On 10/14/2013 12:21 PM, Craig Birkmaier wrote:
Broadcasting is caught between a rock and a competitive place. They are granted virtually free use of spectrum, a protected market, even on MVPD systems, and the ability to collect subscriber fees from the MVPDs. And still they are losing their audience.
With the ludicrous twist that they don't want people to actually tune in their broadcast signal.
Would have been interesting if Obama had forced all broadcasters to shut down because they are occupying Federal "property."
They would have been happy--but for the fact that (a) they would become just more basic cable channels and (b) would lose some of their most die-hard viewers (old people who don't pay for cable and aren't dead yet). As for cable-cutters, they would love to nip that in the bud...and nice to kill Aereo, save on their electricity bills and tower maintenance, get to use smuttier language, etc.
Clearly the 4th estate is still critically important to the politicians.
No, their broadcasting isn't a government expenditure. But the FCC is shutdown and at some point licenses expire...
-kb
