As has already been pointed out, grocery stores are more competitive. If the local A&P renders bad service I have three or four other choices. To switch cable companies I must relocate.
RESPONSE: By the same token, grocery store suppliers are more competitive. If a store doesn't like one supplier's lettuce, it can buy lettuce from another supplier.
But a cable company doesn't have that option. If the cable company wants to carry ESPN there is only one source: ESPN.
JOHN: I don't think this applies so much to cell phone companies but the cable industry generally gives one company exclusive access to a given area which eliminates any motivation for good customer service or downward pressure on costs.
RESPONSE: The "cable industry" doesn't "give one company exclusive access to a given area"; the local franchise authorities do. Every cable company offering service must obtain a franchise from the local government -- typically a municipal government by may be a county government or a group of two or more local governments operating under an interlocal agreement.
Every franchise agreement I've ever seen purports to encourage two or more companies to build systems. But it's economically impossible to operate two cable systems in the same geographic area. Certainly no bank would ever finance such a business plan. Such a plan would double the construction costs, but the revenue necessary to amortize that debt would be cut by half.
JOHN: Because of this, their policies and often attitudes of individual reps seems reflect an attitude that customers are nothing more than a money garden and not actually people.
I do not know the nature of individual company contracts to areas- whether they are negotiated with municipalities or whatever, but the end user doesn't seem to have much if any input in the process- if there's even a renewal aspect to the arrangement.
RESPONSE: As I noted above every cable TV company operates under a franchise agreement with the local franchise authority. Every citizen has a right to participate in the franchising process. Get a copy of the franchise agreement and check it for yourself. You should be able to get a copy from the cable company, from your local city/county clerk, or from your local library. Every cable TV company is required to maintain a "public inspection file"; ask the cable company to let you review the public inspection file.
JOHN: Whatever laws governing this sweetheart arrangement are most likely the result of heavy lobbying with government officials whose own track record reeks of the same utter contempt for the monkeys in the money garden. We are just things to them and nothing more.
RESPONSE: Get a copy of the franchise agreement and read it! Attend city council/county board meetings when cable TV is on the agenda.
No more affiliate stations? If CBS and FOX go cable-only, do you really think their non-O&O affiliate stations are just going to turn in their licenses and go off the air? There are plenty of other networks that would jump at the chance to grab a former FOX or CBS channel. Possibilities are endless: Bounce TV, This TV, Ion Television, Retro Television Network, foreign language, religious, home shopping. It's also possible that some current cable channel (CNN for example) would turn itself into a broadcast network. Never underestimate Ted Turner.
Furthermore, if CBS and FOX go cable only, they lose all the cushy perks their affiliates got under the 1992 Cable Act. No more mandatory carriage, no more retransmission-consent, no more government-mandated geographic monopolies, no more mandatory access to the basic tier. From the cable TV operator's point of view, they'll become just two more advertising-supported video feeds competing for channel space in an already-crowded market.
But their former affiliates will still have these perks!
And do CBS and FOX really think the cable TV industry is going to welcome them with open arms? It would be a perfect opportunity for cable operators to play hardball after years of abuse.
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The Cable TV & Broadband Sector Has A Nasty Billing Fraud Proble
JOHN, 14 JUL 2018 @ 5:45AM WROTE:
As has already been pointed out, grocery stores are more competitive. If the local A&P renders bad service I have three or four other choices. To switch cable companies I must relocate.
RESPONSE: By the same token, grocery store suppliers are more competitive. If a store doesn't like one supplier's lettuce, it can buy lettuce from another supplier.
But a cable company doesn't have that option. If the cable company wants to carry ESPN there is only one source: ESPN.
JOHN: I don't think this applies so much to cell phone companies but the cable industry generally gives one company exclusive access to a given area which eliminates any motivation for good customer service or downward pressure on costs.
RESPONSE: The "cable industry" doesn't "give one company exclusive access to a given area"; the local franchise authorities do. Every cable company offering service must obtain a franchise from the local government -- typically a municipal government by may be a county government or a group of two or more local governments operating under an interlocal agreement.
Every franchise agreement I've ever seen purports to encourage two or more companies to build systems. But it's economically impossible to operate two cable systems in the same geographic area. Certainly no bank would ever finance such a business plan. Such a plan would double the construction costs, but the revenue necessary to amortize that debt would be cut by half.
JOHN: Because of this, their policies and often attitudes of individual reps seems reflect an attitude that customers are nothing more than a money garden and not actually people.
I do not know the nature of individual company contracts to areas- whether they are negotiated with municipalities or whatever, but the end user doesn't seem to have much if any input in the process- if there's even a renewal aspect to the arrangement.
RESPONSE: As I noted above every cable TV company operates under a franchise agreement with the local franchise authority. Every citizen has a right to participate in the franchising process. Get a copy of the franchise agreement and check it for yourself. You should be able to get a copy from the cable company, from your local city/county clerk, or from your local library. Every cable TV company is required to maintain a "public inspection file"; ask the cable company to let you review the public inspection file.
JOHN: Whatever laws governing this sweetheart arrangement are most likely the result of heavy lobbying with government officials whose own track record reeks of the same utter contempt for the monkeys in the money garden. We are just things to them and nothing more.
RESPONSE: Get a copy of the franchise agreement and read it! Attend city council/county board meetings when cable TV is on the agenda.
- Neal McLain, Retired Cable Guy.
Re:
No more affiliate stations? If CBS and FOX go cable-only, do you really think their non-O&O affiliate stations are just going to turn in their licenses and go off the air? There are plenty of other networks that would jump at the chance to grab a former FOX or CBS channel. Possibilities are endless: Bounce TV, This TV, Ion Television, Retro Television Network, foreign language, religious, home shopping. It's also possible that some current cable channel (CNN for example) would turn itself into a broadcast network. Never underestimate Ted Turner.
Furthermore, if CBS and FOX go cable only, they lose all the cushy perks their affiliates got under the 1992 Cable Act. No more mandatory carriage, no more retransmission-consent, no more government-mandated geographic monopolies, no more mandatory access to the basic tier. From the cable TV operator's point of view, they'll become just two more advertising-supported video feeds competing for channel space in an already-crowded market.
But their former affiliates will still have these perks!
And do CBS and FOX really think the cable TV industry is going to welcome them with open arms? It would be a perfect opportunity for cable operators to play hardball after years of abuse.