Posted on 03/15/2010 8:16:02 AM PDT by TomGuy
Love grousing about cable TV? Then Ive got a list for you. It comes from industry analyst SNL Kagan, and I came across it via a research note Barclays Capitals Anthony DiClemente sent out last week.
DiClemente was arguing that the bundled approach to cable TVwhereby subscribers get dozens or even hundreds of channels for one big fee, no matter how many networks they actually watchwasnt going anywhere for quite some time. If ever
(Excerpt) Read more at mediamemo.allthingsd.com ...
Yummy.
That’s basically what I said. They don’t just sell ESPN by itself, they sell the package with all the ESPNs, and part of those contracts includes how they’ll sell the tiers to the customers which includes these other ESPN parts that nobody watches.
The problem with IPTV is that basically the same people that are pushing packages on the cable companies will control the feed. They’ll sell the packages to the last mile guys of IPTV the same way they’re selling the packages to the last mile guys of cable. Not to mention the fact that half the high speed internet in this country is coming from the cable companies, who have already lost this fight with the channels. It’ll be same $#!+ different box for IPTV.
C. J. Prahalad of the University of Michigan is an expert of this phenomenom, and he dubbed it, "The Rule of 3". I have studied this in several industries, including auto and telecommunications industries. I had not followed the entertainment/cable industry at all, so your data filled in a lot of holes.
Personally, I do not see the business model change until such time that the consumers stop paying the current prices. Unfortunately for me, it seems the entertainment generation is a multi-generation thing. That is, I doubt too many people will stop buying or call their cable operators for discounts.
bless you!
You're part of an increasing number.
For those of us who watch little television, rabbit ears or the new generation of small-footprint outdoor antennas is a very good alternative. Over the air (``OTA'') reception now is actually better quality than what you get via the compressed pipeline of cable. The onetime investment in a good antenna (typically well under $50-$100) pays off in just a couple of month's worth of cable bills.
I have the same thing. I call it The Cheap B@stard Package. It’s $11 a month.
It has all I want, though:
All local stations in digital HD
Fox News
History, Dicovery, Food, Hallmark, etc..
TBS, TNT, etc..
I doubt entertainment will get down to three, but the basic reasons for all the mergers are the same. Definitely nothing about the cable bill will change until viewers convince Disney they’re so annoyed at paying 18 cents for ESPN Classic they’re actually willing to stop paying 4 bucks for ESPN.
Considering the lack of content and the ever increasing advertising, we won’t be renewing our DirectTV subscription. We pay about $45/month and the disconnect fee is $20 per month unused, so, we’ll just go until October then cancel. We can get the network channels over the air in HD and Hulu the rest of the shows we watch. FoxNews has become useless for information so that’s not a concern anymore. I can listen to Rush online and Mark Levin over Sirius. For news, FR is about as good as any as it covers many topics and sources with few liberal injections. :) I’ll miss having the various “educational” type of channels like Military, Discovery, etc., but I wouldn’t mind having less TV in my life anyway. It has become not much past filler.
Theoretically. But what "we the people" have decided to do with them, through our elected representatives, is to rent them to commercial interests whose stockholders demand they make a profit.
The alternative is a system like Britain's, with government sponsored programming supported by user fees.
Of course, with cable, none of the "public airwaves" stuff matters, since they're not using any.
When is the last time youve seen a good movie on HBO?
Movie? none, but last night on HBO I got to see The Pacific.
Where I live 1 mile from my town's border in Montana I cannot get cable, natural gas or (due to my proximity to a mountain range) most FM broadcast stations - all local.
As such we have Dish.
Happy St. Patty's day to you (a wee bit early).
And the same to you (from this German)...
I will have a beer in your honor, BTW >)
I know, it seems like they are stuck on about the same 15 movies over and over...I always said they show nothing month after month, but it is the “same” nothing month after month. Oh look, Showtime is showing “Replicant” again, in case you missed it the first 5,000 times and can’t be here for the next 5,000 times...
Well, I’m not sure what the Pacific is...If HBO has a good series on then that’s cool, but I do want to see movies on movie channels from time to time.
I remember back when I was a kid watching HBO feature presentation Conan the barbarian, and it was awesome. First R movie I snuck as a kid :D
But now it seems like HBO is a never ending stream of worthless, useless garbage, and eleven channels of it. I swear to God if I see Bill Maher one more ******* time I’m gonna...never mind.
The Pacific is the follow up to Band of Brothers. Looks like it’s gonna be a good one.
Bill Maher is an ass. No doubt.
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