[opendtv] Re: News: In Retrans, Stations Are Fighting for Lives
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 11:51:35 -0500
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/11/04/daily.9/
GUEST COMMENTARY BY GREG SCHMIDT
In Retrans, Stations Are Fighting for Lives
By Greg Schmidt
TVNEWSDAY, Nov 4 2008, 3:34 PM ET
[ ... ]
> They can do this not because more people watch their channels,
> but because those that do are paying for them. Unless that same
> subsidy for cable networks is extended to broadcasters, neither
> local stations nor the broadcast networks will be able to
> compete for the best programming.
Fair enough. If program creators find it more appealing to put their
stuff on cable and have viewers pay for it, and viewers continue to be
suckered in, then of course that's the way to go. But aside from OTA,
Internet distribution is also typically free (FOTI?). So it seems to me
that the trendy new distribution models are moving away from the cable
walled gardens anyway.
> And that means, among other things, that the 13 percent of
> American households who receive TV off the air, many of whom
> are unable to afford pay television, will be denied access to
> the best programming.
That's a good line too. As long as the industry scribes keep pretending
that OTA (and maybe now FOTI also?) is used by the primarily by the poor
and disadvantaged, our new heavily Democrat Congress will bend over
backwards to protect it. No worries.
Bert
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