[BC] HDTV

[Robert Meuser]

Well for a start, my cable company does not charge extra for HD nor does it 
charge extra for the equipment to receive it.

R

Alan Kline wrote:
> Here's a philosophical question for the group:  Why is it OK for one of
> the national cable networks (ESPN-HD, HBO, or whatever) to seek and
> receive payment from cable companies for their HD product, but when a
> local broadcaster does the same, it's seen as trying to "extract" money
> from the cable system?
> 
> The cable companies are making money selling our HD product to
> subscribers--they're not giving it away.  Why should we (TV broadcasters)
> simply *give away* the product they're selling?  If a person walks into
> Sears or WalMart, they can be sure that the retailer paid the manufacturer
> for the products on display.  Why is it any different in broadcasting?
> Also, keep in mind that local cable operators compete with broadcasters
> for local ad sales.  Why should we just give away our premium product to a
> competitor?
> 
> Then, to add insult to injury, the same cable companies that take our
> product and expect to pay nothing for it, twist and skew the Nielsen
> ratings in such a way that makes the so-called "cable networks" look like
> they perform better than they really would if accurately compared with
> broadcast networks.
> 
> Yes, I know...I haven't had my Wheaties this morning.  As I'm sure one and
> all can see, this is one of my pet peeves...
> 
> ak
> 
> On Wed, 8 Feb 2006, Scott Fybush wrote:
> 
> 
>>There's a terrific irony here...
>>
>>...yup, the same Nexstar Broadcasting that put WROC-DT here in Rochester
>>on the air with a whopping 1740 watts of power and no HD capability at
>>all. (That was before they did something to their encoder a few months
>>ago that caused even the weak SD signal to be undecodable on my DTV
>>tuner and every other DTV tuner I've checked out in town.)
>>
>>If I want CBS HD in Rochester, I need the big rooftop antenna pointed at
>>Buffalo or Syracuse.
>>
>>(And even when they finally get HD on the air here, sometime in the
>>spring, they're trying to extract cash from the cable company for
>>carriage, so cable customers still won't see it.)
>>
>>Want HDTV? Be careful, indeed...
> 
> 
> 
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