[opendtv] Re: Bundling and competition
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:32:51 +0000
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> This is the classic definition of an oligopoly (via Wikipedia):
The point is only that some businesses (water, sewer, power distribution)
cannot compete adequately. I don't care if you call it oligopoly. The only
important point is, they get heavily regulated when competition is physically
impractical. In this case, the cabled MVPDs fit that description, but not
nearly as much, the owners of content on these MVPDs (and Internet and OTA).
>> As you know, everything I watch is a la carte, so obviously, the
>> situation is not so dire.
> And some people choose to be vegetarians.
You're getting warmer. If enough people choose to be vegetarians, then the
price of beef will go down. If everyone must have steak for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner, then the price of beef will rise. Even if there's competition among
beef growers, the inflexiblility in demand will allow them to set prices
higher, because no one will do without.
MVPDs came about because they could offer way more choice than analog OTA. Once
people became totally dependent on that umbillical, even for channels that are
available OTA, it's really obvious, Craig, that the MVPDs could pretty much do
whatever they wanted to the price. Then they move sports to the umbillical, and
that becomes even more true. And sure, as long as the addicts pay a hefty fee
for the cable medium, the most valuable content owners on that cable, the TV
networks, will want their extra pound of flesh. Totally predictable.
> You continue to ignore the fact that you cannot access some content
> at all, and are willing to wait for other content...
That's disingenuous, Craig. If you watch content on demand, you very likely
wouldn't be watching it exactly at the same time that it airs as a broadcast.
Aside from Fox, the other networks put their stuff on their web site a few
short hours after it aired as a broadcast. Hardly a case of "willing to wait."
If I have to watch it live, like news, I just watch OTA. And yes, some content
isn't available. That's when you choose an alternative.
> "Person of Interest" aired on FOTA CBS stations.
But not on their web site. So instead of using the PVR or subscribing to an
MVPD, I choose an alternative. There are tons of alternatives, Craig, but you
have to be slightly flexible. When CBS decides to put that show on their web
site again, I'll watch it. It's that simple.
The bottom line is that it's not the FCC or Congress that are forcing people to
ignore the alternatives. It is the consumers themselves that do so, and that's
obviously because the MVPD prices they moan about are not too high.
Bert
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