[opendtv] Re: Distribution outside the bundle
- From: Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 23:45:57 -0500
Craig wrote:
> The cable companies made huge investments in the pipe,
> upgrading it multiple times to increase capacity, go digital, add broadband,
> and telephony. They ALSO made investments in new networks to fill those
> channels.
Yes, and the same can be said about the power utilities. So, your point is?
> The current blackout of Fox News on Dish is related to the same old tactics.
> Fox is trying to force Dish to carry two additional networks including a new
> regional sports network.
If there were multiple truly competing MVPDs in every location, Fox *and* the
MVPD would have less leverage. Why? Simple. Because people would just quickly
migrate to those MVPDs that did carry their favorite programming. And too,
because there would be any number of other content sources available to
consumers, NOT under the control of that single monopolistic distribution
pipe/gatekeeper.
> Competition among which congloms?
Not only is there competition among the congloms, but also within. For
instance, ESPN is in competition against other Disney/ABC content. So what's
truly lacking, and this was inevitable in the past, is alternatives for the
pipe itself. There's a huge difference in degree, between how content sources
compete, compared with the non-neutral distribution pipes, in your old MVPD
model.
> You cannot access many OTT sites because they require authentication.
No gatekeeper is preventing me from getting the needed authentication, Craig,
nor who I seek that authentication for. That's entirely my decision. As if this
even needed to be said.
> We disagree that
> the Internet will fundamentally change the way the content congloms sell
> their
> programs. MVPDs will survive the shift to Internet delivery Bert.
>
> This is not a prediction. It is happening.
Indeed it is, Craig, and you're missing it. HBO, Showtime, CBS, Netflix, Hulu,
Amazon, all are examples of how content congloms are changing their way of
doing business for brand new material. You think people should still pledge
allegiance to that single MVPD, as you do, just for old time's sake.
> I am no longer tied to my cable pipe - I can watch much of the
> content I am paying for anywhere on any device.
That's hilarious, Craig. You are tied "virtually," even though you no longer
need to be tied physically **or** virtually.
> But we are not typical consumers, and
> the Internet is not ready for a mass shift. It will take years.
Craig continues to insist doggedly, much as he insisted he knew what IPTV nets
were, back in the 2000s, when he repeated time and again that this was TV over
The Internet. And of course, never a hint from him whether that made sense back
then.
It will take years for people to migrate entirely to Internet TV, Craig. I'll
repeat this: I've been watching TV over The Internet (i.e. not over an IPTV
type of MVPD) for years and years already. At first, starting maybe 7-8 years
ago, only for catch-up, on a PC. Then, since 2010, as my "normal" way of
watching TV. The experience has been improving steadily, **EVEN THOUGH** more
and more people are doing the same thing, over PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
How do you explain this, Craig? Are you insisting to all these people that "it
will take years"?
One would expect less obstinacy, considering how offbase that obstinacy has
been in the past.
Bert
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