Posted on 08/07/2015 1:06:59 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
It's been two days of harsh reckoning for the entertainment industry as long simmering concerns about declining pay-tv subscriptions boiled up in quarterly earnings reports, leading investors to dump shares of media stocks amid worries that a key Hollywood money pot is threatened.
The massive sell-off one analyst called it "the media meltdown" came after Walt Disney Co. warned investors late Tuesday that profit from ESPN and other cable channels would not be as robust as initially thought because fewer consumers are subscribing to full pay-TV packages.
The sell-off continued Thursday as Viacom disappointed Wall Street with weak sales. Over the last two days, Time Warner slid 10%, Disney shares dropped 11%, Fox fell nearly 13% and Viacom plunged 21%.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Well, good. One of the commenters at the LA Times noted that this is what happens when you treat customers as cash cows, instead of as customers.
The media companies have shown me their opinion of me with the following stunts:
Miley Cyrus MTV awards, A&E president verbally attacking Christian beliefs as being inappropriate (Duck Dynasty), HGTV cancelling the Benham Brothers show due to their Christian beliefs, ESPN denigrating the Christian beliefs of Tim Tebow, while ESPN exalts Michael Sam and Bruce Jenner. I am sure there are more incidents but these are just off the top of my head.
The media companies have a right to their opinions, and have a right to broadcast the programs they wish, but they do not have a right to an audience, and they do not have a right to my money.
I have downgraded my cable bundle from internet, phone, TV full line up to internet, and TV "skinny" lineup. (no phone land line anymore). I no longer pay for or receive the channels mentioned above. I am saving over $100 a month. If there is another price increase, I will get ride of cable TV altogether and just go with an over the air antenna.
I will never go back to paying for those crummy TV channels.
Dont’ forget people are cutting cords or subscribe to Netflix and Amazon
HEre in LA market we got Antenna METV Buzzrtv network Decades on OTA channel including Movies tv network and Gettv
good for you!
In the past five years (since we cut the cable) off the air antenna TV has been consistently expanding. Granted most programming is garbage, but there are now close to 40 off the air choices in our household, and we are 40 miles from the closest broadcast tower.
The best channels are the black & white movie ones and the old sitcom shows.
If it wasnt for Hockey I wouldnt havee cable.
The next ESPY winner after Bruce Jenner ... this will make the Disney nitwork relevant again
Well, I don’t think it’s attacking beliefs, etc. That may affect some, but the MTV awards get GREAT ratings (sadly). It’s pretty much as the article says ... viewing habits (especially among the Young) are changing. The industry is just using an old model. It just doesn’t fly anymore. Add that to horrible service from cable companies, high costs (what happens when you have zero competition) and this is what you get. Sadly (again) as a demographic, we are neither coveted nor needed. It doesn’t matter if they attack our faith and beliefs as we aren’t the ones watching anyway and are just not a desireable demographic.
Hollywood made record profits so it’s not going anywhere. Delivery systems must change. And they always seem to.
I don’t watch ESPN unless they are the only ones carrying the Cowboys....couple games a year at most. I would drop them all together if it would save me anything. I really pissed at the animal channel because they keep going on about that lion!!! I recently cut my satellite package by $50.00 and only lost two channels I give a crap about!!
yay!
Once they figure out how to solve this problem, cable is going to be in serious trouble.
Good stuff on MeTV but way too many totally inane ads.
I like the concept of pay TV. I want $15/hr. to watch shows of my choice.
ESPN way overpaid for content. For example, ESPN pays almost $2 billion a year to broadcast MNF which is double for what the other networks pay including NBC for SNF. They thought the $6+ a month and growing each subscriber pays for ESPN would continue forever.
I can only say they did not make them off of me...if you are talking about going to the movies. We only go a couple times a year and then it's the matinee. We have Netflix and Amazon so what ever they make off that.
For decades, customers have asked to get only the content they want instead of paying for stuff they never watch.
The cable and satellite industries have been deaf to these requests. Their business model is literally, “You’ll buy what we say and you’ll like it.”
Now, services like Netflix and Amazon Prime give you a year of ala carte for less than the price of a month of some cable and satellite packages. Not only that, their content conforms to our schedules. Suddenly, paying those high cable or satellite bills doesn’t seem like a good deal.
The chickens are coming home to roost. I couldn’t be happier. They have screwed their customers to boost their bottom line, and they’ve done it for years.
History is littered with the corpses of companies who thought they could ignore the basic laws of economics and refuse to listen to the people who pay the money. Problem is, consumer tastes change, technology changes, etc. And people don’t forget how they’ve been treated.
In the past five years (since we cut the cable) off the air antenna TV has been consistently expanding. Granted most programming is garbage, but there are now close to 40 off the air choices in our household, and we are 40 miles from the closest broadcast tower.
The best channels are the black & white movie ones and the old sitcom shows.
I don't have a "tv." I have a usb tv tuner hooked to my notebook and an outside antenna. It came with DVR software, no commercials! $50!
That and ROKU with Netflix is it for me. Wouldn't go back to cable if it were free.
I have yet to see anyone explain why people who pay their tithe to companies whose sole purpose is the destruection of American values have any right whatsoever to complain when they destroy American values.
Can anyone take a shot at that? Because logically, if people oppose what the media does, they would not pay them to do it.
#CouchPotatoLivesMatter
Yeah, I’m going to go out and pay an extra $50 a month for 500 channels of unwatchable dreck.
And after that, endless ads for prescription medicines that warn of nausea, insomnia, diarrhea and suicidal thoughts ...
Depressing.
“this is what happens when you treat customers as cash cows, instead of as customers.”
Those of us on this side of the antenna talk about this as though we know who their customers are.
We don’t.
We’re their product.
Their customers were advertisers, paying for eyeballs.
They thought our eyeballs were free, and when the exposure numbers dropped they increased the exposure time.
I worked at Kodak when the tipping-point decision was made: they decided retailers were the customers, not the people actually using the product. Oops. Worldwide top brand vanished, miles of manufacturing bulldozed.
Ditto here.
You’re not a TV customer, you’re the product.
And they don’t realize their “product” can just walk away.
For the last 9 years, I had “TV” for just 6 months. Ads suck. I’m not a product. I’ll pay for what I want, when I want it, no ads.
Choose to be the customer.
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