Posted on 11/08/2014 1:56:44 PM PST by Hojczyk
What absolutely terrifies the likes of CNN and MSNBC is that there is no other format where these obscene carriage fees can be duplicated. Only cable and satellite are NETWORK driven. Every emerging technology, such as streaming, is CONTENT driven. People aren't paying for networks, they are paying for individual shows and movies.
Network allegiance is dying, and so is appointment television; and with it goes the lucrative strategy behind monetizing both.
It's certainly possible for a CNN or MSNBC or any low-rated cable network to try a subscription-based format, but there is no way that will ever come close to replicating the evil genius behind forcing 100 million homes to pay for dozens of channels they never watch.
In this new world, some networks might survive, but not the CNNs and MSNBCs:
Turner Broadcasting CEO John Martin recently predicted a Darwinian thinning of the channel herd in the coming years as financial pressures weigh on programmers and distributors alike. …
“There are too many networks in existence today in the United States. You would not want to be the owner of a small niche network where you’re getting an affiliate fee, and consumers don’t give a crap about it — which is why we never did that,” Martin said during Time Warner’s Oct. 15 Investor Day event. “One of our competitors has 14 networks that are below the top 60. Goodbye."
Bundled cable is nothing more than left-wing affirmation action that allows junk like CNN and MTV to survive and enter our homes even though we hate it. Streaming is changing all that, and for the better -- both culturally and for our pocketbook.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I was actually embarrassed for Fox News during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Their coverage was that bad.
Usually when a deal is cut at an airport or a hotel or some other public place, it is between the owner of the facility and the service provider.
I know that CNN used to cut deals with places like airports by giving them inexpensive license fees and free equipment. If CNN is going to fund the installation of TVs and signal to your waiting room, you will foist CNN on them.
Its not really a conspiracy. Its business.
Haven’t had cable in 4 years. Besides sports, I don’t really miss it all? Just missed to a more urban area and am going to try an HD broadcast antenna just for fun?
Free? Likely the airport authority is paid by CNN.
And you know what—the cable providers could not care less. They are almost all turning into the broadband providers and operating more like the old telephone companies.
If they lost every cable subscriber it would not really break their hearts. The margin on broadband is, after depreciation of the plant, almost 100%. They need to maintain staff to operate it, but there are no license fees to providers.
Back in the day, CNN and other channels would be free to the cable provider, and they would bundle them up and stick them on the system. After 5-10-15-20 years, those fees started kicking in, and the rates started skyrocketing.
Fast forward to today, and some cable providers are dropping entire company’s worth of channels. I know the system my sister operates just dumped all of their viacom channels. Viacom wanted to much money. So, the cable provider just said, “Screw.”
What a lot of folks do not realize is that the companies like Turner will give you a decent rate if, and only if, you carry their entire suite: CNN, TNT, TBS, etc. And channel placement and bundling counts too.
The future is the Netflix/On Demand model. Entire seasons will either be launched at once, or you will be able to watch your show when it premiers—or all during the next week.
People WILL pay for something like HBO on their PCs. People WILL watch news over the internet. In a very short time the cable networks will go away.
And with it, the billing hassles the cable companies have, their support staffs, their marketing staffs, and half of the stupid local programming fees and staffs.
Trust me...the cable companies cannot wait to get out of the bundling and network TV business.
Call Netflix, or HBO, or Turner...don’t call Comcast. They are just the pipeline.
My favorite channels:
YouTube
Netflix
Fox News
NFL football on Sundays
That’s 99% of what we watch. If we could stream Fox and football it would be goodbye DirecTV.
I have to pay $10 for one tier just to get BBCAmerica. The tier has about 29 channels in it, but they are mostly teen music and kiddy cartoon channels.
If BBCAmerica’s programming doesn’t improve, I am about ready to drop that tier. BBCA shows too many American movies and TV series that are already on many of the regular cable channels. I had hoped when I signed up for it that it would have more of British TV series, etc.
Cable co’s have starting coordinating with some of the ‘networks’. In order to get Internet/website feeds of the network shows, one first has to sign in through their cable account.
ABC, ESPN, and FoxSports require that. It can be a conglomerated mess trying to log into some of the programs.
And from my global business travel, at all hotels in the world as the voice of American news. No wonder so many internationals have such a skewed view of America.
When I looked into this, I found that I really wasn’t saving much money (especially since I discovered that if you go through with the cancellation process of cable, you will eventually be connected to someone who can offer the really big discounts). I want to cut cable, anyway, since I rarely use it, but found that the problem was finding an internet provider that doesn’t charge obscene rates for internet-only access. If you don’t mind me asking, how much do you pay for internet? Is it cable, dsl, or satellite?
NYC's three airports are government run. I don't know all the details of how this government authority, the Port Authority and this government propaganda network CNN made their deal, but I would certainly label their deal more government conspiracy or a crony capitalist deal rather than a private "business" deal.
I like to marathon some foreign and domestic TV series via Netflix. In addition to watching when I want, they are commercial free. Commercial breaks take up about 20 minutes of a regular ‘hour’ TV program.
I am now almost exactly 2 years cable free. I don’t miss all that mind rotting trash at all, and I’ve saved over $2K in the process.
A broadcast antenna gives me enough to satisfy my very minimal desire for video distraction. The few sporting events that interest me are on local channels anyway.
This site will give you a pretty good idea what’s available in your area:
I'd love to see Candy Crowley starve to death, but 2050 is a long time without eating.
I just don't want the distraction of 100+ channels coming into my house. It is almost all mindless crap. The interface on Roku for Netflix and Amazon Prime is clean and crisp. I have all my shows and movies lined up - I actually control most of it from my laptop. Commercial free and 100% on demand. Lot of great documentaries and other types of content available as well.
What I especially like about TV shows is that it picks up exactly where you leave off - even if you don't get back to an episode until months later. You can also always go backwards if you want to repeat any shows.
The only thing I miss about cable TV is the NFL football on Sundays. But I've gotten into a habit of going to a local sports bar when I want to see a game. It's a nice way to get out of the house and meet some people - while getting your beer right from the tap.
The article described the process the family is following giving up cable.
Over 10 years ago, I purchased a cable bundle that included digital TV, telephone, and high speed internet. The price was just under $100 a month.
Early this year, the monthly fee of the same bundle had climbed to over $230 a month. For the same service! I did not have any premium channels such as HBO or Showtime. I only watched a handful of channels regularly. There are some channels in the package I actively resent subsidizing through my monthly fees (ESPN, MTV, HGTV).
So I cut back to only basic channels, reducing my bill by $70 dollars a month. I am the only member of my family who noticed the the loss of channels. I lost a few of the channels I liked to watch (History 2 and American Heroes Channel) and I missed listening to Music Choice. Well, I found alternatives. I found sources of online streaming music, and I found documentaries I enjoy watching on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and You Tube. I have also discovered I can purchase individual TV shows on Amazon if I wish.
I will be getting rid of the land line phone this month, reducing my cable bill by another $30. Every member of the family has a cell phone, we had kept the land line phone just out of habit. It is very helpful to the family checkbook to be reducing these services. I also get a great deal of mental satisfaction to know I am not funding some specific cable channels.
Better chance that you will see her eat herself to death.
Not that I would want such an unfortunate thing to happen.
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