[opendtv] Re: Cablevision to offer HBO Now streaming service - MarketWatch

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 01:35:39 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

>> The device manufacturers are essentially demanding that content owners
>> spend their own money, to make content available in yet another format,
>> to suit the device maker's whims.

> Can you provide any examples? To the best of my knowledge all of these
> devices support the commonly used compression and streaming formats now.
> The Flash issue is now ancient history.

This is perhaps the main job of the CDNs, Craig. Someone has to pay for all the 
required media stream adjustments, for the different devices. Any time a device 
requires that a special media stream be made available for their device, to 
stream content that the content owner is already streaming, they are asking for 
what amounts to special favors. The fact that PCs, Apple handheld devices and 
AppleTV, and Android devices, use incompatible "apps" and require dedicated 
media streams, is the reason you see this supposed "blocking" of content.

There's no reason on earth why AppleTV boxes can't use exactly the same streams 
as my PC at home, Craig, which the congloms have been supporting for multiple 
years now. Same goes for iPads. Even if Apple wants to use easy-to-install 
"apps" to achieve this, in iPads and AppleTV. If Apple fabricates the 
incompatibility problem, for its own benefit no doubt, they should expect to 
have to beg for access to these media streams. Ditto with Android, lately.

Who pays for this extra work?

>> It's instead more straightforward to see that when a middleman is a
>> natural monopoly, or close to it, and owns a business with a
>> conflicting business model (e.g. MVPD with TVE which conflicts with
>> unwalled IP sources of TV content), that is problems begging to
>> happen.
>
> What has this got to do with content owners blocking specific hardware?

It has to do with the difference in what you and I think the real issues are:

You think the biggest problem is owners that block content to different 
devices. I think that's mostly the result of compatibility problems 
deliberately manufactured by the device makers.

On the other hand, I think the biggest problem, certainly potential problem, is 
now net neutrality. And instead you (pro)claim the ISPs are neutral.

Bert

 
 
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