Buggy
join:2000-10-24
Tampa, FL | reply to ATLJ
Re: Personal Responsibility?
One idea that is being pursued is an over the air solution/competition with cable/sat that has a small package of popular stations for cheap. Check it out here »www.usdtv.com/ |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| reply to yock
said by yock  :
Look at the food industry, specifically fast food. Ever wonder why it's cheaper to buy the combo meal rather than the same items a la carte? Selling your meal as a package allows for some discount, as they know the next person will also be buying a package, and the next person and the next and so on.
Your analogy is flawed. You're assuming people WANT everything in the combo meal. That isn't always true. For example, for people who don't want the fries, it's cheaper to buy the burger and soda separately then it is to buy the combo meal.
When I take my family to McD's for example, we never get combo meals - mathematically, it just doesn't make sense. Same thing with TV packages.
Now it's true that a lot of people will eat fries if AND ONLY IF they get them at a bargain. But not everybody will. And it is these latter people that don't want to pay combo prices. Similarly, not everybody wants to pay combo prices for TV. That is the accurate analogy you should be using. |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
1 edit | reply to DonLibes
Digital Cable already provides for methods to password protect channels and ratings. V-Chip technology does the same for ratings systems on standard cable products.
I don't understand the logic in this. It's like people don't believe that the laws of capitalism apply to cable television just because it is a service and not a commodity. Look at the food industry, specifically fast food. Ever wonder why it's cheaper to buy the combo meal rather than the same items a la carte? Selling your meal as a package allows for some discount, as they know the next person will also be buying a package, and the next person and the next and so on.
Selling a la carte requires that they make profit off of every single item they sell.
Carry this over to cable television. If providers were required to sell you individual channels, they would be required to price each channel based on it's advertisement revenue, cost to carry that channel, and estimated subscriber base. Popular cable channels like ESPN and CNN would most certainly be priced outrageously, because they know that people will pay whatever it takes to view such channels, in much the same way that an upscale restaurant can change $30 for a steak.
Don't be stupid. Think about what a la carte pricing does for other industries before you all start touting it as the Holy Grail of cable television billing. |
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ATLJ
Go Braves
Premium
join:1999-12-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
 ·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to DonLibes
said by DonLibes :
It's not a matter of turning the channel. Right now, you're *forced* to pay for channels you don't want in order to get ones you do want. 15 years ago, this made sense. But with current technology there is no excuse for it.
This all depends on the prices they set for a la carte. I can see the cable and content companies complaining about this but then sitting in a back room figuring how to use this to screw the consumers again.
If I could get locals, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Fox Sports, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central and Fox News for a decent price it would be great. Doubt anything will happen in a long time though...Weren't all the broadcast companies required to have HD broadcasts by now but it keeps getting delayed?
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| reply to Dagda1175
said by Dagda1175 :
Morons. If you don't like MTV, use your v-chip. Thats what its there for. Don't make the rest of us pay more for a new system that lets you stop being an attentive parent.
It's not a matter of turning the channel. Right now, you're *forced* to pay for channels you don't want in order to get ones you do want. 15 years ago, this made sense. But with current technology there is no excuse for it.
The cable companies argue that rates would go up and diversity would suffer. But I do not find their logic compelling. (And I never asked for a v-chip either. Why the hell am I being forced to pay for it.) |
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