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November 08, 2005
Comcast "Power Play"
Thanks to Tivo, I know when my cable provider moves channels around the lineup. Comcast owns the Outdoor Life Network, which until this year (when it snagged NHL broadcast rights) featured the Professional Bull Riders' circuit as its pinnacle programming. It was also stuck in some bad real estate, channel number 81 or something like that, way at the back of the basic lineup and over some wasteland cable "flyover" territory on the way to the premium channels in the 300 range.
Not anymore! The lowly Spike TV, with its Park Place like real estate at Channel 41 (right between the news networks and ESPN) was shifted to OLN's old home and OLN swapped with Discovery Channel (at 44) to be snuggled right next to ESPN.
Why should I care? Well, with Comcast's near monopoly like grip on my area's cable consumption, today it is the harmless moving of the OLN, but tomorrow it could be a choice between Comcast's news network and CNN (or Fox news). I watch maybe 30 channels, with a margin of error of +/- 10, but I pay nearly $77/month for those channels. I'm pretty sure the technology exists that I could just pick those 30 channels maybe for $50 instead of $77, and ironically OLN might be one of them, but I don't see that on the table.
Just thought I'd bring that up. Comcast wants you not just to pay them for cable, but to monopolize as much of your cable viewing as possible on Comcast owned channels like OLN. Deregulation should mean choice for cable consumers. We aren't getting it in terms of providers, and that may be justifiable if Comcast owns the line. But if we can't get it in providers (as Comcast has fought against) we should at least get it in choice of channels and the ability not to pay for "content" we don't want. Remember that the next time you hear some conservative extoll the virtues of deregulation that completely benefits the utility without offering anything of value to the consumer.
Posted by Chris at November 8, 2005 02:01 AM
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