[opendtv] Re: Wha' Happened to the FCC?
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:57:48 -0600
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>> That's obvious, Craig. The same way a supermarket can undercut a
>> mom and pop store. It's called buying power. "Local broadcaster"
>> may be nothing more than a local RF outlet of an OTA network.
>
> So how would you do this? Let the congloms own all of their affiliates
> and let existing broadcasters create new national networks?
That was one option, but the congloms opted out of that for the most part. The
congloms want to be in the content business and buy room on any distribution
network out there. It seems. So the "affiliates" are for the most part owned by
station groups, are they not? They aren't local yokel operations.
Plus, with DTV, "affiliate" only means that one of the subchannels carries the
content of one of the major TV networks. That's all it means. The other
subchannels are at the discretion of the station group. Isn't this so?
> And these new networks would have buying power to compete with 6
> companies that own (and produce) 90% of everything we watch?
Do you think that's what cable and DBS systems do? Do they compete against the
congloms? Of course not. The congloms use their services. So why should OTA
station groups compete against the congloms? The congloms don't want to own
these OTA networks, so there's nothing to compete about.
The distribution networks pay for the content, and you have said that these
days OTA broadcasters also pay the networks for content. Right? So why can't
these station groups, which could (with a rule change) have the same national
footprint as DBS and cable systems, do exactly what the MVPDs do? Only on a
smaller scale, due to their limited bandwidth?
Presumably, if you're an OTA broadcaster, you want to stay in business.
Presumably, you don't instinctively cave in to some ludicrous "offer" by the
FCC to pick up a lumped sum of money and run. If my presumption that people
want to remain in business for the long haul is correct, then OTA broadcasters
simply reinvent themselves into just another distribution medium.
Bert
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