This would be problematic for league networks--especially B1G | Syracusefan.com

This would be problematic for league networks--especially B1G

SUinNYC said:
From Adweek:

http://www.adweek.com/news/television/cable-la-carte-makes-comeback-congress-149274
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If it passes, it will indeed be a devastating blow to the B1G.

It would be pretty humorous if the B1G added RU and UMd based on

1) a business model that was obsolete before these schools ever play a conference game, and

2) a desperate move to try and keep Penn State from leaving

and Penn State ends up leaving anyway.

Call it the RU curse. Whatever they touch dies immediately.
 
That would be FANTASTIC news for the ACC. I would guess there would be a "basic" package of channels offered by cable companies. One (or more) of these channels is bound to be ESPN.

And with the ACC/SEC affiliation with ESPN, it means that ACC/SEC games would be carried on a standard tier.
 
44PRIDE said:
That would be FANTASTIC news for the ACC. I would guess there would be a "basic" package of channels offered by cable companies. One (or more) of these channels is bound to be ESPN.

And with the ACC/SEC affiliation with ESPN, it means that ACC/SEC games would be carried on a standard tier.
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If this law passes (and I doubt it will--the lobbyists hold a great deal of sway), there would be no tiers. Just buy the channels you want and only the channels you want.
 
sutomcat said:
If it passes, it will indeed be a devastating blow to the B1G.

It would be pretty humorous if the B1G added RU and UMd based on

1) a business model that was obsolete before these schools ever play a conference game, and

2) a desperate move to try and keep Penn State from leaving

and Penn State ends up leaving anyway.

Call it the RU curse. Whatever they touch dies immediately.
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Exactly. The schadenfreude would be too rich.
 
If that bill passes the ACC and SEC should partner on a network with the SEC football and ACC basketball that network would on its own be required for any sports fan from Virgina thru Texas and own the South. Obviously the SEC wouldn't want to partner with the ACC, but if ESPN couldn't guarantee the SEC network on all cable boxes it would need more than just SEC football in the fall to keep customers beyond football season as the SEC basketball beyond Florida, Kentucky, and Missouri is putrid.
 
I don't think it's good for business to be honest! The cable and satellite companies will still charge you the same if not more in my opinion, they need to maintain their profit margins. Okay, you can opt out of espn but the cable companies are making money by advertising on espn, where's that money coming from now? Cable companies are in business to make money, if they don't get the money from ad space they will just charge people more for their services.
 
This will never, ever, ever pass.

Cable networks are built around the dual network stream (subscription fees + advertising). Even the big ones like ESPN and CNN go unwatched by millions, but still collect payment from each and every cable subscriber.

The cut in subscribers (and many people would cut channels they watch, just to save money) would put just about everybody out of business, not just the Big 10 Network.
 
Shermthegeneral said:
I don't think it's good for business to be honest! The cable and satellite companies will still charge you the same if not more in my opinion, they need to maintain their profit margins. Okay, you can opt out of espn but the cable companies are making money by advertising on espn, where's that money coming from now? Cable companies are in business to make money, if they don't get the money from ad space they will just charge people more for their services.
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What will happen is there will still be packages of channels. They will just have to accomodate those that want to buy ala carte. You want to pay for only those channels you want? Fine. Pick your channels at $1 per month per channel. Or, You can buy this package of 20 channels for $15, 50 channels for $30 or this package of 100 for $50. What you won't be able to do is "opt out" of certain channels included in a package. The average cable/saltellite customer will be unaffected. The companies will actually pick up new customers that don't want all the channels so don't have cable/satellite. It really is not a novel buisness concept. They're called package discounts, very common in my industry.
 
There is no way my house watches more than 20 channels in month:

NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TWC Sports, USA, Discovery, MSG, SNY, TNT, TBS, NICK, CARTOON, GOLF, TRU TV, CNN, DISNEY

$18.00, I'll take it.
 
HeaterCuse22 said:
There is no way my house watches more than 20 channels in month:

NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TWC Sports, USA, Discovery, MSG, SNY, TNT, TBS, NICK, CARTOON, GOLF, TRU TV, CNN, DISNEY

$18.00, I'll take it.
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Come on now Heater...ESPNU, CW, FOX, FOXSPORTS, SPIKE, FX, A&E, HISTORY, WE. These channels are almost must haves for many people. And some channels will only be available in packages. They'll figure out a way to comp0ly with this regulation and still make money. It'll be a good thing for some people, won't affect others.
 
LeMoyneCuse said:
This will never, ever, ever pass.

Cable networks are built around the dual network stream (subscription fees + advertising). Even the big ones like ESPN and CNN go unwatched by millions, but still collect payment from each and every cable subscriber.

The cut in subscribers (and many people would cut channels they watch, just to save money) would put just about everybody out of business, not just the Big 10 Network.
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I might have agreed with this 10 years ago but I don't anymore.

The problem for the cable networks is that ala carte is already here, via the Internet, and customers want ala carte, and are already deserting the TV options cable companies offer to get their content via the Internet. This is true of all customers, but more than any one with the coveted young audience.

Cable networks offering TV are going to have to adapt to the new world order if they want to stay relevant. Go ala carte or die.

To their credit, ESPN saw this coming and got into exclusive Internet based content with ESPN3 very early. They are much better positioned to deal with this paradigm shift than many others.

The ACC is paired with ESPN, so it is in excellent shape too.

Let's see how many people want to pay to see B1G programming in New Jersey when they have a choice whether they want to or not.

The winners will be the people that produce compelling must see content for viewers. The ones that can't do this are going to die or have their influence and profits reduced greatly. I know I can live without the vast majority of the channels I am forced to pay for right now to get the ones I care about.
 
IMO this is bad for sports fans. Right now the cost of ESPN is spread out across all subscribers. Once that is removed it will be up to the watchers only to foot the bill. ESPN and some other major hitters like MTV would become sub-premium options. You already buy HBO for $12/month ala carte. ESPN would most likely be as much or slightly less. I'm guessing about $10/month for major channels, $5 for stuff like Toon and Comedy Central, and your garbage stations would be $1 month like Fuel, Current TV, DIY, and the gardening channel. Don't be misled, TWC and ESPN are not about to start losing money because of John McCain or any other politician.
 
sutomcat said:
The problem for the cable networks is that ala carte is already here, via the Internet, and customers want ala carte, and are already deserting the TV options cable companies offer to get their content via the Internet. This is true of all customers, but more than any one with the coveted young audience.

Cable networks offering TV are going to have to adapt to the new world order if they want to stay relevant. Go ala carte or die.
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Part of the cost of cable or satellite is maintaining the infrastructure. Cable lines, home equipment, etc. Sure in this current market, internet is the way to go but we are already seeing a push back by ISP's attempting to prioritize traffic. ATT and Verizon are not going to let all that cable traffic suddenly run across their network, eating up their resources without asking someone to cough up some dough. Remember when internet was $29.99/month then 39.99/month and now providers are offering packages starting at $49.99/month. If cable dies and the providers have to support all the internet traffic then your cable bill might go down but don't be shocked when ISP bills start out at $99.99/month. Ala carte, Internet, or current models make no difference, someone in the chain is going to get paid.
 
Pyle said:
IMO this is bad for sports fans. Right now the cost of ESPN is spread out across all subscribers. Once that is removed it will be up to the watchers only to foot the bill. ESPN and some other major hitters like MTV would become sub-premium options. You already buy HBO for $12/month ala carte. ESPN would most likely be as much or slightly less. I'm guessing about $10/month for major channels, $5 for stuff like Toon and Comedy Central, and your garbage stations would be $1 month like Fuel, Current TV, DIY, and the gardening channel. Don't be misled, TWC and ESPN are not about to start losing money because of John McCain or any other politician.
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This is a big unknown, and the part most do not understand about a la carte. I think people look at the cable bill, divide it by the # of channels they get, and then assume that's the unit cost they'll pay for whatever channels they keep a la carte.

In reality, everyone is just going to get a bunch of HBOs, although that's the high end.

It's possible that people can use this to cheapen their cable bill, depending on how many channels they decide to keep. But it's nearly impossible to know that right now as this will blow up the current pricing structure.
 
cuseincincy said:
What will happen is there will still be packages of channels. They will just have to accomodate those that want to buy ala carte. You want to pay for only those channels you want? Fine. Pick your channels at $1 per month per channel. Or, You can buy this package of 20 channels for $15, 50 channels for $30 or this package of 100 for $50. What you won't be able to do is "opt out" of certain channels included in a package. The average cable/saltellite customer will be unaffected. The companies will actually pick up new customers that don't want all the channels so don't have cable/satellite. It really is not a novel buisness concept. They're called package discounts, very common in my industry.
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Not an expert on the subject but this sounds about right.
 
Many of the young adults are not even getting cable anymore. I think the B1G money projections will fall short.
 
personally, i dont want a la carte.

i like paying for everything. i find comfort in knowing i have every goddamn channel. that way if something good pops up on some obscure channel, i got it.

i dont want to have to go through the process of adding it to my system.

just give me the damn remote and i will find it (granted, i realize thats a skill ZERO cnyers have, but i digress).

Oh Lord
 
Pyle said:
Part of the cost of cable or satellite is maintaining the infrastructure. Cable lines, home equipment, etc. Sure in this current market, internet is the way to go but we are already seeing a push back by ISP's attempting to prioritize traffic. ATT and Verizon are not going to let all that cable traffic suddenly run across their network, eating up their resources without asking someone to cough up some dough. Remember when internet was $29.99/month then 39.99/month and now providers are offering packages starting at $49.99/month. If cable dies and the providers have to support all the internet traffic then your cable bill might go down but don't be shocked when ISP bills start out at $99.99/month. Ala carte, Internet, or current models make no difference, someone in the chain is going to get paid.
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As people use more bandwidth, yes, prices will rise for Internet access. But they won't ever get to the ridiculous levels consumers pay for cable TV today. There is too much competition with phone companies, satellite companies and wireless all also in the mix.

It won't be a 'I paid $200 a month for 200 channels, but only want 20, so I will now pay $20' type thing, but the money being paid for channels people didn't ever want that has been split up between the cable companies and the providers for years is/will be/should be greatly reduced.

The new model would be a lot more like Netflix than what we have been dealing with. People would pay for what they actually want, not what they get imposed on them. If this passes.

Not saying it is a given it will pass; I really don't know. I know the public wants it, so it should pass. But I understand that is a lot different than getting it to actually happen...
 
If this were to pass, I would pay for ESPN and ESPN2. That's it. Everything else (hell, even ESPN with watch espn) can be viewed online.

Count me in the young adult group who plans on cutting cable when I move apts in a month.
 
little guy will lose some how- thats the new american way-

cable companies must change or die- in less than 10 years most info entertainment will be interweb based imho
 
rosconey said:
little guy will lose some how- thats the new american way-

cable companies must change or die- in less than 10 years most info entertainment will be interweb based imho
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Most already is. You just need to know where to look :)

Like TV, but dont want to pay for hulu or netflix: http://www.sidereel.com/
Like movies, www.1channel.ch
Sports: Watch ESPN, CBS.com, 1st row sports

And there's plenty more like them out there.
 
KaiserUEO said:
personally, i dont want a la carte.

i like paying for everything. i find comfort in knowing i have every goddamn channel. that way if something good pops up on some obscure channel, i got it.

i dont want to have to go through the process of adding it to my system.

just give me the damn remote and i will find it (granted, i realize thats a skill ZERO cnyers have, but i digress).

Oh Lord
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You bet we are remote challenged. Between raking leaves and the Great New York State Fair we have no time for cable tv.
 
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