[opendtv] Re: Product Half life
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:34:08 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>> Whether I watch broadcast TV in real time, or time-shifted via my PVR,
>> or as live streams or time-shifted over the Internet, what I'm watching
>> is unquestionably broadcast TV.
>
> A very LIBERAL definition!
>
> I was obviously referring to Over-The-Air transmissions.
Perhaps, but I've said many times that we shouldn't get too hung up on the
distribution protocol. For example, the difference between a normal cable
system, and the very similar MVPD that happens to use IPTV, is not important to
the customer. It makes no difference at all when you're watching, say, the Food
Channel, or even NBC or CBS, whether the underlying protocol is IP (contained
within the IPTV walled garden in this case), or packets over a dedicated RF
channel (in an equally walled-in garden).
By extension, exactly the same applies to FOTA TV. It's up to the congloms and
the local broadcasters to decide how much of their stuff to distribute over the
Internet. That doesn't change the nature of the content at all. So I don't
understand why anyone would think that broadcasters or congloms are on the way
out.
Take away the distribution job entirely. The local broadcaster would not be
required to distribute an affiliated conglom's content any longer, probably,
but the local broadcaster could continue to provide whatever "local content" he
was creating previously. And distribute it over the Internet. If this "local
content" is as much in demand as we hear, why would that change?
So I'm not sure my definition is all that liberal. What makes CBS CBS is not
that it uses VHF channel 9 in this market, but that it transmits shows like
NCIS, CSI, or The Mentalist. By the same token, what makes the local
broadcaster (WUSA in this case) unique, and especially desirable to some
people, are its local news and weather programs, and other local shows it airs
during the day. I don't see why interest in any of this would change, just
because the distribution protocol changes.
To a FOTA TV user, or to a "cord cutter," the fact that everything is a la
carte is not something new. It's pretty much same as always. Internet
distribution offers more choice, and VOD without having to record in the home.
Bert
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