[opendtv] Chairman Martin on a la carte
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:56:23 -0400
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/martin/documents/alacarte-ltr-082207.pd
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It's graphics, so forget about copying it.
Chairman Kevin Martin makes some arguments I find odd, in favor of a la
carte.
One is that niche programming would benefit, because advertizers could
get a more exact count of viewership? Hmm. I'd say more likely, the
opposite would happen.
Another is that "minorities" would benefit most, because for example,
Hispanics could buy only Spanish programming? Sounds like a great way to
assimilate into this culture, eh?
He gives some examples of niche channels that cable and DBS nets refuse
to carry. I'm not sure how a la carte would change that. But it does
lead to stories in several articles copied as attachments, which talk
about how difficult it is for niche channels to be carried on TV nets,
and the role Internet television can play.
(Seems most obvious that if these rarely-watched channels are not
somehow bundled, they will simply not be offered at all.)
Many of the articles devolve the discussion into the same old
jaw-jutting arguments about "sex and violence on TV."
I think Internet TV is the perfect vehicle for niche channels. Since
they don't get a whole lot of viewership, the Internet should be capable
of distributing them without straining. Image quality might not be HD,
but then it probably wouldn't be HD source material anyway.
Bert
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