[no subject]

["Kevin Vahey" <k-vahey@attbi.com>]

More of the same on the Cape


                              
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/biz/atrapped31.htm

                              Once upon a time when cable companies were 
bidding for the right to wire a town
                              promises were made. In many cases a SMALL 
portion of the cable bill was set aside for
                              LOCAL ORIGINATION ( not to be confused with 
public access ) This was supposed to fund
                              local newscasts. As companies merged 
MediaOne, then ATT and now Comcast have tried to
                              say that a station like ATT3 meets that 
obligation.

                              Not being privy to the books but I would 
have to think local news on the Cape and in
                              Lowell at least broke even. ( course with 
accounting who knows ) On the other hand I
                              can not see how Lowell Lock Monster games 
make any money either and those games are
                              not cheap to produce.

                              ESPN is the best example of how cable has 
changed. When it first started Getty Oil (
                              the orginal owner ) had to PAY a cable 
company a certain amount a month per subscriber
                              NOW the cable company pays a huge fee to 
ESPN. ( and Disney/Hearst bundle a good chunk
                              of stations together ) Here in Boston they 
played hardball by saying you don't want to
                              pay for ESPN? Fine you can't carry WCVB 
either. The threat was never carried out here
                              but it was done in New York City when WABC 
vanished for a couple of days 2 years ago
                              from Time Warner systems.

                              Now that dish companies are providing local 
stations in even the smallest markers
                              cable is only going to shrink but the cost 
of programming issue will remain.