You make valid points. Essentially what you're saying is that cable entertainment is like public roads. Everybody pays for them even though not everybody uses them. These are the same basic points that the cable companies made when they lobbied to Congress to stop the Cable Ala Cart legislation.
But cable TV isn't like public roads. When I go to McDonalds I don't get charged for every item on the menu when all I want are the fries. I don't get charged for every car Toyota makes when I buy a Prius and when I go to the theatre I don't get charged for every movie - just the one I paid the ticket for.
As a consumer, I'm the one that's supposed to be calling the shots in a 'free market'. What I pay for is what's supposed to be kept around and what I don't pay for is supposed to go away. It happens to individual shows, yes ( like most of the ones I like ). But that doesn't happen to channels. If enough people stop watching a the Fox Business Channel basic economics should dictate that the channel go the way of the dodo - but even the fact that they're only watched by about 20,000 or so people nationally doesn't make that happen - they're still being piped into my cable box.
Why the heck should my monthly cable bill be forced to subsidize the Christian Broadcasting Network so Pat Robertson and his merry band of miscreants ( who are already richer than god ) can stay on the air despite the fact that I have never watched it and will never watch it and find a lot of what that goon says to be personally offensive anyway. It is my right as an American to walk away from constitutionally protected methods of expression when I wish to - I do not have to remain a captive audience. Now, nobody is forcing me to click on CBN or FNC and watch their drivel. I am merely extending the concept further. As an American I should have the right to stop their drivel from entering my home entirely. As a consumer I should be able to buy what I want.
All things being what they are, the large majority of their customers aren't going to suddenly go ala carte and will continue being passive couch potatoes the way they have been for years. What I am I saying that people should be forced to be ala cart - but the option should be there for people who want to do it. Currently the cable companies are kicking and screaming and throwing millions of dollars at Congress to keep the legislation from going into effect. Money that would be better spent improving their service over all.
The people that like a show can pay for it with a portion of their cable bill and with the products they buy just as they always have. I don't believe that it will effect either the entertainment industry or the cable monopolies as much as they claim it will and in the end - we the consumers will get better programming as a result. The reason why HBO generally doesn't suck is because people pay for it individually they opt in or out of it as they wish and as a consequence it is not subject to the normal bullshit FCC rules.
I'm willing to pay $2-3 a month for decent Science and sci-fi channel programming. I'd be perfectly if all I had was Discovery, Science Channel, History Channel, Military Channel, Comedy Central, and maybe a few movie channels. I'm not willing to pay $175 a month for 900 channels full of crap that aren't interesting, and don't get used or watched.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 07:10 pm (UTC)But cable TV isn't like public roads. When I go to McDonalds I don't get charged for every item on the menu when all I want are the fries. I don't get charged for every car Toyota makes when I buy a Prius and when I go to the theatre I don't get charged for every movie - just the one I paid the ticket for.
As a consumer, I'm the one that's supposed to be calling the shots in a 'free market'. What I pay for is what's supposed to be kept around and what I don't pay for is supposed to go away. It happens to individual shows, yes ( like most of the ones I like ). But that doesn't happen to channels. If enough people stop watching a the Fox Business Channel basic economics should dictate that the channel go the way of the dodo - but even the fact that they're only watched by about 20,000 or so people nationally doesn't make that happen - they're still being piped into my cable box.
Why the heck should my monthly cable bill be forced to subsidize the Christian Broadcasting Network so Pat Robertson and his merry band of miscreants ( who are already richer than god ) can stay on the air despite the fact that I have never watched it and will never watch it and find a lot of what that goon says to be personally offensive anyway. It is my right as an American to walk away from constitutionally protected methods of expression when I wish to - I do not have to remain a captive audience. Now, nobody is forcing me to click on CBN or FNC and watch their drivel. I am merely extending the concept further. As an American I should have the right to stop their drivel from entering my home entirely. As a consumer I should be able to buy what I want.
All things being what they are, the large majority of their customers aren't going to suddenly go ala carte and will continue being passive couch potatoes the way they have been for years. What I am I saying that people should be forced to be ala cart - but the option should be there for people who want to do it. Currently the cable companies are kicking and screaming and throwing millions of dollars at Congress to keep the legislation from going into effect. Money that would be better spent improving their service over all.
The people that like a show can pay for it with a portion of their cable bill and with the products they buy just as they always have. I don't believe that it will effect either the entertainment industry or the cable monopolies as much as they claim it will and in the end - we the consumers will get better programming as a result. The reason why HBO generally doesn't suck is because people pay for it individually they opt in or out of it as they wish and as a consequence it is not subject to the normal bullshit FCC rules.
I'm willing to pay $2-3 a month for decent Science and sci-fi channel programming. I'd be perfectly if all I had was Discovery, Science Channel, History Channel, Military Channel, Comedy Central, and maybe a few movie channels. I'm not willing to pay $175 a month for 900 channels full of crap that aren't interesting, and don't get used or watched.