[opendtv] Re: Bob likes COFDM
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 10:41:12 -0500
At 3:04 PM -0500 3/25/05, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>
>> This morning I posted a story about the latest
>> ratings period in the U.S. The broadcasters cannot
>> win the majority of the audience even when they
>> stack the deck during the most important sweeps
>> period.
>
>I thought that most of this cable content was created
>by the major broadcast networks anyway?
About 90% of total viewing is for channels owned by the media
conglomerates. But the other 10% is not junk. Discovery Networks
produces a significant amount of original content, as do networks
like Food and HGTV. The cable only networks are not run by the
broadcast networks; they are separate divisions. Viacom recently
hinted that they are about to break up their conglomerate into
separate companies for broadcast distribution, cable distribution and
content production. This is already the case for most of the
conglomerates.
What is really important to this discussion is whether you can get
the content that the majority of people now watch via OTA
exclusively. You cannot.
>If so, why isn't it all a matter of how they
>re-negotiate with the cable companies, once they
>develop their DTT multicasts? All they would have to
>do is incorporate one or two of their more
>popular cable channels in the DTT multiplex.
Sounds simple, but this would totally upset the apple cart. They have
used re-transmission consent to build the new cable network
franchises. The pot of gold at the end of the cable/DBS rainbow is
the monthly subscriber fees that the conglomerates collect for EVERY
home in a market that subscribes to extended basic cable. If they
offer these channels free in an OTA multiplex, cable and DBS will
rightly get really pissed off.
In order for broadcasters to compete in a multi-channel world, the
underlying business model must change. Rather than exclusivity, the
economic basis must shift to payments for what a distributor actually
delivers. This would likely lead to ala carte pricing, where you pay
only for the channels you want.
Competition is the key word. I seriously doubt that broadcasters have
the ability or desire to compete...at least until all the low hanging
fruit is gone.
Regards
Craig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
