[opendtv] Re: News: Independent Networks, ACA Speak Out Against Program Tying

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 07:05:37 -0400

At 4:34 PM -0400 6/6/08, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:


As long as the public considers its cable connection to be as crucial to
their very survival as some people claim on here, the cable companies
have all the leverage they need to bundle, and to raise their fees, as
much as the market will bear. I don't understand this constant whining.
This is the way the economy works.
NO. This is the way government supported oligopolies work. In a free market economy there would be competition. We might even have a Freeview system here. 



The way the US and other economies take care of these monopolies or
quasi-monopolies, the best examples of which are the public utilities,
is through strict regulation.

So, those complaining about bundling and about increasing cable rates
can either (a) encourage the govt to increase regulation of the MVPDs,
or (b) find alternatives and use them. And for sure, those calling to
the demise of the FCC have no business turning around the next second
and calling for more FCC action.
I have never called for the FCC to take action against the cable companies. They do not have the AUTHORITY to do so. I see no purpose for the FCC today, and therefore would not suggest that they be given additional responsibilities.
Congress likes to mess around in this arena, and they are directly responsible for the current mess. The 1992 Cable Act is the real problem here. As is often the case, the stated purpose of this act was to bring the cable companies under control after a short attempt at deregulation. The "unintended" consequence of the legislation was to give the congloms the ability to take control of the content delivered by the cable systems, and to keep pushing the price for this content up at three times the rate of inflation.
I do support consumer efforts to go after the cable industry and the media conglomerates for these illegal tying practices and have supported the lawsuit that is attempting to bring this bundling to an end. And I would support a justice department or FTC investigation and legal action to stop this practice. 


Again, this sounds so much like obese SUV drivers complaining about the
price of gasoline.


Not really.

Nobody is forcing you to buy an SUV. You can drive an econo-box or ride a bike.
And before Bert tries to twist this analogy further, the people who buy econo-boxes can enjoy the same roads and services as those who drive SUVs.
Yesterday I saw a story that says the average viewer now watches about 15 channels out of a universe of 116 (average). This is actually down from a peak of watching 16 channels the year before. But virtually all viewers (except for the 15% or so that Bert is part of) are being forced to pay for a large number of channels they do not watch, to get the few that they want.
An appropriate analogy would be that you could ONLY drive an econo-box like Bert, or a premium SUV that costs more than $40,000. 

Regards
Craig


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