[opendtv] Re: Free TV URL list
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2014 02:04:17 +0000
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> Sorry, Bert but this analogy is ridiculous. An ISP provides their
> customers with a connection to the Internet - a pipe that connects
> to any server on the Internet.
> A local TV station buys or creates content and delivers it OTA.
So, take the longer perspective view here, Craig. The combination of local OTA
stations in a market provides continuous access to US TV network content,
through that single RG-6 coax cable to your TV set. Precisely what your ISP
does, through its broadband network, when you get TV from the Internet.
That "delivery of network content" role is the primary and most valuable
contribution of the local OTA broadcaster.
The local station's role in creating their own content, typically news and
weather, is an orthogonal role. That locally produced content can use the
station's own transmitter facilities, but it can also use MVPD or Internet
media to get to the customers. Much like ANY TV content can. This local
production function need not be tied to an OTA transmitter at all, in principle.
> I also agree that the content owners (networks) COULD contract with
> local ISPs to deliver their content to the ISP subscribers. OR they
> could contract directly with the MVPDs, as is the case for most "MVPD
> ONLY" networks. But they choose to prop up local broadcasters for
> political/regulatory advantage,
And I choose to point out that by doing so, the networks effectively undermine
the perceived value or identity of their brand. The more unnecessary middlemen
you add, the more your customers have to dwell on the middlemen. And I also
choose to point out that the MVPD price structure is hardly valid, for TV
content on the Internet. MVPD price structure derived from using *their own
infrastructure*, not using the Internet and Internet Protocols, and someone
else's cables, to deliver the content.
> Now here is the part you don't get (or like) Bert. The congloms DO NOT
> want to sell to you direct; they WANT you to pay for the "bundle" of
> channels. Why?
But you're merely falling back on your old standby mantra. I gave you a
SPECIFIC example. The TV networks *do* provide content on the Internet without
any unnecessary middlemen. That's how I watch most of my prime time TV. But
when it came to airing the Olympics, even the content that was being aired FOTA
became buried behind a no-value-added middleman. This was FOTA content. There
was no need for any bagman. It was simply an excess of greed, which made the
network brand that much less obvious, as it instead emphasized the MVPD brand.
> By the way, most ISPs are not mirror sites; these are typically
> operated by CDNs.
If you want the Internet to become the primary medium for TV content
distribution, it seems to me that you will require a lot of distributed server
architecture in ISP networks. Mostly because people using the Internet expect
most of that content to be available on demand, meaning the ISP will not be
able to use IP multicast. If existing CDNs take on this expanded role, that
would be a good strategic move. I'm just saying that local broadcasters could
have this role too.
> Apples and oranges. ISPs provide bandwidth to the Internet. MVPDs
> accumulate/distribute/sell content.
ISPs can and do also deal directly with the networks, Craig. As usual, your
MVPD dependence makes you miss this. The networks have their OWN portals, and
the networks create THEIR OWN shared portals (Hulu), and the networks also
deliver content through third party portals (Netflix and Amazon, not to mention
multiple others including wwitv.com), all of which DOES NOT involve MVPDs.
The problem is, Craig, perspective. Your MVPD addiction makes you miss
alternatives that already exist. I do object to paying for shows that are
already self-sustaining through ads, and I certainly object to paying MVPD
prices for content that isn't distributed over the MVPD's infrastructure. And
I'm not alone in this. You are gradually becoming the anomaly.
Bert
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