Comcast Dispute Nearing End??? THEY"RE GOING DOWN!!!

[OSUBlazerfan]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704320104575015133103866518.html

WASHINGTON–The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday voted to stop cable operators from withholding local sports channels from rivals, a move that could give consumers more choice in pay-TV providers.

The 4-1 FCC vote ends the so-called "terrestrial loophole" that's been used by cable operators, including Comcast Corp. and Cablevision Systems Corp., to withhold local sports programming from rivals such as Verizon Communications Inc.

Satellite operators and phone companies have complained the loophole has put them at a competitive disadvantage since many ...

 

[Natebishop3]

Owned.

 

[blue32]

YES! I can finally change to FIOS once they get it in HD!
BoO ya!! fuck you comcast!

 

[chris_in_pdx]

I'll believe it when I see it show up on my DirecTV channel listing. Until then, it's just more talk.

 

[hasoos]

Man I surely hope that my FCC complaints I lodged against them helped.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

This vote was supposed to happen before X-Mas break, but didn't. That's why the Blazers had felt confident about something working out by New Year's. Personally, I'm glad to see it happen finally. I'd love to go back to dish or go to FIOS.

 

[yakbladder]

From a little bit of research it appears Comcast was doing this all over the place.

But then the question becomes - are they really withholding it from Dish? I mean, they could just tell Dish they want to charge $50 per user for the channel and they technically wouldn't be "withholding". That's a grey area.

 

[Paxil]

They will just provide some shitty SD feed. I am very happy for the ruling though.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

Even though I have Comcast...I still hate them.

Had to file a complaint with the Oregon Dept of Justice over a refund they owed me... that and they always show that tool "Softy" on their channel.

 

[THE HCP]

My man said that Comcast is bigger then the FCC!

 

[hasoos]

My man said that Comcast is bigger then the FCC!

It's not the size of the stick, it's the magic in the wand!

 

[Wheels]

I'm with Chris.. as soon as its offered on my Dish Network, I'm not getting my hopes up. Or if its only Directv.. then I swear I will switch.

 

[hasoos]

I fully expect all companies that depend on wire/fiber running all the way to your home to go under as soon as we get a wireless network connectivity that is fast and dependable enough to make them obsolete. It is justa matter of time.

 

[BlazersBlood]

Well, I wonder how long it's going to take to take effect. I am very happy I didn't cave to Comcast. Fuck them and I'm happy that I'll be able to stick to my Directv, have my Sunday Ticket, & my Blazers all in one service soon.

 

[Wheels]

one thing I wonder though.. are we going to get OSN where it has the Ducks shows, and Courtside and stuff.. or is it just gonne be like FSN was with the Blazers where you watched them on one of the ALT channels that stops broadcasting right after the game.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

I fully expect all companies that depend on wire/fiber running all the way to your home to go under as soon as we get a wireless network connectivity that is fast and dependable enough to make them obsolete. It is justa matter of time.

I don't see this happening for many, many, many years if ever. The dependability of a wired connection alone makes it worth the effort. I don't know if wireless will ever be sufficient enough to completely replace a wired connection. IMHO.

 

[hasoos]

I don't see this happening for many, many, many years if ever. The dependability of a wired connection alone makes it worth the effort. I don't know if wireless will ever be sufficient enough to completely replace a wired connection. IMHO.

It might be a few years but it will happen. I know for a fact there are a few towns testing wirelesss DWDM connections now(and have been for many years). I have also read about many military networks which will eventually trickle down to the public. All of them are high speed, encrypted, and wireless.

 

[andalusian]

I fully expect all companies that depend on wire/fiber running all the way to your home to go under as soon as we get a wireless network connectivity that is fast and dependable enough to make them obsolete. It is justa matter of time.

Only if they are dumb enough not to buy some of the wireless infrastructure technology themselves.

TV set-tops were not killed by Tivo - the content providers just provided their own boxes with DVR functionality.

The same will happen for most big content providers worth their salt, if wireless really becomes as fast and reliable in mass production.

 

[hasoos]

Only if they are dumb enough not to buy some of the wireless infrastructure technology themselves.

TV set-tops were not killed by Tivo - the content providers just provided their own boxes with DVR functionality.

The same will happen for most big content providers worth their salt, if wireless really becomes as fast and reliable in mass production.

Yep it might. It all matters what business practices they choose to keep following. If they make a poor choice and choose to continue to support technology which requires the upkeep of mass infrastructure, then good luck with that. You are correct about Tivo to a certain extent, except that Tivo did sue most of those companies and won. But this won't be the same. That was a proprietary technology. I pretty much assume there will be a networking standard, and any company that is willing to purchase the hardware and infrastructure to put it in place, will be allowed to do so. But at the same time, because you don't have to lay Fiber to every home, or copper, I expect that more companies will be able to start up their own service easier. Kind of like how Clear functions now, but better.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

It might be a few years but it will happen. I know for a fact there are a few towns testing wirelesss DWDM connections now(and have been for many years). I have also read about many military networks which will eventually trickle down to the public. All of them are high speed, encrypted, and wireless.

It will be more than a few years before companies that depend on wired connections are obsolete and out of business in the U.S.

 

[andalusian]

Yep it might. It all matters what business practices they choose to keep following. If they make a poor choice and choose to continue to support technology which requires the upkeep of mass infrastructure, then good luck with that. You are correct about Tivo to a certain extent, except that Tivo did sue most of those companies and won.

What did they win? Some extra time to prolong their death? Their monthly cancellation rate is up to 1.7% from 1.4% last year.

Unless something unexpected happens - I just think they will continue to circle the drain.

But this won't be the same. That was a proprietary technology. I pretty much assume there will be a networking standard, and any company that is willing to purchase the hardware and infrastructure to put it in place, will be allowed to do so. But at the same time, because you don't have to lay Fiber to every home, or copper, I expect that more companies will be able to start up their own service easier. Kind of like how Clear functions now, but better.

The big difference, however, is that the cable companies have the customers and the infrastructure to deliver the content (agreements with the channels, billing etc...). As long as they are competitive with the other service providers - they have a good chance of winning the battle simply because they have the power of "momentum" behind them. People do not like to make changes if there are no drastic differences in service.

Smart companies adapt to technological changes. At the moment, the cable companies have a distinct advantage in some areas (not TV service, but internet services are much faster and robust over FIOS than over wireless means, for example) - so they are right to retain their already built infrastructure. When the technology renders the advantages moot - I am sure they will be smart enough to make the change.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Great news! I'd like to see someone interview an "expert" on all this and see how this will effect the CSN/Dish situation.

 

[Sug]

Fucking socialist bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[THE HCP]

Great news! I'd like to see someone interview an "expert" on all this and see how this will effect the CSN/Dish situation.

Tell 'em to give me a call!

 

[BlazerBenner]

Now if we could only get them to do the reverse.

Stop showing the Seahawks in Portland.

 

[BlazerBenner]

That's stupid. Comcast should be able to retain those rights because DirectTV and Dish wanted nothing to do with the TrailBlazers when everyone in Portland still hated the team and there were 8,000 fans showing up every night at the games.

If the FCC is going to stick their noses in where it doesn't belong, then they should make their noses completely brown and stick it all the way in and make all Sports Franchises available to all companies.

Portland gets screwed with the NFL because they are force fed the crappy Seahawks every week of every year whether you like it or not, unless you get DirectTV. Make it completely fair or don't do anything at all (which they shouldn't be doing in the first place). Comcast's contract will end soon with the Blazers and then it will open to renegotiate among Portland and all cable companies after that.

This has Obama and his socialism crap written all over it.

 

[Paxil]

Actually... on second thought this doesn't change anything with the Blazers. Comcast is already offering the channel. I don't see that this changes anything.

There was somewhere where the channel *wasn't* being offered.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

This has Obama and his socialism crap written all over it.

 

[hasoos]

What did they win? Some extra time to prolong their death? Their monthly cancellation rate is up to 1.7% from 1.4% last year.

Unless something unexpected happens - I just think they will continue to circle the drain.



The big difference, however, is that the cable companies have the customers and the infrastructure to deliver the content (agreements with the channels, billing etc...). As long as they are competitive with the other service providers - they have a good chance of winning the battle simply because they have the power of "momentum" behind them. People do not like to make changes if there are no drastic differences in service.

Smart companies adapt to technological changes. At the moment, the cable companies have a distinct advantage in some areas (not TV service, but internet services are much faster and robust over FIOS than over wireless means, for example) - so they are right to retain their already built infrastructure. When the technology renders the advantages moot - I am sure they will be smart enough to make the change.

Once again you don't get it. With Wireless, you don't have to build much infrastructure. That's the whole point of having it be wireless. Look how quick Clear rolled out, from concept to being online. It was fast. That is all because you don't have to build the infrastructure at the level the other companies do. The main point being, as long as we have more competition, everybody gets a cheaper better product in the end.

Now as for your Tivo stats, what do they have to do with this? As I said before, Tivo isn't a good comparison for this market. Tivo is a gadget. We are talking about supplying bandwidth. Bandwidth is a commodity. You don't compare a commodity to a electronic device for market decisions.

 

[andalusian]

Once again you don't get it. With Wireless, you don't have to build much infrastructure.

I think you do not get the idea that I call infrastructure more than the mechanism to deliver the content. It is the agreements with the content providers, it is the software to handle on-demand content and limit customers to the content they purchased, it is the billing in the place.

The big cable companies will have to stay on their toes - that's true for every company in every field when a big technological change happens - but, if they are good at what they do - and understand the technology and are not married to it because of "religious" reasons (NIH, in other words) - they are at a prime position to make the change quickly, cheaply and not lose any ground.

Now as for your Tivo stats, what do they have to do with this? As I said before, Tivo isn't a good comparison for this market. Tivo is a gadget. We are talking about supplying bandwidth. Bandwidth is a commodity. You don't compare a commodity to a electronic device for market decisions.

Tivo is a service, not a gadget. There are many different types of gadgets Tivo sold over it's existence, but the unifying part of it - was the service - the ability to record shows quickly, easily and see them when you want as you wish. It's a service, which is exactly what the cable companies provide - they provide a service of communication and entertainment. The way this service gets to your consumption is nothing more than a technical detail. This is the entire point of the argument.