Of course we all know all this and presently, you may be getting the Essentials set-up from your cable provider, or perhaps the next level up, a Medium assortment. It is the norm in cable business, but it seems to be in favour of cable companies and channel owners to all make money.
And the latest studies conclude that the TV viewing public (middle class) is gravitating AWAY from cable television because of ineffective bundling.
The fly in the ethereal ointment is that the cable companies bundle everything. You might get the network TV channels, news channels and some local channels, but anything else you want, will come at extra cost. And this is what the buying public doesn't like.
If you want Speed or HBO, for instance, you'll have to take the Kardassians channel, the National Quilting and Tatting channel, and three cartoon channels. Lots of people have channels they are paying for but have never ever switched on to!
So what the government is proposing, is for you to pick the channels you want, and pay for them individually. Which is what we all want. Seems totally reasonable. But this idea seems totally new to them. More proof that they don't listen to the buying public when the old guys club is running things.
A great idea to me would be for you to take the Essential channels for a basic price, and then pay, say, a buck or two bucks per channel after that. And if the cable companies think they are losing money on that deal, you'd have to pick enough channels to make it profitable for your cable provider to operate. It might cost you the same, but you'd get something you're interested in watching!
Many of the small cable companies would welcome such a deal because it would allow them to cater to a certain demographic, a profitable group of TV watchers for them! And would allow the entry into the market of many specialty channels not offered presently!
And the general trend in TV viewing is to watch what you want on the internet or Netflix. The key here is that it is what you WANT!
But to many of us poor public, we are farced ... (Freudian slip) forced, to take those obscure channels that literally NO ONE watches. It was expressed recently by a cable adviser, that if 200 people want to see the Poodle Grooming Specialty channel, no one would pay to have it so it gets bundled. If you like the Total Violence and Mayhem channel, today you have to take Tree-Top Children too. So wouldn't a fair play be the one that forces those 200 people to watch brushing a dog on the web instead on mainstream cable?
The catering is backwards. And TV is generally worried because many thousands or even millions of people are now getting their TV from the web. Not good for TV advertisers. Corporations like NBC, CBS, ABC and basically all of them are wondering what the future holds for them?
Ah, but here's the rub: Joe Friendly wants to start his own TV channel, say about Funeral Home Families, call it Ted and Dead. But Joe needs to get his channel bundled to make a profit. So how does he go about getting the CRTC to add his channel to the lineup and cash in on bundling?
Hmm. Let's just say, just say ......
Mr. Joe Friendly approaches the Power Person in the business who can get things done, like a listing, the business being the CTRC, and Joe says, "What'll it take for me to get in on this cash cow?"
Power Person shrugs, "Oh it's so hard, there's no way."
"Way," says business savvy Joe Friendly. "What if I had a budget for getting a listing, say, $30,000?"
"How would that work, innocent Power Person asks?" A sparkle beginning to appear in his eye.
"Well,", say Joe, "if we were to get listed and bundled, it would guarantee us a sizable profit. And we ARE a generous company."
"Yes, indeed it would, Joe, even if no one watches your funeral homes and those who live within their cool walls."
"So you see then? I could put you on our TV channel studies panel. As an adviser. So it would be a totally legitimate transaction. An honorarium for your expertise.""Yes Joe, I do see, it would," and Mr. Power then inquires, "and how would that honorarium come about? "
Joe Friendly is quick to reply, "Old bills in a plain brown envelope."
"We'll bundle you with CNN, CBC, Ted Talks and the Walking Dead, how's that?"
"Perfect."
Of course, EVERYTHING is bundled with the NSA and CCTV these days too.
Meanwhile the Government is bundling up their propaganda for an election and helping the middle class seems like a good platform idea ... even if it's a lie and comes bundled with Harper, Trudeau and Mulcair.
