[opendtv] Re: Two articles about sticking it to the TV consumer
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 10:31:24 -0400
At 6:16 PM -0500 10/4/09, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
Do the media conglomerates really need free spectrum to survive?
"Free" radio and TV have been a tradition in most of the world. It's
a good way to keep the population informed, hopefully encouraging
voters to know something before they vote. I suppose we could have a
referndum to see if people are in favor of abolishing these options.
First, I am not advocating or suggesting that RADIO is in trouble.
They are going through a rough patch right now, but the radio service
is used by almost every American, and is far more reliable (and
easier to receive) than TV as an emergency information service.
TV is in trouble, not because broadcasting does not work. IT is in
trouble because of GREED. All one needs to know is that the
programmers that supply content to Freeview are all making money -
some are willing to pay tens of millions to be part of this free
service.
But in the U.S. we are well down the path to paying a premium for or
TV fixes - the fact that broadcasters now believe that the only way
they can survive is by forcing all of the multi-channel services to
collect billion$ in retransmission consent fees says it all.
Free TV has always come with a price. In most of the world it has
been a powerful propaganda tool for the politicians. In the U.S. we
got the worst of it. The politicians took a different approach trying
to convince people that there was some kind of a bright line between
the politicians and the media companies that got the exclusive
broadcast TV franchises. In reality, ours has become the most corrupt
propaganda machine in the world, in part because we spent several
decades building public trust in the TV medium before turning it into
an overt tool for political and social change.
The rest of the world knows propaganda when they see it; especially
if it is free!
No, instead the article you mentioned made two points that I think
bear repeating:
1. One approach is to allow the networks to negotiate with the
MVPDs. Duh! Give the negotiators the same clout as the gargantuan
MVPDs they are dealing with. My take is that this can be done by
simply abolishing the national cap.
2. Another approach is to allow stations to aggregate the copyrights
of all of their program sources, again giving them more clout,
leveling the playing field. But I prefer #1, I think.
Certainly, if the non-TV-network content owners that provide the
fare for MVPDs deal with MVPDs on a nationwide basis like this, it's
just foolish to continue handicapping the major TV networks by
diluting their bargaining power. Sure, people have more
entertainment options, so they don't only go to the major networks.
But the major networks still account for the biggest share, compared
to any other source of content, by far.
Dilluting their bargaining power? FOTFL
They already control more than 90% of ALL content delivered by the
MVPDs. The only problem they have is that the talent they depend on
is just as greedy as they are. The actors. producers and sports
franchises are the ones that are driving the cost of high quality
content through the roof.
The networks do a more than adequate job of handicapping themselves.
Just look at the crap that they are producing these days- and I do
acknowledge that it is not ALL crap, just 60-80% of it.
Fortunately, this problem will take care of itself. The average TV
viewer is paying so much each month for their TV fix that there are
massive opportunities for a new business model to emerge, where
consumers buy or barter for what they want. Adding another $10 - 20
to the average cable bill to keep local broadcasters alive would be
the straw that would break the back of TV distribution as we know it.
Free TV is just an illusion.
Regards
Craig
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