The Boston Dangler
Lifer
- Mar 10, 2005
- 14,647
- 2
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the distributors and operators will max out the fuckery on this, and point to it as an example of why a la carte doesn't work and we should just surrender.
Man, I can't even remember the last time I watched a hockey game.
KT
The market is far from a free market; it's more like a game that's rigged. I disagree that people are going to end up paying just as much for fewer stations. Currently, subscribers are paying for A,B,C,...,Z, with each of those entities not receiving the same amount of money, but money nonetheless. Once some of those stations go off the air, and if those remaining stations still received the same amount of money, then the average subscriber is paying for A,B,C,D,..., Q. The money for R,S,T,...,Z no longer needs to come out of consumer's pockets, because those stations will cease to exist.
The money will no longer NEED to come out of the consumers profits, but it's going to come out anyway. Just rather than being paid out as carriage fees it will go to profit and bonuses. The providers know what the market is willing to pay and they're going to repackage the channels in a way that gets everyone to pay near the same for fewer channels. The a la carte thing is all smoke and mirrors. A few people with very specific needs will wind up paying less, but the typical customer that wants a wider selection of the popular channels will end up with their bill looking the same.