Except that, having paid for it, they own it and are maybe in a more
competitive position going forward without some of the public or FCC
obligations for censorship, local content, or children's programming.
Say what you want about the value of those restrictions, they still have
a cost. Ownership of the current OTA spectrum is much like owning
legally encumbered land with many easements across it.
- Tom
Bob Miller wrote:
> On 3/7/07, Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> At 8:34 AM -0800 3/6/07, Dale Kelly wrote:
>> >Craig wrote:
>> >> You mean by demanding compensation from cable and DBS for their HDTV
>> >> signals as well as the analog signal that is covered by
>> >> re-transmission consent?
>> >
>> >John W. wrote:
>> >> >Aren't you tired of playing this old violin?
>> >
>> >John's comment also applies to your constant refrain......
>> >
>>
>>
>> Can you provide me with ANY OTHER evidence that broadcasters are
>> getting serious about making money with their digital service?
>>
>> Broadcasters were given a valuable public resource in return for a
>> FREE service to the public. Now, rather than using this valuable
>> spectrum to create a service that the public actually wants, they are
>> tying up even more spectrum and to leverage a huge new revenue stream
>> from competitors.
>>
>> I will continue to play this song until the spectrum is made
>> available to competitors who will actually use it for services that
>> the public will use. Unfortunately, when the spectrum is auctioned
>> the new uses will NOT be free.
>>
> You mean that the new owners will not have gotten the spectrum for
> free and therefore cannot use it like broadcasters do and provide free
> OTA programming.
>
> I disagree. No matter what anyone pays for the spectrum in the
> upcoming and past auctions of channels above 51, once they have paid
> the cash that money is sunk, gone and should not be considered in the
> decision of what to do with the spectrum.
>
> The buyers should have made those decisions before spending the money.
> Now that they own the spectrum they are in the same boat as anyone
> else that owns similar spectrum. Theoretically, no not theoretically,
> in fact there is only ONE use for that spectrum that will garner the
> most profit. That is there is only one truth. Whether any buyer knows
> what that is or even comes close to finding it is another matter.
>
> All owners of the spectrum have to try to find the best use for the
> spectrum, that which makes the most money and that has nothing to do
> with what they paid for the spectrum. Maybe they paid too much for
> even the one true best use, maybe they paid very little. Whatever that
> is past history. The reality is that that money is gone, sunk, as if
> you had burned it. The future value of that spectrum will depend on
> what you do with it and how profitable that venture is.
>
> What this spectrum could be sold for to another entity that has
> another idea of what the true best use is can be anything. Look at
> what Mark Cuban sold Broadcast.com for.
>
> Once the cash is spent the buyers could find that the best use for the
> most profit could be free OTA.
>
> Bob Miller
>
>
>> Henny Youngman could have done a whole comedy routine on this one...
>>
>> Regards
>> Craig
>>
>>
>>
>> I don't mind when my horse is left at the post. I don't mind when my
>> horse comes up to me in the stands and asks "Which way do I go?" But
>> when the horse I bet on is at the $2 window betting on another horse
>> in the same race...
>>
>> Henny Youngman
>>
>>
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>
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--
Tom Barry trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx
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