We must remember that most cable companies are monopolistic organizations granted franchises by the communities in which they operate. They don't like to play fair, and eschew any attempts to open their systems. But the public and local governments must continue to push them to do so.
They often own or have stakes in channels or programming they want to keep bottled up also - especially sports programming. Take sports programming here in Philadelphia.
It's the ultimate in vertical integration: they sell the tickets, own the ballpark/arena/stadium, own the team, produce the tv programming, sell the advertising (both in the arean and tv ads), own the distribution (which is legally limited to cable/FiOS only), rent you the set top box, etc. And that's without the internet access and/or telephone service bundled in.
It's a mad merry -go-round of money passing from consumers to corporations, and between sub-entities of corporations. Lots of people making lots of money selling the same product over and over again. No wonder they don't want anyone encroaching on their turf.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ryan @ Jun 19th 2007 11:51AM
We must remember that most cable companies are monopolistic organizations granted franchises by the communities in which they operate. They don't like to play fair, and eschew any attempts to open their systems. But the public and local governments must continue to push them to do so.
They often own or have stakes in channels or programming they want to keep bottled up also - especially sports programming. Take sports programming here in Philadelphia.
It's the ultimate in vertical integration: they sell the tickets, own the ballpark/arena/stadium, own the team, produce the tv programming, sell the advertising (both in the arean and tv ads), own the distribution (which is legally limited to cable/FiOS only), rent you the set top box, etc. And that's without the internet access and/or telephone service bundled in.
It's a mad merry -go-round of money passing from consumers to corporations, and between sub-entities of corporations. Lots of people making lots of money selling the same product over and over again. No wonder they don't want anyone encroaching on their turf.