Packers and State legislators put the Pressure on TWC for NFLN

[waterhead]

Such a law would almost certainly be  unconstitutional!

Because the stadiums that pro teams play in are supported by our taxes, this should be a requirement.

[Bebop]

Because the stadiums that pro teams play in are supported by our taxes, this should be a requirement.

The problem is that they can always move to a state that will give them a favorable term. That's why teams also threaten to leave if they don't get a new stadium.

Fortunately, Packers are community owned.

[tencom]

I couldn't agree more. Alacarte is not the answer for lower prices/better offerings, competition is. Specifically, more dish-less competition though the sat providers sure haven't hurt. I be scared to think what cablecos would charge/offer if D* & E* weren't around.

They  may even charge less with no competition Remember the profit margin for cable is only about 8 percent, according to the FCC,  which is not outstanding when compared with television stations which in many cases is close to 70 percent profit margin according to the FCC supplied data. Why has the price of cable continues to climb, even with more competitition. It seems like more competition is not the answer. There must be other factors involved. My theory is that there is just to many channels that have to be supported by the subscribers.
Maybe with fewer channels prices would go down because with fewer channels advertisers would  consider cable a good medium to advertise on because with fewer channels ratings per channel would go up. Right now with so many cable networks have very low ratings for advertisers to consider. That is why TV stations are so profitable because they have good ratings and are attractive to advertisers.

[Nels Harvey]

That's really ashame, I don't even watch half those channels. We really need a al carte for cable.

The big dish C band programming was ala carte.  Yes, things were cheaper than subscribing to a package deal.  Just remember, that was in the beginning!

How many people do you know that still use the C band programming?  Back then, everything was available and all that was needed was to point the satellite dish to the right satellite, and tune them in!

After the Videocipher was needed to de-scramble programs,   the ala carte method provided the specific programs that I wanted, and were available at the time.  There were many programs that still were "in the clear", even after a few years of  program scrambling.

While many people cannot install, or use Dish, or DirecTV, even fewer were able to install a BUD (Big Ugly Dish).  That, along with the bandwidth the analog signals used on the C band transponders, spelled the death knoll for the big dish era.  

DirecTV and Dish invested huge sums to provide service to SLD's (Silly Little Dishes).  To expect them to recoup their costs with onsie-twosies on their feeds was unreasonable and uneconomical.  Cable companies also had infrastructure costs that precluded individual subscriptions for feeds.

There are many programming levels, or plans out there.  To add ala carte subscriptions would simply serve to confuse most people, and be a nightmare to administer from a provider standpoint. (Remember the old HBO traps on the cable feeds?)  I doubt that ala carte programming could ever be instituted, either on cable, or SLD's.

Nels....

[jjallou]

Politicians should keep their nose out of it. TWC & NFL network need to work this out without the government intervening. It is a free country isn't it?

[Jack 1000]

Politicians should keep their nose out of it. TWC & NFL network need to work this out without the government intervening. It is a free country isn't it?

I agree,

Any time the feds get involved, it becomes more of a mess of a mess.

Jack

[Cheesehead Dave]

This is going to be an interesting week. Now that next week's game is likely to be the second most hyped game of the season, and as Frank Calliendo during the Fox pregame put it, "There's more homes with termites than the NFL Network!" the circumstances of the broadcast of the game may get just as much coverage as the game itself.

I can see a lot of D* systems under the Christmas tree this year if it doesn't get cleared up.

Personally, I don't think there should be a need for this legislation. I'd rather see a ban on things like the current moratorium in Kenosha where AT&T and others are forbidden from entering the market and breaking up the city-sponsored monopoly for TWC.

[vegasvic]

The market will work it out.  It's happening already.  People are leaving TWC in record numbers.  People are turning to DirecTV, Dish Network and Uverse in record numbers.  

TWC in Milwaukee is killing themselves.  A pathetic lack of HD and customer service while pretending to be sticking up for their customers.

[e-man]

The market will work it out.  It's happening already.  People are leaving TWC in record numbers.  People are turning to DirecTV, Dish Network and Uverse in record numbers.  

TWC in Milwaukee is killing themselves.  A pathetic lack of HD and customer service while pretending to be sticking up for their customers.

Agreed.  I'm one of those record numbers that recently left TWC for DirecTV.  I cannot believe I waited so long.  I was skeptical about the pic quality and the ability to get a clear signal in my tree laden neighborhood in Tosa.  The price increase and only 2 additional HD selections from TWC was the push I needed to make the call.  My HD quality is as good if not better than what I was getting with TWC and have already enjoyed HD football and basketball on Sunday Ticket, NFL Network, and the BTN.  

I hope me and the rest of the switchers make TWC realize they need to do something quickly for those that cannot get satellite or u-verse.  I'm a market kind of person and don't think government action is the answer.

[vegasvic]

I do feel bad for those that are stuck with TWC or nothing.  Not everyone can get a dish or UVerse.  And those are the people TWC is sticking it to.

[waterhead]

I do feel bad for those that are stuck with TWC or nothing.  Not everyone can get a dish or UVerse.  And those are the people TWC is sticking it to.

It's the greedy NFL that is sticking it to the fans! It is their quest for even more money that lead to the cable channel.

I see the same thing with the Big 10 and their cable channel.

[AndrewP]

It's the greedy NFL that is sticking it to the fans! It is their quest for even more money that lead to the cable channel.

I see the same thing with the Big 10 and their cable channel.

Let me give you a math lesson.
NFL and Big10 wants their channels included in basic package. That means your total cost will increase $1.10/channel - ad revenue and will be close to $0.00 increase.
Now, TWC wants this channel on a higher tier, that means that you need to pay more ($5.00 more?, don't know exact price for Sports pack), and TWC will keep all ad revenue.:wave:

[vegasvic]

Yup Andrew, even the small cable companies didn't raise rates when they added those two channels.  Neither did either sat company.

But we all know TWC is only thinking of their (dwindling) customers. :rolleyes:

[waterhead]

Let me give you a math lesson.
NFL and Big10 wants their channels included in basic package. That means your total cost will increase $1.10/channel - ad revenue and will be close to $0.00 increase.
Now, TWC wants this channel on a higher tier, that means that you need to pay more ($5.00 more?, don't know exact price for Sports pack), and TWC will keep all ad revenue.:wave:

You want a math lesson?

All games stay on free OTA.
No viewing costs.
No installation fees.
No monthly subscription fees.
No added expense.

I repeat, the only reason that the NFL is pushing the NFLN is to increase THEIR revenue. They are not really concerned about the fans.

[Tom Snyder]

The NFL saw the huge dollars that the Networks were willing to pay for the rights to the games and simply saw an opportunity to make some of that money themselves.

It may suck, but businesses in a free market economy only need to care about their customers just enough to keep them from going away and taking their dollars with them. And they will lower their customer care if the net cost of keeping a number of customers is higher than the revenue they'll lose if they let hem go.

I don't think that the NFL is in any danger of losing their customers. And with them making the Cable companies out to be the bad guys in this current volley, they'll even dodge a PR bullet.

BTW... "free" OTA isn't free... Someone is always paying the NFL huge dollars to show those games.  I'm sure the local stations in Milwaukee and Green Bay are paying a boatload of money to show the game this Thursday night.