[opendtv] Re: News: Behind The Internet TV Revolution

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2010 19:25:53 -0400

At 5:56 PM -0500 10/17/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
If you make yourself dependent on a walled garden, then chances are that what thought was "ad free" will soon not be ad free anymore. Like cable TV, satellite radio, and Pandora. Being delivered over the Internet changes little or nothing.

All of these services follow the same, totally predicable pattern. You pay, and you eventually get to listen to ads too.

Not true.

Most of the paid premium services remain ad free.

Pandora was not a paid service - the fact that you now have the choice of ads or to pay may well be predictable.

Cable has always been advertiser supported except for pay-per view.

Some might say that HBO and Showtime do not run ads, and they don't in a traditional sense. But they are a huge ad for the movie industry - if they are not running a movie or one of their exclusive shows, they are running promos for Hollywood.

Why? Because businesses have to show constant growth. Once the population willling to pay the monthly hookup fee has levelled off, as will always happen, growth will flatten. The only way to show growth again is to jack up the monthly fee, and risk losing membership, or to introduce ads.

Hmmmmm... Many of Apples franchises are still growing. They have just recently introduced their first ad franchise, which app developers can include in their apps. (although many apps had ads before Apple introduce ads). Apple chose the path of selling content without ads - I don;t see this changing.

Businesses can GROW by offering consumers things they WANT.

Most consumers DO NOT want more ads. As such the platforms that force them upon consumers are likely to suffer.


So the point I'm making is, consumers must make sure to demand options that don't make them fully dependent on one walled garden. Only if people demand unwalled options, or choices of several simultaneous walled-in schemes, will there be any hope of a self-regulating level of ad intrusion.

I agree that consumers can and should control this via their behavior and purchasing power. Unfortunately, when the government props up industries and allows them to operate oligopolies, the consumer may not have a choice.

Currently there is o viable option to the MVPDs. And PLEASE don;t bother trying to convince us that DTV is a viable option.


Apple walled gardens are no different from any other walled gardens.

You are incorrect. It is not a walled garden and it does not force ads upon its users.

It is a marketplace.

Regards
Craig


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