Experts: Comcast's Acquisition of NBC May End Free TV

Submitted by Anne Landman on

Increasingly, media moguls, national journalists and Wall Street experts are predicting that cable provider Comcast's acquisition of NBC will lead to the end of free broadcast television. Numerous outlets have reported that Rupert Murdoch, founder of Fox News Channel's parent company NewsCorp, is actively pushing to end the long-time television business model where advertising dollars pay for programming. Murdoch has said that his television properties cannot afford to continue offering free programming to viewers. Currently, local stations are offered to cable and satellite TV subscribers as "free," but this could change as networks are acquired by cable companies. Associated Press media reporter Andrew Vanacore says, "The business model is unraveling at ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and the local stations that carry the networks' programming ... Cable TV and the Web have fractured the audience for free TV and siphoned its ad dollars. The recession has squeezed advertising further, forcing broadcasters to accelerate their push for new revenue to pay for programming."

Main Source: 
San Fernando Valley Business Journal, December 29, 2009
Topics: 
Corporations
Media

Comments

Anonymous replied on

We are dependent on free television for entertainment and information,
but we can get those from other sources. I wonder about all the money
the government spent (our tax dollars) on the coupons for the digital
converters for people with antennas. We bought two converters but had
a forty dollar coupon for each. How about the American public standing
up and boycotting products advertised on TV? We don't do this very much
anymore because there are those who will put up with anything as mentioned
in a previous post.
I plan on stocking up on dvds so I will have something to watch;
we have never had cable television and won't ever get cable; we have seen it at other homes; it's awful.

Anonymous replied on

Why in the first place did they shut off analog because digital reception is ify. Any weather change and its not clear your lucky if you get one channel let alone all the channels you would receive with analog and if you have satilite it completely shuts down. This is just another way the rich are trying to control the poor ie: politicians lining their pockets with the money they receive from the networks or rather kick backs from lobbyists that work for the politicians that have passed this requirement to have only digital TV. Some Networks that pay politicians to monopilize the airways. Slowly the government is gaining control of everything. Social security, medicare, healthcare, taxes, and now our freedom to watch tv you cant tell me they dont get enough money from their sponsores to support the networks. I've had both cable which give you a deal to lure your in when you first get their service but when the contract is over they double the price without any warning shut you off if you dont pay then charge you when you havent even got their service anymore for up to 2 monthes even after the contract is up this is true it happened to me. Satilite tells you get your equipment free and hook up is free then increase you rate without telling you and even charge more for service you already have. Then wonder why poor people, more the young group, hack into their internet connection and airwaves. WHO CAN AFFORD IT REALLY?

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