[opendtv] Re: Why aren't there more converter boxes?
- From: "Dale Kelly" <dalekelly@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:50:38 -0800
Reply Interlineated:
> How do you justify the notion that cable companies make significant
> income from the carriage of broadcast stations?
Regardless of what you may think, many broadcasters bring a significant
number of cable viewers to the table, which is often illustrated by the
customer uproar each time one of these stations is removed from a cable
system.
> Do they charge a fee for local stations as do the DBS companies?
As I recall, cable companies are required to offer a Basic program tier made
up of the local broadcast programs. They generally do not advertise it's
availability but when pressed, they must provide it - for a price. It is
difficult to quantify it's actual value to cable but it is a fact that they
built their businesses on the back of the broadcast signals.
> The cable companies have also invested at least twice in building out
> their physical plants, and the cost of this infrastructure is an
> order of magnitude grater than what broadcasters have spent on their
> infrastructure (i.e. in excess of 150 billion in the past two
> decades). Much of what we pay for each month in our cable bills is to
> pay for this infrastructure.
Yes, and Cable passed their cost on to the customer, with a markup. There is
an ROI for that construction, unlike the broadcaster, who's investment to
construct the DTV system was government mandated and simply allowed them to
stay in business. The ROI for the broadcaster DTV system investment accrued
to the CE manufacturers.
> There is NOTHING to prevent broadcasters from forming a private
> corporation to operate the transmission infrastructure as is the
> case in the U.K. And broadcasters already pay a hefty price to
> operate that infrastructure - primarily via their electric bills.
Please refer to my posting yesterday on this subject. There simply can be no
apples to apples comparison with the UK model.
Freeview uses exiting infrastructure with little or no capital investment on
their part.
Dale
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