvious to me but it is still unclear whether it will
eventually be done by any of the current broadcasters. They instead seem to
want to pretend to be fixed, along with fixed customers.
This will of course not be work well once all homes are connected by wires
anyway.
Maybe they think if they don't move nobody will notice them. ;-)
- Tom
> Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>
>
>>Bob Miller wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Do you think anything would be happening on channel
>>>55 ala Qualcomm if they were limited to 8-VSB?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Do you think anything would come of it if it were limited to DVB-T?
>>
>>
>
> Yes I do. DVB-H is designed to deliver content to battery challenged
> devices. If channel 55 had been limited to DVB-T there would still be
> a mobile, portable broadcast service on it only it would be a better
> offering. Current ventures are hung up on the cell phone. They should
> be addressing all devices and ignoring the battery challenged devices. IMO.
>
>
>>The reality is, Bob, that in DVB-T countries, the DVB-H stream will
>>most likely be sent on spectrum dedicated to mobile hand held devices,
>>rather than being cannibalized from their DTT channels.
>>
>>So in practice, no difference from here. Whether we offer DVB-H or
>>MediaFLO, it will be spectrum dedicated to mobile handhelds here and
>>there. Just watch and see.
>>
>>
>
> Initially as we see it will. Later we will see a demand for better
> content on larger screens mobile and portable. In other countries that
> will be easy since easy reception of DVB-T mobile will already be there.
> In Japan using ISDB-T both HD and cell phone content will be
> receivable portable and mobile.
>
> In the end all terrestrial broadcast DTV will be receivable portable
> and mobile and fixed. All that survive that is. The battery problem
> will be solved. Doesn't make sense to me to tailor your broadcast
> model to a battery limitation. That is a short term model.
>
> Bob Miller
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