[opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2017 08:37:31 -0400
On Mar 20, 2017, at 11:03 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I can already predict Craig' response.
Craig like to pretend that the congloms can negotiate good deals, on MVPD
systems, because they are an "oligopoly." And this is why he, Craig, has to
pay high prices. BS. They are simply market powerhouses, as are, say, the
various auto companies. The auto companies compete, the big CE companies
compete, the big computer companies compete, even if there aren't a zillion
of them. Just like the bigger food companies can negotiate attractive shelf
space in supermarkets.
You got it exactly right. This is pure BS.
The congloms used the market power of the FOTA broadcast networks - a
government regulated oligopoly - to get the politicians to give them the
ability to "negotiate" payments for a highly profitable advertiser supported
service available to any U.S. home fore FREE. They used this market power to
negotiate carriage of new networks with preferred placement in the MVPD
bundles. If the MVPDs pushed back they pulled the broadcast signal from the
"uncooperative" MVPD, knowing that subscribers who were paying for the service
would be pissed!
This tactic, along with major acquisitions of the networks developed by the
cable industry, led to the current reality, where five conglomerates own ~90%
of all popular TV content. While the MVPDs "cried and complained" about this
supposed abuse, they were more than happy to go along, as it has allowed them
to continuously raise rates - the exact opposite of what the 1992 Cable Act was
"intended" to do.
There are no parallels here to the auto industry, the big CE companies, or your
local grocery store.
Bert will be the first to tell us how wonderful the competition has been in the
"PC industry," where there is intense competition thanks to the "open platform"
developed by Microsoft and Intel. Just don't look too deep at where the profits
are in the PC industry - Microsoft and Intel have taken the lion's share of
profits, while the companies building WIndow's PCs struggle to make any profit
at all.
And the CE industry? With HDTV we saw the same race to the bottom as we saw
with NTSC TVs in the last century. Bert was almost giddy with enthusiasm this
past Christmas season, talking about all the cheap 4K TVs available. never mind
that these sets offer little benefit over the previous generation of HDTVs, or
that they do not support the real improvements in video quality we could have
had two decades ago - HDR and a wide color gamut.
And then there are smartphones. One company, with less than 20% market share,
broke the back of the telco cellular monopoly over feature phones, and captures
more than 80% of the industry profits. THAT is market power!
Is it a monopoly? Hardly.
Everyone else has copied what Apple did and fights for the table scraps. A
number of Chinese manufacturers are subsidized, and sell their phones below the
cost of manufacture.
And food - Americas largest export - is highly competitive. Yes the big brands
can negotiate for preferred shelf space, but you can buy these products in ANY
store. They might even give you a discount (coupon) to entice you to try
another product they make. But there are no bundles that force you to buy all
of the products from one brand if you want to buy just one of them.
If every person in town were forced to buy cars at a predetermined dealer
ONLY, or food at one predetermined store ONLY, then those retail businesses
could jack up the prices to their hearts' content.
Bert actually touched on a real problem here with the auto industry. The
distribution tier is highly protected. Many states require any company
attempting to sell autos in that state to set up a distribution tier that
complies with the states regulations. So when Tesla tried to set up a new model
where the company handles sales and service, they were blocked in many states.
And let's not even talk about the forced contraction of the auto distribution
tier after the collapse of the economy in 2008. Existing distribution
franchises were shut down by the big auto makers on a highly political basis in
order to get the government bailouts.
Remember this:
Both GM and Chrysler were headed for bankruptcy. If they had gone bankrupt
under chapter 11, most of their factories would have stayed open and they
would have continued making and selling cars. Bankruptcy would have allowed
the companies to avoid interest and dividend payments for a time, and to
renegotiate union contracts. Under bankruptcy laws, stockholders would have
lost the value of their stocks, but bond owners–who have first claim to
company assets and profits–would have been paid off, if not in whole than at
least in part.
Instead of letting the companies declare bankruptcy, Obama decided to “bail
them out” by taking them over. Once the administration had control of the
companies, it had them file for bankruptcy, just as they would have done
without the government takeover. Stockholders still lost everything, but so
did Chrysler’s bond holders. Instead of renegotiating union contracts, the
administration gave the unions greater say over the companies. In other
words, the administration didn’t bail out the companies; it bailed out the
unions at the expense of (in Chrysler’s case) the bondholders.
Bert sums this all up...
And the producers of cars, or food, could also take advantage of the
distorted marketplace.
Nothing distorted about the government taking over big auto companies and
rewarding its friends...
Craig refuses to see how this applies to legacy MVPDs.
Because the legacy MVPDs are an oligopoly that works hand in hand with the
content oligopoly to realize monopoly pricing power. They can do this because
the politicians have enabled this and government at all levels tax these
services.
Hey Bert. Take a look at the receipt when you go to the grocery store again. Do
you see:
- Franchise fees?
- FDA regulatory fees?
- Federal Universal Service food stamp fees?
- Local, State, and Federal food service taxes?
No. In fact you don't even pay sales tax on most of the stuff at the check-out
counter.
Now that I get TV, Phone and Broadband from Cox, the total Taxes, Fees and
Surcharges have increase to $41.35 per month (about 21%) of the total) It takes
half a page of the bill to list them all.
But let's be honest here. The cost of everything in the grocery store includes
the costs added by government regulations and taxes. And guess what Bert?
The cost of your food ALSO includes the billions the food industry spends
advertising their products on you "Free" TV services...
Regards
Craig
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game - Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Retrans consent and the pretend game- Craig Birkmaier