I wonder which side caved>? This is all part on the death throes of content providers. The future is some sort of streaming where you choose what you want, when you want. That may not be a good thing. Good programming is expensive and producers need to know that they can recoup their investment. I gaze in amazement at the crap produced by The History Channel, H2, Discovery, AHC, and their ilk and wonder how it can possible get worse. We are about to find out.
I’m so leery of the accuracy of programming on the History Channel. O’Reilly announced last night that he was going to be doing some history programming on FOXNews (8 episodes, iirc). I’m sure he’ll be working with his co-author, Martin Dugard on these projects. I’m looking forward to it.
I wish there were more programming out there that one could truly trusted for accuracy. I’m really glad Rush is doing his children’s books, but I often wonder if it’s too late to turn things around. Guess I’m feeling a little deflated tonight. :-/
I think it is a good thing because eventually it will make media more content centric rather than channel and also it will allow more true independence of content. A conservative channel can be a conservative as it likes as long as conservatives will pay for it and they won’t have to pay for it while paying for Bill Mahr or some lgbt crap. There will still be packages offered or build your own package deals. The content will just be more controlled by the consumer which will make it even harder for the left and progressive elites to exert control universal control over the culture. Its already crumbling. The same pressure tactics used to shut down and shut up opponents of the left are failing more and more and I welcome a world where they will simply be left screaming in their rubber rooms. Sure it will mean some crap rises too but I’m all for a true market place where I pay for just for what I like.
Remember this though.
The Dish subscribers are not the customers, they are the product. Ads pay for TV and Cable, and with the rise of digital records, the advertisers know if you are watching the commercials or changing the channel.
I have asked all the mid twenty and younger people at the plant if they have paid TV. Very, very, few do. They watch Netflix or streaming. No ads.
The death of the ad agencies is fueling this.