Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 4:57 pm
Here in Toledo, the local cable provider, Buckeye CableSystem, was asked to stop airing the broadcasts of the local Fox affiliate, WUPW. The reason is because WUPW claims Buckeye has refused to pay the proper licensing fee.
Here's where it gets tricky...
In April 2012, WUPW negotiated with WTOL to let WTOL handle WUPW's news. Apparently, this is quite common these days (new since I left the business about a decade ago). Anyway, stations that have done this typically demand the folks who air their content to pay the same fee for both stations.
The problem with this is that WTOL routinely gets 4% of the market share, while WUPW gets 1%, and is one of the lowest rated stations in the area. So for WTOL and WUPW to claim Buckeye should pay the same for both just because they share a re-transmission agreement is...shady.
Buckeye, to its credit, has refused, and has already taken the matter to court. Soon, they'll be arguing about it in federal court, and Buckeye has already begun a public campaign asking Congress to put a stop to this tactic. Obviously, their profits get hurt, but they also correctly point out that, in the end, the consumer is the one paying the most since the costs are always passed onto them.
What's even more interesting about this is the FCC says no one company can own more than one TV station in any given market. WUPW is owned by American Spirit, while WTOL is owned by Raycom Media. However, their argument to Buckeye would mean Buckeye pay them as a single entity...that's a problem. It's something that wasn't foreseen by the FCC, and needs to be looked at now.
They even called it a merger when it happened...
Good article saying basically what I just said above.
Meanwhile, the issue of local TV rights has potential to burst for MLB.
Now none of these articles get into it, but isn't the damn about to burst, somewhere?
Cable bills are at record highs, and we're not even talking about internet or home phone service (which that part is on it's way down and out). We're in an economy that is shaky at best. Where our taxes are about to go up again. Where the cost of living is ever climbing, while wages are slowly climbing by cents at best, and jobs are being lost everywhere. Where states are on the brink of financial collapse. Where the cell phone, and more importantly, the smart phone, has replaced the old analog phone. Where the PC/internet is taking more and more of our time, and taking us away from the TV. Where Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, OnDemand, RedBox, etc. are all offering us alternatives to TV or giving us better options to watching shows aired at specific times and filled with commercials, get pre-empted by sports or politics, get interrupted by weather alerts, get fucked up by DVR boxes being full or the timing of the stations being off, etc.
People are already ditching DISH, cable (except internet service), and other similar outlets due to their already ridiculously high rates. At what point does this all start to blow up, and the system begin to crumble?
As the Grantland article points out, at some point, the cost will be too much for most customers. So what does the future hold, a lowering of rates across the board, an exodus of people off cable, new pricing models that allow customers to choose what they want to pay for and watch, or something else? How bad will the fallout be when people stop paying for a lot of these channels? Will we lose the GameShow network and other shit channels? Will sports teams lose an important source of revenue, thus making them raise prices elsewhere or lower salaries for players?
Granted, this isn't going to happen overnight, but it's an interesting thing to keep your eye on.
Here's where it gets tricky...
In April 2012, WUPW negotiated with WTOL to let WTOL handle WUPW's news. Apparently, this is quite common these days (new since I left the business about a decade ago). Anyway, stations that have done this typically demand the folks who air their content to pay the same fee for both stations.
The problem with this is that WTOL routinely gets 4% of the market share, while WUPW gets 1%, and is one of the lowest rated stations in the area. So for WTOL and WUPW to claim Buckeye should pay the same for both just because they share a re-transmission agreement is...shady.
Buckeye, to its credit, has refused, and has already taken the matter to court. Soon, they'll be arguing about it in federal court, and Buckeye has already begun a public campaign asking Congress to put a stop to this tactic. Obviously, their profits get hurt, but they also correctly point out that, in the end, the consumer is the one paying the most since the costs are always passed onto them.
What's even more interesting about this is the FCC says no one company can own more than one TV station in any given market. WUPW is owned by American Spirit, while WTOL is owned by Raycom Media. However, their argument to Buckeye would mean Buckeye pay them as a single entity...that's a problem. It's something that wasn't foreseen by the FCC, and needs to be looked at now.
They even called it a merger when it happened...
Good article saying basically what I just said above.
Meanwhile, the issue of local TV rights has potential to burst for MLB.
Now none of these articles get into it, but isn't the damn about to burst, somewhere?
Cable bills are at record highs, and we're not even talking about internet or home phone service (which that part is on it's way down and out). We're in an economy that is shaky at best. Where our taxes are about to go up again. Where the cost of living is ever climbing, while wages are slowly climbing by cents at best, and jobs are being lost everywhere. Where states are on the brink of financial collapse. Where the cell phone, and more importantly, the smart phone, has replaced the old analog phone. Where the PC/internet is taking more and more of our time, and taking us away from the TV. Where Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, OnDemand, RedBox, etc. are all offering us alternatives to TV or giving us better options to watching shows aired at specific times and filled with commercials, get pre-empted by sports or politics, get interrupted by weather alerts, get fucked up by DVR boxes being full or the timing of the stations being off, etc.
People are already ditching DISH, cable (except internet service), and other similar outlets due to their already ridiculously high rates. At what point does this all start to blow up, and the system begin to crumble?
As the Grantland article points out, at some point, the cost will be too much for most customers. So what does the future hold, a lowering of rates across the board, an exodus of people off cable, new pricing models that allow customers to choose what they want to pay for and watch, or something else? How bad will the fallout be when people stop paying for a lot of these channels? Will we lose the GameShow network and other shit channels? Will sports teams lose an important source of revenue, thus making them raise prices elsewhere or lower salaries for players?
Granted, this isn't going to happen overnight, but it's an interesting thing to keep your eye on.