A-la-carte cable - was Radio Disney

[kenwvt@gmail.com]

Your never going to see a la carte cable. That shipped has sailed.

-Ken

On Mar 3, 2009 7:30pm, Kevin Vahey <kvahey@comcast.net> wrote:
> I think al-la-carte will happen sooner or later as the cost of basic

> cable has gotten way out of hand. Consumers blame the cable company as

> they are unaware of how much the companies have to pay for channels.



> Irony is ESPN almost went belly up in 1981 as they were PAYING systems

> a nickle per subscriber just to be carried. When the mouse got NFL

> games in 1987 it all changed. Today Disney gets almost $7 a month from

> all basic cable homes. NESN is getting a little more than $2.



> The system seems to work well in Canada. Disney will fight this tooth

> and nail but given the economic climate right now I can not see it

> being stopped.



> CBC and the CRTC are at war however over WGN Chicago showing NHL games

> on Saturday. WGN can not show NHL games on the superstation in the US

> but in Canada only the Chicago feed is allowed by the CRTC. Same

> applies to channel 17 out of Atlanta which is now local Peachtree TV

> but it is carried in Canada as TBS is not allowed.





> On 3/3/09, Doug Drown revdoug1@myfairpoint.net> wrote:

> > This may in part explain why we're still getting WMTW while WVII in  
> Bangor

> > was added to our cable system about two years ago. It will be  
> interesting

> > to see how this all plays out within the next year. WLBZ in Bangor was  
> also

> > added in 2007, while WCSH, curiously, was retained (at about the same  
> time

> > NBC WeatherPlus was put on the air. I'm not sure that was a  
> coincidence).

> > What's more, we have been receiving both WABI-TV and WGME for years. The

> > owner of the cable company says that FCC regulations required it to  
> begin

> > carrying the Bangor stations, as we live a good deal nearer Bangor than

> > Portland. The company plans to drop the Portland stations later in 2009.

> > Given the ESPN deal, though, I wonder if that'll include WMTW?

> >

> > Personally, I'd LOVE to see a la carte cable.

> >

> > -Doug

> >

> > ----- Original Message -----

> > From: "Kevin Vahey" kvahey@comcast.net>

> > To: "Doug Drown" revdoug1@myfairpoint.net>

> > Cc: "(newsgroup) Boston-Radio-Interest"

> > boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>

> > Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 6:04 PM

> > Subject: Re: Radio Disney

> >

> >

> >> More than likely your system carries WMTW or WMUR (owned by Hearst)

> >> which owns 20 percent of ESPN. Hearst years back told the former Media

> >> One they could not carry WCVB unless they picked up the then new ESPN2

> >>

> >> The reason Comcast desperately tried to buy Disney is the enormous

> >> fees they pay the mouse for programming fees.

> >>

> >> A-la-carte is a cat Mickey Mouse is very scared of.

> >>

> >> On 3/3/09, Doug Drown revdoug1@myfairpoint.net> wrote:

> >>>> On the cable side an operator has no choice but to carry The Disney

> >>>> Channel at a hefty fee because otherwise they can't carry ESPN

> >>> unless they pick up Mickey.

> >>>

> >>> If that's the case, either we're gettin' cheated up here or somebody  
> has

> >>> found a loophole. Our local cable system carries both ESPN and ESPN 2,

> >>> but

> >>> we don't get Disney. I've often wondered why.

> >>> -Doug

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>> ----- Original Message -----

> >>> From: "Kevin Vahey" kvahey@comcast.net>

> >>> To: "Doug Drown" revdoug1@myfairpoint.net>; "(newsgroup)

> >>> Boston-Radio-Interest" boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>

> >>> Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 11:27 AM

> >>> Subject: Re: Radio Disney

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>>I saw in the Chicago Tribune yesterday that Paul Harvey was

> >>>> responsible for ninety percent of the income of ABC Radio Network.

> >>>>

> >>>> Also the story noted that Citadel was officially dislisted by the  
> NYSE

> >>>> the day before Harvey died.

> >>>>

> >>>> Disney thinks enough of the Radio Disney franchise that they bought

> >>>> 1260. On the cable side an operator has no choice but to carry The

> >>>> Disney Channel at a hefty fee because otherwise they can't carry ESPN

> >>>> unless they pick up Mickey.

> >>>>

> >>>> On 3/3/09, Doug Drown revdoug1@myfairpoint.net> wrote:

> >>>>> Interesting how Disney/ABC can continue to run Radio Disney and ESPN

> >>>>> but

> >>>>> felt financially compelled to spin off the other radio networks and  
> the

> >>>>> radio O&Os. I guess it tells us something about demographics and the

> >>>>> state

> >>>>> of things. -Doug

> >>>>>

> >>>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>

> >

> >