[opendtv] Re: Sports Illustrated: As more viewers cut cable, what will happen to sports?
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 07:25:59 -0500
On Jan 5, 2015, at 6:56 PM, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
>
> This very recent article, sports-oriented, explains the impacts of
> unbundling. As one might expect from SI, the author worries about the
> outcomes, whereas I think these outcomes are a good thing, *and* long overdue.
>
> ...
> So this confirms that an economic model hopelessly out of kilter will work
> very hard to right itself automatically, given half a chance. And the
> Internet is what gives it half a chance now.
The prospect of technology changing the way entrenched industries do business
is nothing new. There is a great deal of speculation in this article. It
remains to be seen whether the ship can right itself. In the end the author
believes sports will still be the main driver of what we pay for TV.
> So there you have it, Craig. It's not only a question of whether the owners
> of sports content LIKE it to be this way. Of course, these players would. The
> point is, as the author says in his second paragraph,
>
> "But even with the most harmonious team, bonds eventually unravel and
> connections erode. A growing number of subscribers are cutting the cord,
> replacing cable with broadband. Networks such as HBO and CBS are going
> straight to the consumer with content that can be streamed on mobile devices.
> As the president of Fox, Chase Carey, put it on a recent earnings call, the
> cable bundle is 'fraying at the edge.' The received wisdom: Inevitably a day
> will come - perhaps soon - when we will consume media à la carte, picking and
> choosing and paying for only the programming we desire."
Nothing new here. Many ala carte options exist today. Even Dish, is sticking
with bundles with their new Sling OTT service; they are just adding a bit of
granularity to how you create your bundle, and the service is still
"developing."
By the way the fact that ESPN is included in the $20/mo Sling service strongly
negates this authors contention that an ala carte ESPN service could cost
$30/mo.
Regards
Craig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
