Posted on 09/22/2007 3:48:45 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
An antitrust lawsuit filed Thursday accuses leading programming, cable and satellite TV firms of colluding to only offer prepackaged tiers of bundled programs and refusing to sell programming a la carte.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s Western Division, seeks damages and an end to the bundling practices.
The plaintiffs are named individual subscribers of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, EchoStar and DirecTV, seeking to establish a class consisting of “expanded-basic” customers of those companies and Charter and Cablevision Systems over the past four years.
In the complaint, filed by Maxwell M. Blecher of Blecher & Collins in Los Angeles on Sept. 20, they’re suing those multichannel video providers and NBC Universal, Time Warner Inc., Viacom, Walt Disney Co. and Fox Entertainment, under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Each of the programmer defendants owns TV programs and interests in one or more TV channels. The cable and satellite providers supply a “basic cable” bundled service that’s required to be purchased before a subscriber can access other tiers of service, the lawsuit says.
The complaint cites a Nielsen Media Research report that states the average cable subscriber pays for 85 channels he or she doesn’t watch in order to get the 16 channels he or she does watch. It also cites a poll, by the Associated Press-Ipsos, that found 78% of respondents would rather buy only the channels they choose themselves. And it cites a Federal Communications Commission estimate that consumers are charged about $100 million a year for channels they wouldn’t buy under an a la carte regime.
National Cable & Telecommunications Association senior VP of communications and public affairs Rob Stoddard said the organization, which represents cable operators and programmers, doesn’t comment on litigation that names companies within and outside NCTA. "However, our view of a la carte hasn't changed," he said. "Many government and private studies have found that mandated a la carte would lessen programming choice, decrease diversity in programming, and raise prices for most cable customers."
Parents Television Council endorsed the lawsuit. "On behalf of our 1.2 million members, we applaud the commencement of legal action which, we hope, will lead to the ability for cable subscribers to pick and choose – and pay for – only the cable networks they want," PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement.
The pinged subjects will be those of HDTV technology, satellite/cable HD, OTA (over the air with various roof top and indoor antennas) HD reception, HDDVD/Blu-ray, broadcast specials and any and all subjects relating to HD.
Lasvegasdave
Pinging the HDTV list.
I would like an ala Carte option. That would certainly be the end of Gore TV (Current TV).
O the Humanity.
That's the idea. Why not try keeping social activism out of Business?
Notice the statemment is ended with a threat of higher prices. A Free Market really terrifies them, huh?
Beleive it or not...most business prefer socialism over free market....monopolism is the free market form of communism
A la carte makes it more competitive...which a lot of large corporations hate...competition.
This lawsuit actually would help smaller cable/sat companies as it would break up monopolies
The technology already exists that you can pay for what you watch, without subscribing. Bring it on.
.....Beleive it or not...most business prefer socialism over free market.....
Pure unadultrated drivel
For the last time, it's not the Hummel Collector's Channel it's the Precious Moments Channel. Everyone with an ounce of artistic taste knows the difference. I'm insulted and infuriated. My attorneys will be in touch.
The suit is overdue. The cable companies enjoy a government supported monopoly and feel that they can do whatever they want.
I think there’s a different aspect of cable co. misbehavior that no one talks about. You used to be able to get a “cable ready” TV. That is, you could get all of the unscrambled channels on your TV. The set-top box was needed as a decoder, but not as a tuner for unencoded channels.
With the advent of digital TV, a whole new set of channels has been created that you can’t pick up on an HDTV without a set-top box. You can’t even get the digital TV versions of the regular broadcast channels over cable without paying extra for “digital service.” I’m not talking about HBO or pay-per-view; I’m talking about ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX.
So, you have to pay extra for “digital service” and rent a box just to get the digital versions of the previously low end channels. You have to rent a set-top box for every TV, even if you are getting the baseline digital service.
Will this continue after 2009 when the analog channels finally go silent? In other words, will you need a set-top box in every room just for the regular stations? This is a new, hidden fee, and its pretty significant.
Well, I madw rgw swirch. I dumped DishNetwork and now have TimeWarner Cable. So far, so good! I like the “on-demmand” feature, and the HDTV access.
I miss Dish, and after four years of service with them, am still upset they would not make me a deal short of making me sign a contract.
Oh, well...
The problem with pushing for ala carte for ‘expanded basic’ is that it can probably only be offered via digital service. Many cable subscribers still receive analog service. The ala carte forces them to go digital, thus being charged more, because filtering dozens of analog channels per residence would be a cable company nightmare.
My cable changed their line up 3 years ago and made it mandatory for subscribers to accept at least 2 digital tiers of 4 offered. Each tier had 6-10 channels, but only 1 or 2 channels I would have ever watched, at an extra $10 per tier plus $5 for the cable box, plus $5 for the digital remote control. That was a hefty total cost of $30 to get maybe 3 or 4 watchables in the mandatory tiers.
I dropped back to expanded-basic analog. Recently, the cable co has been pushing digital telephone and digital cable that now requires only 1 tier* (still with only 1 or 2 watchable channels out of the 6-10 in the tier). That would again add $10 for the tier, plus $5 for the cable box, plus $5 for the digital remote control. Around $20 to get 1 or 2 watchable channels. Hardly a bargain.
If the digital did offer complete ala carte and I got to select 30 channels I wanted for a cost comparable to what I pay now or cost less since I would be getting fewer channels, it might be worth it. Right now, I get 70 analog and watch maybe 30, but I have to wade through the other 40.
I am all for ala carte, but I have a feeling it will end up costing consumers more dollars for less channels. I would bet the cable companies to charge more for the channels such as FX and TNT and USA, etc. — than they would for the Knitting Channel or the Watching Paint Dry Channel.
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* Cable co has been pushing digital. I am sure they are hoping to get us analog subscribers to switch. I would expect soon for them to discontinue ‘new’ analog connections and force digital on ‘new’ subscribers.
So, you have to pay extra for “digital service” and rent a box just to get the digital versions of the previously low end channels. You have to rent a set-top box for every TV, even if you are getting the baseline digital service.
Will this continue after 2009 when the analog channels finally go silent? In other words, will you need a set-top box in every room just for the regular stations? This is a new, hidden fee, and its pretty significant.
Actually, there is digital broadcast TV available, and if you have a TV with a digital tuner, which is becoming more and more prevalent, you won't need the "set top box." It's just like what we all went through before there were TVs with "cable ready" tuners. The set top boxes are only needed for old analog only TVs, or for premium services.
But right now (in many markets, like the KC area) you can go out and buy a new TV with a digital tuner, and a new antenna, and start watching local channels in digital, and in many cases HD.
Mark
People are going to be upset when this passes and their bill goes up. You can bank on it. Just like when they broke up the old AT&T.
They will be charged more and have less content.
ping...
I realize that you can get over the air digital, and will continue to be able to get broadcast digital after the transition. Sets are now equipped for that.
My complaint was that the cable companies don’t make any of that available without extra service charges and a forced per-TV box rental. None of the HDTV signals that are available over the air can be picked up on cable without special box rental. Its a sneaky way to profit from the transition.
Spanish stations are more numerous than ever. Those are 4 channels I’d get rid of. There are 6-8 stations that get 99% of my viewing
Home shopping channels are like a lot of others. Rarely watched but if I see some sharp Dell or Gateways being sold I’m entranced by the pitch. Computers are always overpriced on these channels. It’s fun to see how they rope TV viewers into paying more
Ebay has digital HDTV tuners. About 70$. Over the air and the reception is excellent
KEYWORD = HISENSE
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