[opendtv] Re: Barriers eroding to LCD TV adoption
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 06:47:35 -0400
At 4:27 AM -0700 8/11/04, John Willkie wrote:
>I guess you need to look up the definition of the term "payment" ...
Bunch of repetitive stuff deleted.
Bottom line, you confirm that most stations worked with the big
networks to help them gain control over 90% of all TV
viewing...again. One of the most important tools in thhier bag of
tricks was Retransmission Consent.
>
>$300,000,000, to put it into context, is a little more than half the amount
>of revenue that ALL TV stations in San Diego collect in a year. Our Tribune
>affiliate does perhaps 6 hours of local programming in a week; all the other
>stations provide more than that amount of locally-flavored programming in a
>DAY
Yes John...but look at how much profit those TV stations made
compared to the cable system, which you continue to say is loosing
money...
>And, not to forget your last obfuscation in search of a defense, do you
>really consider "regional sports networks" and pay per view movies as
>examples of locally-flavored content?
The sports networks: DEFINIETLY!
People actually watch this stuff.
The pay-per-view movies are not local content. But they are hours
spent viewing content that is delivered locally by the cable company.
Again, people actually pay to watch this stuff, and these are hours
that are NOT spent watching local broadcasters.
The truth is that locally flavored content rarely sells. With the
exception of a few local news magazines, local programming is
essentially a loss leader. This is just as true for broadcasters as
it is for cable. But this could change as we move into the future.
The problem is that the business model (for ALL advertiser supported
programming) requires the accumulation of enough eyeballs to attract
the advertisers. Narrow niche programming does not fare well in an
environment where all programming must compete for access to the
limited distribution capacity of local broadcasters and cable
systems. But when capacity is not an issue, one of the best ways to
grow the business is to start mining the niches, assuming that the
cost of producing the content is lower than the revenues that can be
produced. As an example, I can imagine that many forms of high school
sports will be covered in the future, and marketed to the friends and
families of the kids who attend those schools; and the kids who are
trying to learn the TV business at those schools may be the
production team to produce the content.
I note that you ignored the success of local 24/7 news channels on cable.,.
Regards
Craig
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