This article helps to illustrate why, IMO, it makes little sense for
broadcasters to be relying on their legacy MVPD retrans consent model, to stay
afloat long term, during the Internet era. We're past that. MVPDs were a market
anomaly, mandated by technical limitations of the era, which have no reason to
remain viable business models in the future. The DOJ is hardly the only one
stuck in the 1970s-1980s.
And then there's this too:
"The more the vMVPDs mirror the channel bloat of the traditional MVPDs, the
more their growth, too, will stall," the report reads. "And the more the
programmers will have to raise prices to fill the gaps."
To which I can only say, DUH! You cannot artificially (and unnecessarily)
emulate the bundling limitations of a one-way-broadcast, passively split
network, over the Internet, and expect people to "just accept." Even if those
same people "just accepted" when they thought they had no other options. For
example, no one needs to feel obliged to give that monthly charity donation to
overpaid pro sports.
Bert
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https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/pay-tv-takes-worst-ever-cord-cutting-hit-in-q1-2019
Pay TV Takes Worst-Ever Cord-Cutting Hit in Q1 2019
More than a million cut the cord, but that may not be the most impactful result.
Michael Balderston 5 hours ago
NEW YORK-Media and telecom researcher MoffettNathanson is suggesting that it
could be time for traditional pay TV services to grab a lifejacket, as the
first quarter of 2019 brought about the largest number of cord-cutters yet.
The combined losses from cable, satellite and Telco TV equaled 1.4 million
subscribers, 75% worse than over the same period in 2018. It was also the
largest rate of decline in terms of percentages at -4.8%.
However, despite hitting a new low, MoffettNathanson's researchers make the
argument that that is not the key takeaway. While the number of people cutting
the cord is increasing, those signing up for virtual multichannel video
programming distributors (vMVPDs) is not growing as expected, having slowed
"significantly" in Q1. As a result, total distribution for cable networks saw
its worst-ever decline of 1.9%.
While traditional services continue to decline, MoffettNathanson looks to past
history to forecast that media companies will raise rates to make up for its
losses, which could further accelerate declines. But it's not a net gain for
vMVPDs. Many have added more networks into its lineups-something
MoffettNathanson said they have been "forced" to do.
"The more the vMVPDs mirror the channel bloat of the traditional MVPDs, the
more their growth, too, will stall," the report reads. "And the more the
programmers will have to raise prices to fill the gaps."
To read the full report, visit MoffettNathanson.com.
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