JoB
yes, i do believe that…
possibly only because their contracts with comcast and direct aren’t up yet…
but i would very much like to know what the business connection is between direct and Fisher because although direct was mentioned by name in their letter to their viewers.. comcast wasn’t… and that generally points to a business relationship somewhere…
Fisher doesn’t want part of the money that dish charges to receive all broadcast stations… they are already getting that… and as yet no-one has released any figures that would give us the information we could use to determine how much of what we pay dish for local programming is actually being paid out.
Fisher wants to be paid the same as cable networks… for content that is available over the airwaves for free…
that is why their list of costs per network don’t include any for broadcast television networks.
i can see why they want it..
what i can’t see is why you want to pay it.
especially since you can eliminate the cost altogether with an inexpensive set of rabbit ears…
of course, the fair way would be a pricing list that would allow you to select the stations you want to watch and pay only for those…
i suspect that even at what would be considered exorbitant rates, we would pay far less than half of the 70 a month we currently pay each month for our service… since our list of favorites includes less than 20 stations… and some of those are only listed for the illusion of selection when channel surfing.
We personally subsidize a lot of worthless television programming for those who think that the number of channels is equal to it’s content.
This is worth considering when companies start playing this blame game… it’s easier to vent your anger at DISH.. or KOMO right now than think about the bigger picture.
If we think that broadcast stations should demand the same revenue from satellite and other providers as that charged by cable networks… are we willing to pay for that?
And if broadcast networks make the transition to cable networks.. who will provide the services that were initially negotiated for citizens in the license agreements that those providers use for our airwaves? Are you willing to give up on the public broadcasting that is mandated now?
Are you willing to let television become a commodity that is available only to those who can afford satellite or cable service? Because when the broadcast towers are no the major source of profit for broadcast networks, what will force them to continue broadcasting?
This is so not just about what Dish pays KOMO.
though if you can be convinced of that it will be easier to let broadcast tv go the way of many other public services. Those who can afford will get the service.. the rest will be left in the dark.
are you ready to bet your future on being one of those who is never left in the dark?