[opendtv] Re: Punching Above Its Weight, Upstart Netflix Pokes at HBO - NYTimes.com

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2014 22:49:33 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

> We would not be having these discussions if the content oligopoly
> would license this proprietary content to companies that want to
> compete with the MVPDs.

That part has already been happening, Craig. You seem to keep insisting it 
hasn't, based only on a few holdouts like ESPN?

> The biggest is local franchise agreements. These are complicated deals,
> based in the old natural monopoly regulation we have discussed recently.

This part is mostly to protect the content owners, though. To make sure that 
all local distribution is done by systems that collect the proper fees to 
compensate those content owners. So I don't see this aspect as being 
troublesome, if it's the content owners that agree to have other companies 
distribute their product. And in fact, this has happened already, e.g. Netflix 
and Hulu.

> Most cities have local regulatory boards that must approve changes to
> service and pricing. And these agreements come with the additional
> burden of local and state excise taxes on the service.

I guess, but there's no reason why these taxes and local content stipulations 
may not transfer to web sites. Like, state sales taxes being made to apply to 
online purchases. As to local content requirements, cable channels don't have 
to accommodate any local content anything, if they don't feel like it. HBO is 
HBO all over the US. So the *only* program sources that may even be affected 
would be the OTA broadcast stations, which in principle could meet any and all 
requirements via their new network of local Internet video servers.

> And cable systems insert local commercials in these channels, competing
> with local broadcasters. Inter-market competition would be like replacing
> the Washington D.C. Network affiliates with the equivalent stations from
> Philadelphia.

That's entirely up to the web sites that carry this content, Craig. To sell 
Fords, you don't need local commercials. If the web sites decide they want 
local commercials, it's not hard to insert these via their local video servers. 
I get local commercials even when I watch cbs.com, from time to time.

> It gets worse with Windows 8, as you must buy the Pro edition to run
> Media a Center.

Windows Media Center was only meant as an example of how these UIs can be 
devised, without a knee-jerk assumption that the CE vendor must collude with 
content owners. The entire history of radio and TV broadcast has been based on 
this model, until MVPDs came about. The CE equipment simply had to support the 
given signal standard. Same applies to the Internet. Internet appliances simply 
have to adhere to the IP standards, the same way an antique RCA radios merely 
had to know how to demod 10 KHz wide AM channels. For some odd reason, everyone 
knows this is true for ALL content, including radio content and encrypted 
content on the Internet, and yet suddenly they have a mental block when TV is 
discussed.

Bert

 
 
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