[live local tv] all hail Aereo ... **** just got real!

are you talking about the premium channels? Like, say, HBO. HBO is already an extra charge on top of your cable subscription. If the price was the same for say, a standalone streaming app monthly charge, HBO would still be getting a similar benefit financially, wouldn't it?

 

But you have to understand that HBO doesn't work in a vacuum. They make the majority of their money by subs through cable/satellite companies. Similarly, the cable/satellite companies rely on premium channels like HBO to bring in normal subs.
If HBO were to offer a streaming only option, they would be hurting their partners since that option provides no benefits to cable/satellite companies.

 

True, but the majority of cable channels would never survive like that. They NEED toe income which comes with being included on the basic tier.

If the Game Show Network, to name a channel completely at random, were to only receive the income from subscribers who went out of their way to pay EXTRA for that channel, it would fold within a month.

That's why CSN and other RSNs will never do a-la carte - that will never make them enough money.

While I like the large number of choices we get because of this system, I don't think it really needs to stay as an 'all or nothing' situation, as it is now.

I think it would be preferable if cable companies would offer something like a 'chose your 100 channels' tier, so we would still be subsidizing the majority of channels, but then we could still have some say over what we want and don't want, which would allow everyone more flexibility without starving the niche channels to death.

This would also allow the market to help determine which channels should actually survive, while ultimately making things a bit cheaper for subscribers AND letting the RSN's into the party as well.

As it is, the consumer really doesn't have the normal market power of 'voting with our wallets' ..

 

The cable/sat companies already know what the market wants... or at least what they view. With the modern receivers they get all the stats they need in regards to that. The reason why Game Show Network can survive is just enough people watch that the miniscule amount per subscriber they charge can cover their expenses. And the cable/sat companies are willing to keep them on lineup just so they can show their bloated numbers of 100 more channels than our competitors.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Aereo tells customers it is temporarily suspending online video streaming service after <a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#SCOTUS">#SCOTUS</a> loss. Company "mapping out next steps."</p>&mdash; Brent Kendall (@brkend) <a href="https://twitter.com/brkend/status/482879499093028865" data-datetime="2014-06-28T13:33:38+00:00">June 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Yup, shuts down in 34 minutes. Still up and running on my kitchen TV.

 

Right, but justtx was saying it wasn't feasible financially. Which is why I was asking about the 'premium' channels. I understand that there are only a few channels that have that kind of pull, which means that 1)the subscriber packages would still exist for the cable/sat companies, as the Game Show Network has no desire (or ability) to simply go standalone and 2) a channel like HBO has the streaming option and still is available for the cable companies to offer as part of a package.

HBO isn't losing anything subscriber wise, as if someone wants the channel they are paying either way. So to them at least it would seem more feasible, but that's why I was curious.

For the Game Show Network, nothing really changes as people still access it the same way.

The question of course would be just how big a number is represented by the people who have cable only, for example, for HBO, as the cable companies would see subscriber numbers drop. This of course is their primary fear. But, this is happening anyway, right? Subscriber numbers have dropped, a whole generation is growing up with a lot more options available to them than in the past and maybe less inclined to keep paying (or at least paying so much).

I think Nero's 'choose your channel' idea is maybe one option for them. But either way it seems to me that the model they are clinging to is going to change whether they want it to or not.