[opendtv] Re: First look at ATSC HD Broadcast
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 17:20:40 -0400
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> They DID care about the possibility that broadcasters
> might have the choice of something that actually
> work...something that could support a new business
> model.
>
> I wonder if Bert or other list members even consider
> for a moment the importance of having a system that
> DOES NOT WORK, when you are trying to protect the
> system they want to take away?
Yes, you've suggested this before. The problem I have
with it is that there's no way cable systems would
give up the content from the OTA channels, there's no
way their subscribers would let them. The few times
this happened, temporarily, they got a huge negative
reaction from their subscribers.
So it seems to me that in practice, even if the OTA
system works very well, the umbillical services will
not give up their most popular channels. (If 5 or 6
channels on a cable system get 40 percent of the
viewership, I consider them popular.)
It's entirely up to the broadcasters whether they want
to devalue their OTA offerings, of course. So I can
understand that if a solid OTA system were available
*and* broadcasters decide to load it up with junk
shows, *then* indeed their cable carriage would be in
jeopardy. Cable systems wouldn't want the content, and
no one in govt would force the issue. But I don't
think that scenario has happened yet.
> Complete agreement, and then those words that
> broadcasters most fear...
>
> If Bert loses interest in the OTA service, what hope
> is left?
Well you might ask. Last week, I saw reason only to
record ONE show. An ER episode I had missed. Oh, too
bad that NBC4 decided in their infinite wisdom to
copy protect the show! So even that was a bust.
I came in while the show was supposed to be recording,
and glanced at the DVDR to make sure. It said "COPY
PROT" on its LED display. Afterwards, when I tried to
play it back, less than 1 minute had been recorded. So,
no excuses about my hardware being at fault.
Ditto with a rerun of a "Medium" episode this week.
Always NBC4.
What are they thinking, I keep wondering.
Bert
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