[opendtv] Re: CEA White Paper
- From: "Tony Neece" <tonyneece@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 02:00:56 -0700
Ok I see what you meant by multi-channel service. I agree the big 4 BC =
nets
do use re-trans. consent to leverage carriage of their other products. =
I
know little money goes to the local broadcasters for re-trans of their =
OTA
programs though. With the majority of their audience on cable / sat, =
they
simply have no negotiating power. No carriage, no ratings.
USDTV does seem to have stalled at the gate, and that is a good thing. =
That
bandwidth should be reserved for Hi-def.
I agree with you as to the intent of the digital transition. It was =
never
meant to be another windfall. =20
You are right on also when you state with the cost of talent and rights =
at
obscene levels, the additional cost of HD production isn't such a =
factor.
Do keep in mind, though, that with HD the sets, costumes, makeup, =
lighting
all have to be a magnitude higher in quality. The picture clarity is
unforgiving of quick and dirty craft work. =20
-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] =
On
Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 11:18 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: CEA White Paper
At 5:57 PM -0700 10/24/05, Tony Neece wrote:
>I don't agree with you that they are making money on their =
multi-channel
>service.
I did not say THEIR multi-channel services. They are making money on=20
the multichannel services offered by their competitors, namely cable=20
and DBS.
Since retransmission consent was legislated in 1992, subscriber fees=20
for both broadcast and cable networks owned by broadcasters have=20
skyrocketed. The way this works is that the broadcasters either take=20
money directly for their signals, or they take in-kind compensation=20
in the form of preferred placement of their channels and cable=20
carriage of new non-broadcast services. Most of these subscription=20
fees go to the media conglomerates, not the local broadcast=20
affiliates. Now that the conglomerates own the networks that deliver=20
90% of the content we watch, they are going to go for CASH when the=20
next round of retrans consent agreements are negotiated.
>In 3 markets, Albuquerque, Los Vegas and Salt Lake City, they
>definitely are, with their selling off bandwidth to U S Digital. But =
do =3D
>you
>know of such revenue elsewhere; I'd like to know.
This is not a significant source of revenue for these stations. What=20
is more important is that USDTV is not holding onto subscribers, and=20
it is not opening up new markets. The business proposition is not=20
appealing to connsumers.
> Here in Los Angeles, =3D
>none
>of the major stations are doing that. Here the major stations do most =
=3D
>of
>their prime-time in Hi-def, which doesn't leave much bandwidth for =
other
>services. The ad agencies put the broadcasters on notice they would not
>increase their ad budgets because of digital.
The transition to digital was NOT intended to help broadcasters make=20
more money. It WAS intended to allow them to remain competitive while=20
using the spectrum more efficiently.
The additional cost of producing prime time programming in HD is in=20
the noise. production cost have been going down thanks to technology.=20
It is the cost of talent and rights to programming, like football,=20
that has been going through the roof.
Regards
Craig
=20
=20
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