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[brad2971]

- Those who wish of “a la carte” TV channels should be very careful what they wish for, as they just might get it.  A la carte is totally anti-consumer.  The bundle protects the consumer and makes the 1000s of off-beat niche channels available.  Without it, most would not ever have existed. 

If you don't care about a niche cable channel enough to want to pay for it, why would you care whether it existed in the first place?

I think his point is that you might be unpleasantly surprised at how many channels you think are "not niche" but end up being considered too "niche" to exist anymore.  Especially channels like Turner Classic Movies:  without it, where would TV viewers go to watch old black-and-white horror flicks on Halloween?

Then there are channels like REELZ that are "niche" but quickly turn into "Not Niche" upon signing up Police Scanner TV (aka On Patrol Live). BTW, Turner Classic Movies and the Hallmark channels have been consistently popular channels since those channels first came to cable and satellite. People are more than willing to upgrade their cable/satellite packages to get them, even with the presence of Hallmark Movies NOW as a streaming app.

[brad2971]

Given its large presence in Orlando, it really is surprising that Disney does not own the station there.

You would be astounded at who owns which stations in markets that have NFL teams. For example, Houston is one of the top 10 TV markets in this country, and the CBS affiliate there is changing ownership from Tegna to COX Media Group. This is despite the fact that CBS has the AFC contract and the Houston Texans play in the AFC.

[kphoger]

BTW, Turner Classic Movies and the Hallmark channels have been consistently popular channels since those channels first came to cable and satellite. People are more than willing to upgrade their cable/satellite packages to get them, even with the presence of Hallmark Movies NOW as a streaming app.

Upgrade their cable/satellite bundle to include channel packages that include them?  If every channel is a la carte, then it could be that all the channels in those packages drop below the threshold of "niche".

[brad2971]

BTW, Turner Classic Movies and the Hallmark channels have been consistently popular channels since those channels first came to cable and satellite. People are more than willing to upgrade their cable/satellite packages to get them, even with the presence of Hallmark Movies NOW as a streaming app.

Upgrade their cable/satellite bundle to include channel packages that include them?  If every channel is a la carte, then it could be that all the channels in those packages drop below the threshold of "niche".

Yes, Turner Classic Movies and the Hallmark channels are very valuable cable properties. There's a reason why Hallmark Cards won't sell those channels to the likes of, say, A&E Networks (which have their own valuable properties in Lifetime, LMN, and History).

Compare this to, say, regional sports networks. Both NBC/Comcast and ATT are trying to sell their regional sports channels due to not wanting the headache anymore. And when it comes to Bally Sports channels, let's just say those 22 channels would not fetch the estimated $3 billion net present value (down from the original asking price of $20 billion in 2019, and still down from the $10 billion they did get from a subsidiary of Sinclair) if Bally Sports was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Think about THAT the next time someone tells you sports is supposed to be cable/satellite's savior.

[ErmineNotyours]

...
Streaming one's local station for CBS is possible with Paramount+.  I don't recall if the same is true with NBC and Peacock or not.  Disney has chosen not to do the same with ABC and FOX.  PBS actually allows such streaming for free online.  The CW is co-owned by two companies, which complicates things.

...

The FOX entertainment division is owned by Disney, so wouldn't that make Hulu/Disney+ the streaming apps for FOX just like they are for ABC?

The FOX over-the-air broadcast sports and entertainment network is still owned by News Corp.  Disney made them remove the searchlights from their logo, and the old studio is now called 20th Century Studios.  Ironic, because Fox was the first network that was owned by a studio and could use the synergy of running their own shows.  (Their first hit was Married... With Children, owned by Embassy and then Columbia Pictures.)  Now they're the first network not owned by a studio.

[mgk920]

Rename themselves to '21st century'?

Mike

[hbelkins]

How does location even work on something like a laptop which doesn't have cellular connection, GPS or anything else that determines location?

IP addresses can be geolocated, with caveats. (At my last two jobs, our IP address geolocated to Ada, Oklahoma, about 90 minutes away from where I actually worked, since that was where company headquarters was and thus where our network traffic was routed through.)

My work computer thinks it's in Frankfort.

OTOH, my work cell phone (Verizon) often thinks it's in Indianapolis, no matter where it's physically located.

[zachary_amaryllis]

When are we finally going to eliminate the middle man "providers" and be able to subscribe to channels directly?

There's always a middleman. That's the whole object of a business, is to be a middleman between a producer, and a consumer. Everybody gets a piece of the action, except the customer, who gets... yeah.