http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20130510/18001823041/why-espns-offer-to-pay-to-have-its-content-bypass-data-cap-meters-plays-right-into-hands-wireless-providers.shtml#c352 Tue, 14 May 2013 14:22:10 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20130510/18001823041/why-espns-offer-to-pay-to-have-its-content-bypass-data-cap-meters-plays-right-into-hands-wireless-providers.shtml#c352
http://www.whatyoupayforsports.com/2013/04/could-espn-weather-a-growth-in-cord-cutting/

tl;dr: Because their current deal with cable & satellite carriers calls for a 6.5% carriage fee increase every year, ESPN's annual carriage fee income will continue to increase between now and 2020 -- unless the annual number of cord cutters increases by 50%, year over year. And that rate of cord cutting seems rather unlikely at the moment.

Also, if ESPN became a premium channel, the network would need 40.7 million subscribers at $14.95/month, or 30.5 million subscribers at $19.95/month, to make as much as it makes now in annual carriage fees -- about $7.3 billion -- from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPNEWS. And it probably couldn't get away with selling $3.3 billion in ads if it went premium.

So yeah, big media really isn't going to change until we all stop giving it so much money.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/10194223020/chinas-state-run-tv-uses-daily-show-clip-to-demonize-us-viewers-point-out-irony.shtml#c382 Mon, 13 May 2013 06:46:00 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/10194223020/chinas-state-run-tv-uses-daily-show-clip-to-demonize-us-viewers-point-out-irony.shtml#c382 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/11070923022/psa-to-parents-step-1-after-your-child-is-shot-is-not-checking-webmd.shtml#c129 Fri, 10 May 2013 06:45:05 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/11070923022/psa-to-parents-step-1-after-your-child-is-shot-is-not-checking-webmd.shtml#c129
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/05/07/joakim-noah-defends-derrick-rose-chicago-bulls/2141383/

Team doctors are paid by team OWNERS, not players. There's a long history of team doctors bending rules to get players back on the field/court/ice too quickly. If Derrick Rose thinks the advice he's getting will hurt his career in the long-term (he's only 24), then I'm giving him a pass.

Besides, these Bulls are not beating the Heat with or without Derrick Rose, so why pin the blame solely on him?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130408/12161722625/hilarious-ridiculous-networks-threaten-to-pull-channels-off-air-if-aereo-dish-win-lawsuits.shtml#c1296 Tue, 9 Apr 2013 10:55:04 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130408/12161722625/hilarious-ridiculous-networks-threaten-to-pull-channels-off-air-if-aereo-dish-win-lawsuits.shtml#c1296
The NBA, on the other hand, makes all its money from ESPN and Turner. If ABC disappears, I'm not sure the NBA would miss it that much, save for Xmas-day hoops and the Finals.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130304/18411522197/insanity-making-wizard-oz-film-todays-ip-climate.shtml#c642 Wed, 6 Mar 2013 14:16:55 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130304/18411522197/insanity-making-wizard-oz-film-todays-ip-climate.shtml#c642 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldred_v._Ashcroft

Welcome to the United States of Steamboat Willie.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130206/07215421891/patent-troll-says-it-owns-podcasting-sues-adam-carolla-howstuffworks.shtml#c723 Thu, 7 Feb 2013 09:56:14 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130206/07215421891/patent-troll-says-it-owns-podcasting-sues-adam-carolla-howstuffworks.shtml#c723 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130206/07215421891/patent-troll-says-it-owns-podcasting-sues-adam-carolla-howstuffworks.shtml#c721 Thu, 7 Feb 2013 09:52:04 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130206/07215421891/patent-troll-says-it-owns-podcasting-sues-adam-carolla-howstuffworks.shtml#c721
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jim-logan/1/b80/339

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Logan and Personal Audio were merely Big Media puppets at work here, trying to squash alternative programming. This might explain why Adam Carolla is the first target, beyond the fact that he's the biggest podcaster. After all, he rejected Big Media to strike out on his own. Wouldn't surprise me if they went after Glenn Beck next -- although Big Media *fired* him, which is a little bit different.

Say, does Newegg have a podcast? Think they could start one?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130206/11155621895/dmca-as-censorship-site-reposts-articles-about-disgraced-researcher-claims-copyright-has-originals-removed.shtml#c25 Wed, 6 Feb 2013 12:14:09 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130206/11155621895/dmca-as-censorship-site-reposts-articles-about-disgraced-researcher-claims-copyright-has-originals-removed.shtml#c25 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130127/22415721800/alan-cooper-sues-john-steele-prenda-law-shell-companies-he-supposedly-runs.shtml#c139 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:19:42 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130127/22415721800/alan-cooper-sues-john-steele-prenda-law-shell-companies-he-supposedly-runs.shtml#c139 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130118/08174321725/one-year-later-sopapipa-supporters-still-completely-ignore-public.shtml#c117 Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:33:17 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130118/08174321725/one-year-later-sopapipa-supporters-still-completely-ignore-public.shtml#c117
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jim-logan/1/b80/339

Doesn't it seem a little fishy that he's just now going after podcasters, and that he's starting with someone who rejected big media in favor of podcasting?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121205/06151021236/disney-chooses-netflix-as-its-exclusive-distributor-beginning-2016.shtml#c426 Fri, 7 Dec 2012 04:25:14 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121205/06151021236/disney-chooses-netflix-as-its-exclusive-distributor-beginning-2016.shtml#c426 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121205/06151021236/disney-chooses-netflix-as-its-exclusive-distributor-beginning-2016.shtml#c243 Wed, 5 Dec 2012 20:40:14 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121205/06151021236/disney-chooses-netflix-as-its-exclusive-distributor-beginning-2016.shtml#c243
Will ESPN do that? No. And there are tons of reasons why.

1.) Subscriber fees. ESPN and ESPN2 alone are in 100 million homes, and ESPN receives $5.31/month from every subscriber. That adds up to about $6.37 BILLION/year. This money covers the TV rights to pretty much all the pro and college sports ESPN shows, and they still have about $2B left for production costs -- to say nothing of advertising and merchandising income.

Do 100 million people in the U.S. watch ESPN? Of course not. But they're all paying for it just the same. How many of those people would cut the cord for a stand-alone WatchESPN service? Probably not the 26.6 million or so they need to equal what they rake in from subscriber fees.

Which brings us to reason #2.

2.) Distribution. Pay-TV has a ready-made, high quality distribution network already in place. Setting up an online-only service of similar quality would cost a LOT of money. Why spend extra to duplicate what's already been done?

And speaking of distribution...

3.) Backlash. Pay-TV companies would tear ESPN apart if they introduced an online-only service -- starting with Comcast, which owns NBCU, which owns NBC Sports Network. You think Comcast wouldn't start breaking the bank to outbid ESPN for every TV rights contract up for renewal? You think Comcast wouldn't have its engineers do some dirty throttling tricks to make WatchESPN nigh-unwatchable -- and demand much lower subscriber fees in exchange for "clogging up our network"?

Those three reasons alone are why sports on TV is here to stay. Pay-TV has us sports fans by the balls, man.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121201/18030921201/hbo-has-distribution-problem-just-going-without-does-nothing-to-push-them-to-solve-it.shtml#c1046 Tue, 4 Dec 2012 10:17:32 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121201/18030921201/hbo-has-distribution-problem-just-going-without-does-nothing-to-push-them-to-solve-it.shtml#c1046
Which brings up a very important point -- HBO is owned by Time Warner, a bastion of old media thinking. Time Warner also owns Turner Broadcasting. Keeping HBO as a cable-subscription service allows Time Warner to earn more money for CNN, TNT, TBS, TruTV, Cartoon Network, and all its other cable properties -- many of which, incidentally, would also be vehicles for distributing WB-owned films, allowing those films to generate more revenue. (Even if they never make a profit, according to the official ledgers.)

Pay TV is a huge racket, and the handful of multinational corporations at the top of the heap -- Disney, Time Warner, News Corp., Comcast, Viacom -- can and will keep this racket going for as long as they possibly can. Sure, we'd be glad to pay for HBO and ESPN and certain other networks separately, but offering those services online would likely kill the beast, and these beasts aren't ready to die yet.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121201/18030921201/hbo-has-distribution-problem-just-going-without-does-nothing-to-push-them-to-solve-it.shtml#c1038 Tue, 4 Dec 2012 09:49:06 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121201/18030921201/hbo-has-distribution-problem-just-going-without-does-nothing-to-push-them-to-solve-it.shtml#c1038
There's also the fact that HBO very likely makes a ton of money from people who forget to cancel their 3 free months of service and get billed for a month or two before finally canceling -- not dissimilar to Blockbuster's dirty "late fee" practices, which Netflix highlighted and used to bury Blockbuster. Netflix will have a harder time exploiting this weakness with HBO (and Showtime), though, because their primary business model doesn't hold HBO and Showtime as competitors -- not yet, anyway.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121107/11240420964/apparently-attacking-candidate-being-world-warcraft-player-is-not-effective-campaign-strategy.shtml#c146 Thu, 8 Nov 2012 11:49:14 PST http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121107/11240420964/apparently-attacking-candidate-being-world-warcraft-player-is-not-effective-campaign-strategy.shtml#c146 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121001/00410620551/why-six-strikes-plan-doesnt-mesh-with-us-law-social-norms.shtml#c458 Mon, 1 Oct 2012 11:44:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121001/00410620551/why-six-strikes-plan-doesnt-mesh-with-us-law-social-norms.shtml#c458 i still dont understand why everyone is so afraid of the entertainment industries.

Dude, Comcast owns NBC Universal. They're not afraid of the entertainment industry. They are the entertainment industry.

And as for the rest of the cable company ISPs, they get nearly all their product from the entertainment industry, so they probably had to agree to this deal or explain to their customers why half their channels disappeared all of the sudden. This is especially true if Disney was involved. Say goodbye to most of your customers if you lose ESPN.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120717/13500819733/bmg-doubles-down-issues-takedown-original-clip-obama-singing-al-green.shtml#c944 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:50:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120717/13500819733/bmg-doubles-down-issues-takedown-original-clip-obama-singing-al-green.shtml#c944
What BMG is claiming is NOT legal is for anyone to use a recording of that song in a YouTube video. And that appears to cover a recording of ANYONE singing that song, be it the President of the United States or that Anonymous Coward. (Or me, but I struggle to hit that high A, so I tend to sing "Love and Happiness" instead.)

Therefore, President Obama is NOT the pirate. So who ARE the pirates? Associated Press, CBS News, ABC News, The Young Turks, and whatever SuperPAC made that Romney ad. Those first three are large media conglomerates, all of whom have demonstrated great eagerness to sue anyone who "illegally" distributes their "intellectual property". They've all been labeled pirates. And I guarantee you they won't do a damn thing to fight this, because they want to make sure they have the right to shut down and/or sue anyone re-enacting 9 seconds of their crap, too.

This is the world we live in.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120404/02500918364/officials-receive-requests-to-censor-79-websites-under-spains-sopa-like-sinde-law.shtml#c163 Wed, 4 Apr 2012 12:46:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120404/02500918364/officials-receive-requests-to-censor-79-websites-under-spains-sopa-like-sinde-law.shtml#c163
However, as a longtime music podcaster who *does* seek out music from small indie labels and unsigned artists to share with people, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest giving indie music podcasts a try, because there's LOTS of great music out there that has no ties to big media. Start at musicpodcasting.org and go from there. You'll be glad you did.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120403/18234218361/time-to-start-again-six-strikes-let-internet-users-have-seat-table.shtml#c132 Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:19:32 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120403/18234218361/time-to-start-again-six-strikes-let-internet-users-have-seat-table.shtml#c132 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120403/18234218361/time-to-start-again-six-strikes-let-internet-users-have-seat-table.shtml#c98 Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:14:00 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120403/18234218361/time-to-start-again-six-strikes-let-internet-users-have-seat-table.shtml#c98