Living La Vida HD, Part 2
When I told my buddy Bry about my new HDTV, I mentioned to him that I had watched Lost in HD and had been blown away. He knows that I do not have a cable box, so he was slightly confused:
"How did you watch Lost in HD without an HD box from Comcast?"
When I wrote back to him, I found myself going on a bit of a diatribe. I've decided to post it here for your enjoyment:
Magic.
Yes, the magic of FCC regulations makes it possible to view all broadcast channels (both analog and digital) over the unscrambled basic cable wires. Unfortunately, I will need a box to watch NESN or ESPN.
Currently, cable companies are required by law to carry all local broadcast channels in their basic programming tier. Because these digital channels will allow broadcasters (as some, like WGBH, already do) to carry up to 4 broadcasting streams, cable companies are trying to get Congress to change these rules. Their fear is that stations will sell their unused bandwidth to cable networks and if they are required to carry them for free, this will negate the value of their service and people will stop paying for things like cable boxes and expanded basic packages.
This is a wonderfully valid and well-founded fear, and it is one of the few ways that media consolidation is good for consumers.
Imagine that Sunbeam, which owns channel 7 and channel 56, decided, as a way to raise revenue, to open up their 6 "extra" broadcast slots to bidding. Would Discovery or the History Channel bite? Or, better yet, imagine if NBC Universal struck a deal with their affiliates (Sunbeam is one) and/or required their directly-owned stations to have some of their cable channels, like USA or Sci-Fi, carried over these signals.
Disney owns ABC, ABC News Now & ESPN, among others. Dont you think that theyd like to open up their 'Tween, News & Sports programming to a wider audience who could pull it out of the air for free? Remember, 20 million homes dont have cable or satellite. (I dont know how many cable customers only have the most basic package, but its a significant number.)
Boston currently has 11 broadcast stations in the market. Multiply that by 4... Now, why they hell would you need expanded basic cable? And this number doesnt even count the extra channels in southern NH or RI that folks around Boston can get. The amount of free HD programming available to people who live outside the city itself will probably be closer to 50-60 channels.
Faced with the prospect of having to carry 40-50 free HD channels in every major market for less than $10 per month per household, you can see why the cable companies are keen to get the rules changed. I think that theyre fighting a losing battle and they will have to find other ways to add value; they wont be able to survive as simple content-delivery outfits.
Innovations in VOD, gaming, interactivity and personal communication will have to be their focus. I think that TV content will become like basic phone service: Something of an anachronism that is cheap, common and readily accessible to everyone without having to buy any peripherals.
"How did you watch Lost in HD without an HD box from Comcast?"
When I wrote back to him, I found myself going on a bit of a diatribe. I've decided to post it here for your enjoyment:
Magic.
Yes, the magic of FCC regulations makes it possible to view all broadcast channels (both analog and digital) over the unscrambled basic cable wires. Unfortunately, I will need a box to watch NESN or ESPN.
Currently, cable companies are required by law to carry all local broadcast channels in their basic programming tier. Because these digital channels will allow broadcasters (as some, like WGBH, already do) to carry up to 4 broadcasting streams, cable companies are trying to get Congress to change these rules. Their fear is that stations will sell their unused bandwidth to cable networks and if they are required to carry them for free, this will negate the value of their service and people will stop paying for things like cable boxes and expanded basic packages.
This is a wonderfully valid and well-founded fear, and it is one of the few ways that media consolidation is good for consumers.
Imagine that Sunbeam, which owns channel 7 and channel 56, decided, as a way to raise revenue, to open up their 6 "extra" broadcast slots to bidding. Would Discovery or the History Channel bite? Or, better yet, imagine if NBC Universal struck a deal with their affiliates (Sunbeam is one) and/or required their directly-owned stations to have some of their cable channels, like USA or Sci-Fi, carried over these signals.
Disney owns ABC, ABC News Now & ESPN, among others. Dont you think that theyd like to open up their 'Tween, News & Sports programming to a wider audience who could pull it out of the air for free? Remember, 20 million homes dont have cable or satellite. (I dont know how many cable customers only have the most basic package, but its a significant number.)
Boston currently has 11 broadcast stations in the market. Multiply that by 4... Now, why they hell would you need expanded basic cable? And this number doesnt even count the extra channels in southern NH or RI that folks around Boston can get. The amount of free HD programming available to people who live outside the city itself will probably be closer to 50-60 channels.
Faced with the prospect of having to carry 40-50 free HD channels in every major market for less than $10 per month per household, you can see why the cable companies are keen to get the rules changed. I think that theyre fighting a losing battle and they will have to find other ways to add value; they wont be able to survive as simple content-delivery outfits.
Innovations in VOD, gaming, interactivity and personal communication will have to be their focus. I think that TV content will become like basic phone service: Something of an anachronism that is cheap, common and readily accessible to everyone without having to buy any peripherals.
Labels: "Lost", FCC, HDTV, Technology, TV
posted by Unknown at 12:56 PM
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