[opendtv] Re: UK OTA Doing Well
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:09:57 -0400
At 3:22 PM -0400 9/21/07, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
It's utterely beyond me how anyone can continue to push this idea.
As Craig responded to the other thread, the problem here is that the
umbillical services have successfully prevented any competition from
occurring, and the broadcasters as well as the viewing public are happy
to march in lock step to their tune. It has nothing to do with
modulation.
Don't put words in my mouth Bert.
It is not the umbilical services that have prevented competition in the U.S.
It would be more accurate to say that the umbilical services are in
lock step with the media conglomerates that now own 90% of everything
we watch, INCLUDING the broadcast networks.
It would be more accurate to say that the umbilical services are the
customer service and billing agents for the media conglomerates,
INCLUDING the broadcast networks they own.
It would be more accurate to say that those broadcasters who are not
owned by the media conglomerates operate in lock step with them,. The
conglomerates are the primary source of content and the political
clout that allows broadcasters to use the umbilical services to
collect retransmission consent fees for them.
It would be more accurate to say that the politicians and regulators
DO NOT WANT competition in the U.S. television market. They prefer
the power they derive by allowing these monopolies and ologopolies to
exist, and the PROMOTION AND SUPPORT they enjoy in return.
It would be more accurate to say that the public has no idea of how
badly they are being screwed as a result of all of this.
It is refreshing to see the class action suit that is being brought
against the media conglomerates and the umbilical services which are
operating as a trust to extract billions in additional revenues from
U.S. TV viewers, while they operate (highly profitably) in other
global markets WITHOUT these additional revenues.
I hope that broadcasters are added to the list of defendants in this
case based on two issues:
1. Their collaboration with this trust to maintain monopolist profit
margins and to derive direct compensation for a product that they
agreed to deliver in the free and clear in return for exclusive use
of scarce spectrum resources.
2. Their operation as an illegal trust to control the spectrum so
that it cannot be used to offer a competitive alternative to the
trust that controls content creation and distribution in the U.S.
Whatever "demand" doesn't exist here for either OTA products or for
service-agnostic cable products, that seems to exist in many European
countries, is caused by the successful cable and DBS tactics here.
SEE ABOVE
Let me ask it this way: do you really believe that if we had DVB-C cable
standards here, you would be able to find third-party DVB-C receivers
and PVRs for sale in stores? No, Bob, and the same problem exists with
DTT.
If there was a competitive marketplace we would see both in stores.
Regards
Craig
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