[opendtv] Re: The rationale for retrans consent from local broadcasters

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2015 01:50:00 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

People bought cable because it was a superior medium. You did not
need tall outside antenna masts and antenna rotators,

This is mostly false. People bought cable because it could carry a lot more
"channels" than were available OTA, and extra sports and movies were a major
reason. Many people DID NOT need any tall mast. This is hyperbole. Many people
either had building antenna systems or could get by with rabbit ears. Once you
were set up for OTA, for many people, this was not an issue anymore. And yet,
cable had a lot more spectrum available in each location, so it offered a lot
more content.

It is unarguable that the ATSC standard was designed for those
old clunky outdoor antennas, and did not reach as many homes.

This too is mostly false. Coverage criteria for ATSC and DVB-T **BOTH** assumed
a 30' (10 meter) outdoor antenna. You, Craig, and others, misunderstood that to
mean that an outdoor 30' mast was essential, for your own political motives. I
explained this to you back then, and I showed you proof. Meanwhile, my ATSC
antenna is barely above ground level, indoors in a fireplace. In any case, none
of this changes the fact that the OTA broadcasters rightfully wanted their
content available on the cable medium too. It's totally logical.

Sorry Bert, but there has been plenty of competition since
the VCR.

You mean, if you went to Blockbuster? Sure. But not delivered to your home
electronically. Your choices for electronic delivery were very limited. OTA
channels or single cable head end.

As the President of WGN stated, you need some original content
to get people to come to your service.

And yet people flocked to Netflix even before they were creating their own
content (independent of the congloms, I repeat).

Competition usually drives prices down. In this case,
competition is driving prices up,

Prove it. Prove that the new original shows, say from Netflix, cost more to
produce than shows from the major networks.

Sorry Bert, but the marketplace worked this stuff out.

Funny, Craig. The "marketplace" that "worked this stuff out" was people
hollering, by the many thousands, to the FCC, to make darned sure the local
monopolies did not go down the path they were already headed on.

You totally misinterpreted what I said.

We don't need rerun channels in a world where almost every
popular program is available from an Internet server.

Nor do you need **any** channels in such a world, Craig. I explained this in my
previous post.

You were close, however, as usual you left out the relevant part
of the paragraph:

One possibility is that they think net neutrality isn't long
for this world. ...

You are not comprehending what you read, Craig. The author first explained some
of this "common wisdom," but then he went beyond it. You failed to get beyond
the "common wisdom."

Title II has already caused a reduction in broadband investment.
The cable guy who installed my new drop yesterday said as much.

And he, of course, would know.

Exactly backwards. Regulation creates and entrenches the monopolies.

Prove it.

Bert



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