On Jan 5, 2014, at 4:14 AM, Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:? > > The US audience the networks can reach with way fewer middlemen could change, > giving the networks more of the ad revenues. More ad revenues perhaps? More viewers, not likely. The broadcast networks are the ONLY game in town with 100% reach. They reach EVERY MVPD subscriber. They reach EVERY FOTA viewer. But they still license the content. Why? Because in many cases it can find an audience. Why do some programs do well in syndication, years after they were shown on the networks? It could be that the viewer missed it when broadcast. It could be because it was good enough to see again. It could be because there's nothing better to watch (this is especially true for FOTA ONLY homes that only receive a handful of channels. The whole point of making content available via multiple media is to increase the chance that someone will watch. The congloms run cable channels that offer nothing but reruns. Now that VOD is becoming more accessible, this picture could change. But many people just turn on the TV and watch whatever is on. And many people turn on the TV and do other things - e.g. The TV is just background noise. > And the international audience, I'm quite certain, would be phenomenal. If US > TV networks streamed everywhere, untranslated and unedited,, just the way the > shows are aired here, I'll bet they would give the local TV networks a run > for their money. What makes you think that international audiences do not have access now? TV content is one of our largest exports. For years, international travelers bought movies in the U.S. And took them home. The reason was that the congloms often delayed the International releases. That is mostly history now, as it is commonplace to create all international versions for near simultaneous release. You can blame the Internet, as a substantial, and growing, portion of all Internet streaming is pirated media. > > You keep making the point that the Internet allows small producers to get > their stuff out, right? Why don't you make that same argument for the > networks? They too can bypass obstacles that exist today, especially in the > international market. These are not obstacles Bert; they are carefully constructed road blocks created by the congloms to maximize revenues.. > > > Bah. I think that's so overplayed, but fine. Ads can also be targeted based > on the program they are aired with. And there are plenty of products that do > or could have international distribution, that such wide distribution should > bring in good revenue for the networks. The current distribution techniques used by the congloms already bring in better than good revenues. You seem to be operating under some illusion that this stuff does not get to the International markets... > >> And forget about the International distribution - these rights are >> tightly controlled, with the broadcasters and MVPDs in each country >> paying for exclusive distribution rights. > > What are the countries going to do, Craig? Block the Internet? Absolutely! They do it all the time. I wanted to see the first episode of the Hobbit before going to the theater to see part 2. Found it on Netflix... In the UK. They have the rights to stream it there. In the U.s. You still need to buy or rent a shiny disc. > Things change, here and abroad. The guy with the leverage is the guy who owns > the content. If this guy has to make deals, it is because HE gets something > in return. The networks don't have to make deals with entities that create > obstacles for them and offer nothing in return. > > It's a brave new world, and businesses have to adapt. OR CONTROL! They have effectively kept the Internet at bay and continue to try new ways to control it. Regards Craig ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.