[opendtv] Re: Wha' Happened to the FCC?
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 11:40:36 -0500
At 9:41 AM -0600 3/4/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
The following column was written by Ted Turner in 2004. I do not
agree with Ted on many subjects, but this analysis might give Bert
a clue about what has happened to Free TV...
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html
Same question I often ask you when your post an article to make a
point. Did you bother to read it?
Of course I did.
Ted Turner is complaining about big media companies, yet he himself
has always gone for his own national footprint. He supports
localism, yet his networks are nationwide. OPr do you tjhink CNN
would have survived as a local Atlanta program only?
CNN was never a local Atlanta program. It was created after Turner
had already built the SuperStation and was a nationwide cable network
from day one - at least on the systems that carried it, which were
most of the cable systems of that day.
Turner made it clear in the article that he played the game by the
rules that existed. He also made it clear that he came very close to
being one of the media conglomerates, but in the end he had to be
acquired by one.
The simple fact continues to be, Craig, that American TV viewers do
want localism is small doses, but they also want the TV programming
that everyone else in the country has. So the answer to that is that
FOTA broadcasters need that national footprint too. That's why you
need station groups with a national footprint, just like cable and
DBS companies have done.
Undecipherable.
Everyone in the country does have access to the same programming, now
via multiple conduits, all of which are controlled by the media
conglomerates according to Turner. The only thing the conglomerates
do not control today is local ad revenues, and that is why they will
bypass broadcasters and deal directly with the MPVDs, at least until
they can simply deal directly with each viewer via the Internet.
A very small number of "station groups" have managed to work around
the government barriers. Scripps Networks is a good example. They did
it by developing content for cable where they could get a national
footprint. But this does not work for FOTA, as they rely on
subscriber fees to fund content development.
And no, I did not see anywhere in that article that Ted Turner
suggests Americans must pay that subscription fee to be happy. Maybe
I just missed it.
I think Turner is suggesting that they have no choice because of the
cozy relationship between the government and the media conglomerate
oligopoly. In this I think he is correct.
I for one am not happy but am powerless to do much about it. FOTA is
not an acceptable replacement for what we have become accustomed to.
When we can access the programming we want directly via the Internet,
bye bye cable.
Regards
Craig
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