John McCain's bill on Cable Industry

[jim49er]

The legislation would force cable companies and satellite TV providers to give consumers an option to pick and choose which channels they get. This is called "à la carte programming," and it's long been a dream of consumers who only want a handful of channels.

http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-wants-to-blow-up-the-cable-industry-as-we-currently-know-it-2013-5

[VIDEODROME]

Uhh...yeah...

This seems like something for the marketplace to work out. Even if people do find the Cable and Satellite providers annoying.

[heavenlyboy34]

I'm pretty sure some dish services already offer this. It's still stupid for congress to be meddling in this. :P

[VIDEODROME]

John McCain probably just had an argument with his satellite provider over his subscription and this is his way to stick it to them.

[kathy88]

John McCain probably just had an argument with his satellite provider over his subscription and this is his way to stick it to them.
He was pissed they didn't offer any gay porn channels.

[angelatc]

The legislation would force cable companies and satellite TV providers to give consumers an option to pick and choose which channels they get. This is called "à la carte programming," and it's long been a dream of consumers who only want a handful of channels.

http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-wants-to-blow-up-the-cable-industry-as-we-currently-know-it-2013-5

Dumbassery.

[jim49er]

He was pissed they didn't offer any gay porn channels.

I was thinking the Military channel wasn't in his subscription.

[JK/SEA]

The bill would also end NFL blackouts.

[fr33]

It would probably make cable and satellite more expensive for everyone and cause more channels to join the top tier group like HBO etc. Stuff like this always has unintended consequences.

What he should be doing is abolishing FCC licensing so there can be more competition on the free airwaves.

[jim49er]

The bill would also end NFL blackouts.

They got sport lovers by the balls the way things are.

[muh_roads]

The unintended consequences of this will be similar to all the new fees checking accounts have to endure now.

If this passes, I bet my cable internet will go up. I haven't paid for cable TV for almost a decade.

[Matt Collins]

Uhh...yeah...

This seems like something for the marketplace to work out. Even if people do find the Cable and Satellite providers annoying.
Well that's because the cable providers don't operate in a free market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_United_States#Policy_histo ry

[jtstellar]

so mccain's idea of freedom is to force government to give

missing market choices to you (that he can conceive of) if some quasi government subsidized licensing process doesn't already.. lol.. this guy is full of libertarian dropout ideas

[Professor8000]

Lol, this is a stupid bill. If people don't like the options that cable and satellite providers offer, they should just get a roku box or some such. I personally find a good web browser gives me all the options I could ever want, and it doesn't charge me out the ass for it either.

[QuickZ06]

Uhh...yeah...

This seems like something for the marketplace to work out. Even if people do find the Cable and Satellite providers annoying.

Yep, Netflix Hulu Plus ect. ect. are already making them squirm once Netflix has more subscribers than HBO it really is game on and the prices of satellite and cable will soon fall and you will probably get the above out of it.

[The Free Hornet]

The unintended consequences of this will be similar to all the new fees checking accounts have to endure now.

If this passes, I bet my cable internet will go up. I haven't paid for cable TV for almost a decade.

Possibly, your price should go up. If you buy everything on the menu, what else can be expected?

What grinds my gears is why companies like Dish don't pass on the costs directly (plus markup). If Disney wants to bundle all their craptacular offerings into one package... GREAT! Just let me as the consumer reject them in whole. Rather, the cable/satellite companies would have us supporting every distasteful MSM entity to varying levels they call packages. You can't just flip the bird to Viacom or News Corp.

This way, when ESPN decides their content is worth 20% more, the consumer can vote directly on the decision. Hmmmm.... maybe I just answered the question as to why they don't do this. Businesses that engage in this much collusion deserve to fail.

Regardless, I cut the cord a couple years back.


Antenna + DVR + Roku + HTPC = I don't give a fuck

[Professor8000]

Well that's because the cable providers don't operate in a free market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_United_States#Policy_histo ry

With the advent of internet based entertainment services, they do have to compete with the free market now.

[fr33]

Lol, this is a stupid bill. If people don't like the options that cable and satellite providers offer, they should just get a roku box or some such. I personally find a good web browser gives me all the options I could ever want, and it doesn't charge me out the ass for it either.

Truth^^

I guess the problem with that is people like McCain aren't stopping at attacking cable tv. They are attacking the internet and trying to turn it into something controlled like the television and radio system with bills like CISPA and SOPA.

[DamianTV]

Its no different than smoking in bars. It should be up to the owner of the bar to allow smoking or not, but certainly not a law. If people want A La Carte TV, they need to communicate that with their providers until the providers start making A La Carte available. I have well over a hundred channels that I dont watch at all (Spanish, Religious, Home Shopping), but the only way to get certain channels is to "go with a package" that includes all the shit I'll never watch. But really, I'd swear that there are only a handful of channels that I do regularly watch, and that total of roughly 20 is a lot less than the thousands of channels that are available.

A La Carte isnt a bad idea, but we dont need any more fucking laws to do it. TV providers are going to have to do something to offset their retardedly high prices in order to compete with the internet, period. $200 dollar a month Cable TV bill, or a $20 dollar a month internet bill, let me think on that...

[XTreat]

Well that's because the cable providers don't operate in a free market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_United_States#Policy_histo ry


Beat me to it. +rep

[frodus24]

And people think that I am crazy for not forking out money for cable/satellite. I laugh all the way home with the money I save monthly.

[Warlord]

cable is a SCAM.

Cancel it for gods sake... most people are nowadays. Young people are not interested and they're losing millions of subscribers every year.

[Matt Collins]

One problem is that most people get their Internet via DSL or cable. And these guys are gumbling because they are losing a ton of bandwidth/money to Netflix and Hulu.

[Grubb556]

I've pretty much switched over to the internet to watch any TV shows I want.

[BAllen]

The unintended consequences of this will be similar to all the new fees checking accounts have to endure now.

If this passes, I bet my cable internet will go up. I haven't paid for cable TV for almost a decade.

Charter has already done that. They dropped all the slower speeds. The only choice now is 30mb. min for $54/month. Then, they send you a package 'deal'. Get this. 29/month for each service of phone/internet/tv. for a total of 87/month plus taxes, fees. which is about 100 dollars. Socialist math.
I've told them no repeatedly, and they still send me this crap in the mail. They said the reason they can't offer per channel choices, is that top channels like espn charges them a lot of money, so they have to pass on the costs of the t.v. service that way, which may be true. But legislation isn't the answer. I can buy baseball games online by a monthly or season basis directly from MLB. With digital channels, a local station covers their minor league team, which I can watch for free. Or, even go to the game, which is much cheaper than a major league anyway. If this caught on, it would bust the over paid salaries of the ml players, and espn's professional sports programming would not be worth as much, would it?
A product or service is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

[Warlord]

How can these providers get away charging $70/+month for packages?

This little scam is coming to end.

[jkr]

um, like the INTERNET?

[jclay2]

Well that's because the cable providers don't operate in a free market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_United_States#Policy_histo ry

Yep. Seems the appropriate action would be to free up the industry as oppose to forcing things on an already highly screwed up industry.

[jclay2]

How can these providers get away charging $70/+month for packages?

This little scam is coming to end.

Most people are brainless zombies who don't know how to live without their 3 hours of daily indoctrination (i mean television).

[Root]

It would probably make cable and satellite more expensive for everyone and cause more channels to join the top tier group like HBO etc. Stuff like this always has unintended consequences.

That is exactly what the result will be.


One problem is that most people get their Internet via DSL or cable. And these guys are gumbling because they are losing a ton of bandwidth/money to Netflix and Hulu.
For the most part, capacity planning is done on total bandwidth used. The destination/origination of the bandwidth isn't taken into consideration. A few years ago, P2P was the BW hog, then torrents, now streaming. Who knows what it will be in a few years from now.

[KingNothing]

Isn't the problem really just the government-supported monopoly that cable companies can have over a region?

[KingNothing]

And people think that I am crazy for not forking out money for cable/satellite. I laugh all the way home with the money I save monthly.

I can't imagine that anyone actually thinks you're crazy for that.

[KingNothing]

If McCain is doing this, I'm sure it is especially horrific.

[jkob]

Whatever, I hope these cable companies get what is coming to them. Time Warner Cable literally have tried to scam me out of money on numerous occasions on top of their crappy service. These monopolies must end.

[KrokHead]

The legislation would force cable companies and satellite TV providers to give consumers an option to pick and choose which channels they get. This is called "à la carte programming," and it's long been a dream of consumers who only want a handful of channels.

http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-wants-to-blow-up-the-cable-industry-as-we-currently-know-it-2013-5

Wow, McCain's first good idea ever! Fingers up Time Warner!

[tttppp]

The legislation would force cable companies and satellite TV providers to give consumers an option to pick and choose which channels they get. This is called "à la carte programming," and it's long been a dream of consumers who only want a handful of channels.

http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-wants-to-blow-up-the-cable-industry-as-we-currently-know-it-2013-5

I like the idea but just get rid of the cable industry altogether. Its not needed anymore.