Al-a-carte cable--how many cable channels do you really watch (please read before answering poll)

Quote: AZDuffman

What I also see happening is everything going more and more micro. More indie. YouTube has some decent channels on various subjects. I can see it and a competitor or two letting people make indie shows and turn them into channels. A way would need to be found to better monetize them.

There are huge issues with everything going micro. Look at the time people spend watching cat videos or sneezing baby pandas. While you can put an advertisement up around youtube, you have very little market analysis that lets you know what kind of people are watching the cat video (compared to Food Network or ESPN). Advertisers are not sure who they are reaching, and are not going to pay top dollar for those kind of ads.

With cable when times are tight there is very little you can do to cut your bill. You might drop a premium channel like HBO to save money, but the savings are minor. What if you go away for three weeks. With everything pay for view your TV bill is cut down appropriately.

Plus you think of the old days when the father would get the phone bill and get angry at his kids or his wife making one hour long distance calls. Can you imagine getting a TV bill and the dad finding out his kids are watching 5 hours of Japanese anime a day.

If you are in the business of selling services, you prefer to give the consumer as few choices as possible, so that he can't try to economize. I have exactly $15 on my cable bill that I can cut, if I find that the extra TV's are not worth the money. Those TV's are hardly ever used, but the saving is also minimal.

Think about new shows. They have all kinds of techniques for introducing a new show, which today includes putting the pilot on the internet weeks before the first airing. But the biggest boost you can give a new show is to put it on right after a hit show. All marketing pales in comparison to assuming people won't change the channel, and get hooked on a new show.

Finally, think about political ads. Analysts think that the Obama team was much smarter about tailoring ads to specific cable channels, and the difference may have won him the election.

Quote: Pacomartin

There are huge issues with everything going micro. Look at the time people spend watching cat videos or sneezing baby pandas. While you can put an advertisement up around youtube, you have very little market analysis that lets you know what kind of people are watching the cat video (compared to Food Network or ESPN). Advertisers are not sure who they are reaching, and are not going to pay top dollar for those kind of ads.

Youtube amazes me. My mentor at the gas well job, a female, showed us this "cute kid" video of two kids throwing all kinds of food into a salad or somehting. I gave a polite, nod or something but she was amazed I wasn't goo-goo over it what with how viral it was that week. I watch STRATFOR updates and it is not uncommon to see a comment of why they get 1200 views but dancing cats get 50,000. What I love are the skill-learning videos. Almost anything you need to do you can find someone made a video on. One guy I watch has a gardening channel and I wrote that he is good enough for real TV.

Youtube could become a minor-league of sorts. Get a following and get noticed?

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Plus you think of the old days when the father would get the phone bill and get angry at his kids or his wife making one hour long distance calls. Can you imagine getting a TV bill and the dad finding out his kids are watching 5 hours of Japanese anime a day.

Thanks for the flashbacks. This was always a bad day in my house. My dad came around like a mafia-collector for us to pay, even though it was never an issue hathat we did pay each month.

Quote:

If you are in the business of selling services, you prefer to give the consumer as few choices as possible, so that he can't try to economize. I have exactly $15 on my cable bill that I can cut, if I find that the extra TV's are not worth the money. Those TV's are hardly ever used, but the saving is also minimal.

That and choices confuse people and slow business. When I was in auto loans they could have their payment any day 1-28. We dealt with military who got paid 15/30 (or 1/15, I don't really remember exactly.) They told us to give a choice of any day. The borrowers would usually stammer while they decided, or say "the 15th" not realizing they got paid the same day so to have the money to us the due day was impossible. If I knew they were in active duty I just asked, "you get paid the 15th so why not make it the 20th, give you a few days to get the money here?" They loved it and I had the fastest handle time and closed the most loans.

Quote: AZDuffman

Youtube could become a minor-league of sorts. Get a following and get noticed?

Already happening. Tosh.0, for one.

Quote: AZDuffman

Youtube amazes me. My mentor at the gas well job, a female, showed us this "cute kid" video of two kids throwing all kinds of food into a salad or somehting. I gave a polite, nod or something but she was amazed I wasn't goo-goo over it what with how viral it was that week.

A great deal of media is now simply regurgitating other media. They repeat tweets, show popular youtube videos, and put links to other websites. Comedians now show the funniest youtube video they can find, rather than write their own material.

Someone was telling me that Fox News said that the White House was thinking of making the Catholic Church a hate group. That seemed puzzling to me, and I looked on the website. It's a petition site that was started last fall. Anyone in the country over the age of 13 can start a petition, and if they get 25,000 signatures in a month they get an official response from the White House.

So FOX basically gets a news story to inflame millions over a few thousand people signing a petition.

Quote: White House petition,Created: Dec 25, 2012

TOTAL SIGNATURES ON THIS PETITION 2,161
WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Officially recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a hate group.
In his annual Christmas address to the College of Cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI, the global leader of the Roman Catholic Church, demeaned and belittled homosexual people around the world. Using hateful language and discriminatory remarks, the Pope painted a portrait in which gay people are second-class global citizens. Pope Benedict said that gay people starting families are threatening to society, and that gay parents objectify and take away the dignity of children. The Pope also implied that gay families are sub-human, as they are not dignified in the eyes of God.

Upon these remarks, the Roman Catholic Church fits the definition of a hate group as defined by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

Referring to the federal government decision to allow cable companies to encrypt the formerly unencrypted "basic tier" services (or stations that were available in over the air broadcast).

Quote: Statement of NCTA President & CEO Michael Powell on the FCC Vote to Lift Ban on Basic Service Tier Encryption

Date: 10/12/2012
By permitting cable operators to join their competitors in encrypting the basic service tier, the Commission has adopted a sensible, pro-consumer approach that will reduce overall in-home service calls and accelerate cable operators’ transition to all-digital networks. Encryption of the basic tier also enhances security of the network which reduces service theft that harms honest customers. We commend the FCC for updating its rules to promote these consumer and competitive benefits.

The statement "enhances security of the network which reduces service theft that harms honest customers" is typical corporate doublespeak. How could encrypting stations that were formerly free enhance security? Now you can would have to "steal" stations that were formerly "free" by government regulations.

Quote: NCTA position on A La Carte pricing- Fewer Choices, Less Diversity, Higher Prices

Cable's method of delivering programming networks via packages – with channels bundled into a wide variety of basic and premium tiers - provides consumers with significant choice, quality content and the best overall value. This model has enabled hundreds of programming networks, including niche networks that seek underserved viewers, to find and build an audience.

About 100 million American households subscribe to cable or another multichannel video provider which offer consumers relatively similar video packages. This method of delivering TV to consumers allows viewers the opportunity to discover new networks and programs based on word of mouth, critical acclaim, or by surfing through channels, rather than having to decide in advance the entire list of programs and networks they may want to watch.

A number of organizations have examined the idea of implementing an "a la carte," or channels priced and ordered individually rather than from a selected bundle, and have found serious flaws in that suggestion. Several government, independent and industry studies have concluded that a la carte would offer no benefit to the vast majority of consumers and would, in fact, result in higher prices, less choice and less programming diversity.

I like the idea of ala-cart selections. The price would have to be right though.

College football's biggest bowl game, the BCS championship, is only available on ESPN. This leaves out many, many potential fans who do not have cable. I wonder what the Colleges were thinking when they approved this contract?

Quote: Ayecarumba

I like the idea of ala-cart selections. The price would have to be right though.

College football's biggest bowl game, the BCS championship, is only available on ESPN. This leaves out many, many potential fans who do not have cable. I wonder what the Colleges were thinking when they approved this contract?

They were thinking Espn paid the most.

Quote: AZDuffman

They were thinking Espn paid the most.

Why they would choose a channel that is not available to every household with a TV is mystery to me. There are potentially, millions of potential fans who will not be exposed to your institution. Is the future loss worth it?

This is why the "Puppy Bowl" hasn't taken off...hehe.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Why they would choose a channel that is not available to every household with a TV is mystery to me. There are potentially, millions of potential fans who will not be exposed to your institution. Is the future loss worth it?

This is why the "Puppy Bowl" hasn't taken off...hehe.

Again it is just about cash. Who cares about 20 years from now? Espn is probably in the 90th percentile in a availability. At the rate it is going there may be no college football in 30 years.

The nfl would do the same with the Super Bowl if it weren't so impolitic that cangress would actually unite. The fans be damned. Espn is the customer. Not the fans.

Quote: AZDuffman

Again it is just about cash. Who cares about 20 years from now? Espn is probably in the 90th percentile in a availability

NFL Network with Thursday night games is just trying to lay the groundwork. I think some people were a little surprised that the NFL signed another ten year contract with network television. It is highly unlikely that they will sign another one in ten years. By then network revenue will be so low, that there is no way they can afford to sign another contract.

It may even mean the final end to the network television at the same time.