fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3
1 edit | reply to RadioDoc
Re: better be by a lot. PPV loss was bound to happen; they charge too much for the service. Premiums.. man, when are they ever going to learn how to operate a business? There are two ways to get more business.. quality, and quantity.
Quality: Charge more for the service, but have less customers. (in this case that is) So you charge $20 for a channel,.. pack in 5 more just like it showing the same crap and be okay with people paying $20 for the stuff.
OR!
Quantity: (And, in this economic time, they SHOULD think VERY hard about this one) DROP the price of premiums like HBO & Showtime down to something reasonable.. say $10 per month for them.. get MORE people to subscribe to them and make more money. With services like HBO/Showtime, it's consignment. It doesn't cost more to show that network to 100 people as it does 1 million people... the show must go on.
The studios should realize that in this economy, people are looking to be entertained on less money. Making their service, which the costs are set, more affordable and attractive to people who are already subscribed to the cable / satellite service to the home, will most likely mean higher subscriber rates. This only leads to more revenue to the studios.
If they did this, there would be no need to look at other product lines to get more money out of it to shore up failing product lines. Businesses need to keep revenue at a certain level, that's no secret.. but, they can do it with out pulling these games of fees and excessive charges if they CHOOSE to make the right decisions. (Besides, dropping their rates WILL stimulate the economy in the long run)
However, they always all look towards other product lines to subsidize their other operations.. ie: cramming down fees on HSI to prop up video. Bundling phone services to raise the monthly rate in order to make more money on HSI. etc.
The dinosaurs in business need to die, .. die quick, and turn to oil and help out rising energy costs. (at least they'd be doing SOMETHING right for once.) |
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RadioDoc58ef2c0Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | When I see the likes of Comcast reporting record profits I have no sympathy for their whining about expenses. The entire cable TV business model is a "dinosaur" and they're only getting away with it since a large part of the population thinks cable = television and does not remember the pre-cable days when free OTA television was the norm.
These days cable is old hat and better figure out another way to survive other than interference with Internet-delivered product. Even OTA is making a comeback.
They might also take a look at the competition. I now have more channels with DirecTV than I ever got from Comcast, with two receivers delivering a spectacularly better picture than we ever got with cable, for about half what Comcast was charging. Even after a 12 month promo (which puts about $300 back in my pocket) we'll still be saving more than $40/mo. With OTA HD, Netflix et. al. on a HD TiVo and DirecTV we're still at less than what Comcast was charging. This is the brave new world. As soon as people realize what they are really paying for, one of those paradigm shifts will occur just like it did in the 80's from OTA to cable.
As I drive around here in the burbs I see a lot of brand new shiny OTA antennas and new satellite dishes. Cable is in trouble.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | The model of Satellite and cable is the same when you break them down.. so I see no difference in the MODEL. Delivery systems, however, do the horse race where one will always take the lead over the other as they leap frog. Satellite is about to see another leap by cable and the race will once again change.
As for internet and delivery.. sure, I also agree with you.. however, there are two parts to that.. 1) There is the delivery system which does get more advanced as we move forward along with what it becomes capable of. 2) the price.
If anyone expects the first part to change with out seeing a change in the way its sold (price) then they are fools for themselves. If cable and phone both turned off their main services.. (phone stopped selling pots, and cable stopped pushing video) then what you're going to see are internet connections priced out at $100.00 + per month.
And.. wait one second.. did I just see you praising a $300 promo? Doesn't that go against your rants about how cable offer promotions as well? Do I smell a dual standard? |
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RadioDoc58ef2c0Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | I was perfectly clear in my original post. Cable is on the way out.
No sure what you are referring to about any dual standard. I will be paying 2/3 of what Comcast was charging me even without the $23 per month rebate for the next 12 months ($67 instead of $98), but until Feb. 2010 I'll grin at my $44 DirecTV bill while I watch even more dish and OTA installations sprout in this area...
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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