I have written posts about the Cable TV industry here and reviewed the major providers in the Northeast. There have been some recent trends beginning with Comcast's plans to acquire NBC Universal that disturb me. Last week Scripps, which produces HGTV and the Food Network, pulled its programming from Cablevision, as negotiations broke down over a rate increase to Scripps for carrying the shows on Cablevision's system.
Over the weekend Cablevision said that Scripps demands were not fair and reasonable. They have internet ads for consumers to contact Scripps direct to complain. In the New York Times, yesterday, the Fox Network negotiated high fees from Time-Warner Cable to carry the Fox Network programming, such as the Simpsons, American Idol, etc.
The Times story cited cost shifting away from advertisers to cable operators as a means of recouping the lost revenue from reduced advertising. As individual stories they appear to be somewhat innocuous, but on a larger scale, these increases in revenue to the producers of content are going to be passed on to consumers, through higher cable rates, or as in the case of the NFL network, bundling the product with premium channels rather than part of the basic service.
Comcast went along with this strategem, while Time-Warner and Cablevision continue to refuse to carry the NFL Network in a premium package of programming. Verizon's FIOS did carry the NFL Network when I was a subscriber last year.
Ultimately cost increases will be passed on us, the consumer. While the costs are passed on, there's no value add for the consumer.
While I am old enough to remember when cable was new to consumers, Cable is now as ubiquituous as the electric company. It used to be highly regulated, now it is not. I'm will have to give careful consideration about how I spend my dollars on cable, phone and internet service.
Coincidentally, my household was just selected by Nielsen to keep a diary about my television watching habits. I will blog about that experience after I submit the diary back to Nielsen.
My other posts on Cable TV are:
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Comments
I'll be interested to hear about your Nielsen story after your period of diary keeping is over. There's always been a bit of mystery in my mind about who gets picked and if there is any special equipment added.
One time my grandmother was picked tor keeping a radio listening diary by Arbitron, if I remember the name correctly. They sent her a dollar bill for her time and a book to fill out. She was too elderly to write in the diary.
I stopped watching HGTV and Food Network about the time that Emeril left. I drew the line at watching people make the Chicago Skyline out of cereal, and looking at people buying their first dump of a house.
Now it's FX, USA, A$E, BRAVO the news and rarely network, except for the CSI's and the Laws and Orders. When my 6 month special ends, I'll be back to the basic channels, up to the 80s, and that's it. We have Comcast, Dish and At$t, and they are all ripping us off, both with the intrusive ads and with the fees.
The funny thing is that the networks still haven't figured out that there are Black, Asian and Hispanic people in AmeriKKKa, and that most of us do not get on our knees and worship New York City or the East Coast, and I'm sick of it.
Michael -- The only worse thing that could happen is have the banking industry take over the cable companies.
John -- My wife and I were talking about satellite TV after HGTV and Food Network went dark last Friday. There's little we want to watch and I no longer want to pay from premium channels. There no value add in seeing them.
Zuma -- It's a more vast wasteland than 50 years ago.
Not only is there one, single cable company in my area, but I live in a condo. All wiring is property of the provider. Were I to desire something like Fios, I'd have to get the whole complex to agree to rewire.
Your phone company is required to allow other companies to compete on their wire - someone buys time or bandwidth from them and resells it to you. Cable companies are exempt from that. They argue that they don't provide communications services - like phone (voice-over-IP) and internet - so the rule doesn't apply to them. Yes, they actually argue that in court. Their lobbying cash downs out rational thought.
Cable companies argue that if we went the a la carte route - only paying for the individual channels you watch - consumer rates would increase. So immediately I don't believe them. Individual networks would have to spend more, certainly, to get us to subscribe to their programming. I've seen viable, profitable magazines fold because the P/E ratio wasn't large enough for the amount of money that went into producing them. A lot of programming would fall out. I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.
Yes, all of the costs of the recession and inflation are being passed onto the consumers with no added value. It's a hidden tax, one that cripples the economy and the middle-class while the politicians drink whiskey and tell us to eat cake.
The latest battle consumers will lose is net neutrality.
Fudo Myoo -- Good points, and thanks for your comments.
Chuck -- Yeah the politicians have no interest in serving voters.
Deborah -- Move to a new neighborhood and see what happens.
I'll be called for jury duty for the first time in my life if this trend continues.
Do keep us posted.
R
my husband and I limit ourselves to a basic 12 channel package
we are afraid more channels would take over our lives
John -- I think the Cable companies are run by writer's agents.
Caroline -- I wish you hadn't taken down your post.
Kathy in the early days of cable, it was about quality of picture. No it's about quality of content.