[opendtv] Re: Viacom wants to leave sports in the dust with future $20 "skinny" TV bundle
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 29 May 2017 08:58:28 -0400
On May 28, 2017, at 10:08 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
That can't be. Craig has been telling us for years that no way will the
expensive live sports be removed from his "the bundles." They are the
mainstay of something or other, he keeps insisting.
Did you read the article Bert.
You must have missed the last paragraph:
However, it's not that easy to create a slimmed-down TV bundle like this.
According to a Bloomberg report, these bundles could violate deals that
companies have with cable and satellite providers. Typically, those deals
require networks owned by companies like Disney (most often sports giant
ESPN) to be included in the most popular TV bundles, or for a certain amount
of subscribers to receive their programming, ensuring that the widest pool of
TV viewers are exposed to those networks. Two years ago, Disney sued Verizon
after the company tried to offer a package called Custom TV, which was
similar to the skinny bundles being talked about now. Viacom and other
companies are in talks with MVPDs to provide slimmed-down TV bundles, and we
could see one introduced before the end of the year.
Damn those pesky contracts...
Oh well, huh? That's how competition works.
No Bert. This is how oligopolies work.
It remains to be seen how this will play out.
You continue to be confused about "what I want," and "what is reality."
When I say that the congloms are working together to protect the lynchpin
content of the bundles, and they are now moving these bundles to the Internet,
I am stating FACT, not opinion.
I would love for there to be robust competition in the composition of bundled
services;
I would love to be able to buy ANY CONTENT on an ala carte basis at a fair and
reasonable rate;
And I would love to be able to pay for this service as needed.
For example. Yesterday I used ESPN for the first time in several months. I
would be more than willing to pay the ESPN subscriber fee (about $7/mo) for any
month I use the service. But ESPN is not likely to offer this option; if they
ever go direct, by necessity the cost of the direct service will be at least
three times that amount per month to pay for the very expensive rights.
Unfortunately we do not have competition in the delivery of the bundles of live
channels most people still watch.
Regards
Craig
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