[opendtv] Re: =?windows-1252?Q?NCTA:_“Netflix_is_beating_cable”?Message-Id: <4BCFB0CA-F390-4144-A4C1-F50BF3F230AC@xxxxxxxxx>

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 15 May 2013 19:52:39 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

>> So Craig, are you going to revise what you wrote wrt your ideas
>> that networks will take everyting off OTA and Intenret, and
>> force everyone to last-century MVPD distribution?
>
> No, not at all.

Heh heh. Why am I not surprised?

> Because these stories do not take into account the reality that
> the congloms are letting this happen, but will control anything
> that threatens them.

And the stories also don’t take into account that many Internet TV watchers, 
e.g. those who use Internet connections not associated with an MVPD (especially 
wireless, which is becoming increasingly important), will feel really stupid 
being coerced into paying for cable/DBS bundles, the cabled or satellite 
infrastructure they don't use, never mind the trucks and maintenance personnel 
they don’t use.

Remember that the economy in the US works from both the supply side and the 
demand side, and you seem to forget this all the time.

> You argue all the time against paying for any subscription TV
> service. So why are you pointing to Nextflix as an example of
> how streaming is going to set us free from subscription bundles.

Two different topics. One is your insistence on the permanence of the MVPD 
walled garden model. Netflix, Hulu, and a host of other OTT sites, argue 
against that idea. Another is whether only a subscription model will survive. 
It seems really obvious that an unwalled Internet will fight against any such 
notion, and ultimately will win. The Internet can support BOTH for-pay and 
ad-supported, does so all the time, so there's simply no excuse to pretend like 
TV content is such a different beast.

The TV execs can be expected to hang onto the old horse-drawn carriage, 
blacksmiths, barns, and buggy whips business model. It's only natural. But the 
future is not one of walled in delivery media. Should be very obvious by now.

The funny thing is, you used to make some of these same arguments, but way 
prematurely. You used to make these arguments when it suited your anti-OTA 
narrative. Now that the Internet is actually becoming ready to take the load, 
for some reason you fail to see that MVPDs have taken the place of OTA, in your 
argument

> These companies could care less about HOW you access their content.

Good. Maybe you're starting to get it, then.

Bert

 
 
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