[opendtv] Re: FW: USDTV Lands in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:14:09 -0400
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>> The overarching reason USDTV filed for bankruptcy is that
>> the industry did not support the initiative, Lindsley said.
>> I would say the industry is paralyzed by fear of stepping
>> out and competing with cable. I don't think the industry
>> right now is prepared to do it.
> Who can blame broadcasters for taking advantage of the
> infrastructure that cable brings to the table.
> Why should broadcasters compete when they can get cable and
> DBS to do what they cannot?
The point is, IMO, USDTV is the one trying to compete against cable
here, not the broadcasters. USDTV, to an OTA broadcaster, is not a whole
lot different from a cable system. USDTV does rent a piece of the
broadcasters' transmission infractructure, unlike cable and DBS, but
USDTV installs their own reception systems at customer premises, just
like cable. And USDTV acquires broadcaster content, just like cable.
My take on this is that broadcasters aren't the ones killing USDTV, in
spite of the CEO's assertion. My take on this is that USDTV is no
different from Quiero or from ONdigital/ITV. People who want to
subscribe to any sort of TV service prefer to go straight to cable or
DBS, where they can begin with something cheap, maybe, but have lots of
growing power.
No amount of AVC/H.264 migration hype was capable of changing that
picture for USDTV, even though when constrained for spectrum, of course,
you look for any help you can get.
And broadcasters do compete, for OTA audience. As evidenced by the very
interesting new lineup Fox seems to be concocting for next season, just
as a "for example." If Fox thought they didn't need to compete for the
OTA audience, why don't they go back to EDTV and reduce power of their
transmitters? (You know, behave more like UPN, still impossible for me
to receive in OTA digital.)
Bert
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