[opendtv] Re: Networks Threaten To Pull Channels Off The Air If Aereo & Dish Win Lawsuits
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:24:44 -0400
On Apr 17, 2013, at 3:45 PM, "Manfredi, Albert E"
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The MVPD is not. The ISP is. Whether I use ADSL or wireless 3G/4G, the ISP
> that provides that service is where I get my Internet TV from, and also where
> all the hand-held TV appliances get their TV from. These distribution pipes
> do not have traditional broadcast TV tiers on them. So it makes zero sense
> for me (and the many others like me) to pay a ransom to any MVPD for
> providing *no* added value.
Sorry Bert, but the MVPD is the gatekeeper for much of the TV content now being
distributed via the Internet. As we have discussed MANY times, you must
subscribe to a MVPD service to access the same content delivered via the MVPD
on your mobile devices. The whole point of this thread is that Dish is trying
to extend this model by acquiring Sprint Nextel. Most likely, the wireless
broadband service is not getting a cut of the action from the MVPDs, but they
are getting paid for delivering the bits as part of your wireless service. By
bundling the two together they gain efficiencies and "may" provide their
subscribers with the impressing that they are getting more value from their
subscription.
While you can access some programming, usually on a delayed basis, with your
wired broadband service (or your wireless service for that matter), you CANNOT
access the high value live content that is the RED MEAT that forces 85% of U.S.
homes to put up with the MVPDs and the monthly subscription.
> I'd much sooner pay my ISP that extra $0.50 or $1.00 per month, for a Fox
> stream. Get it? The ISP is my distribution pipe, Cox or FiOS are not.
Something we can agree on Bert!
Almost all of us would be happier to pay a reasonable fee for the channels that
we watch; it's called ala carte.
But you are dreaming if you think you will be able to buy a channel for $0.50,
or even a buck for that matter. ESPN now coasts almost $5/mo, and most network
affiliated stations are now getting about a buck in retrains fees for the major
networks.
Perhaps ISPs could become a customer service tool for the networks, since they
already have a direct contractual relationship with you. Or you may simply pay
the networks directly via a credit card, as millions of people do with Netflix,
iTunes and Amazon Prime.
> As the previous article predicts, the vast majority of consumers are NOT
> going to be doing what you say. The trend, those pesky trends you like to
> ignore, is not what the MVPDs would (obviously) prefer.
Funny, I did not read that part. The vast majority of customers would hardly
notice the change, other than the replacement of local newscasts with regional
feeds from the networks. To date, the number of cord cutters is barely a blip,
and much of the loss in recent years is probably related to high unemployment.
Now that many welfare recipients are getting free "Obamaphones," perhaps MVPD
service will become the next entitlement…
;-(
>
>> Frankly they really do not care about you.
>
> That's silly, Craig. You can't hide your head in the sand. If TV viewing is
> done more and more from hand-held toys, as you like to claim, then it's
> crashingly obvious that the value proposition of the traditional MVPD is
> going to change. And content owners are certainly not stupid enough to miss
> this.
What is "crashingly obvious" is that the MVPDs and the Media conglomerates are
working together to protect their oligopolies by making an MVPD subscription
the pre-requisite to see the same content on the new "second screens." If they
continue to get away with this - and it is also crashingly obvious that the the
politicians are not going to go after them on anti-trust grounds - they will
gladly ride down the ship for another decade or two.
Regards
Craig
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