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This isn't so much about the pop culture content as it is the people who carry it. So for years broadcasters have enjoyed government subsidies in exchange for having an hour of news every night.
The same broadcasters are also allowed to sell ad time on their networks and pocket the profits from doing so. Their channels are then broadcast over the air at no direct cost to the consumers. Well over a decade ago it became easier for us to have those channels come through our cable/sat boxes. What I didn't know back then but have learned over the years is that those providers are charged money for a service that is already free to everyone.
This to me would be like if your manager placed free doughnuts in the breakroom but charged your cubicle neighbor Bob 2 bucks to bring you one. It's ridiculous and asinine. It costs the broadcasters nothing for their feed to be delivered by the providers as the providers are absorbing all equipment costs associated with rebroadcasting the signal.
Yet every single time the broadcasters want more money than they should already be charging they come to me the viewer and tell me that it's my provider's fault they're going to be dropped and how much I will miss out on my content. This to me is laughable all I will lose out in is the convenience of being able to DVR my shows; but that just means the broadcaster stops getting my eyes on their show since I work long hours and DVR is the only way for me to catch up on my shows on my day off.
I understand my provider's done some shady crap in the past. Not wanting to pay you to deliver something to me that's free to me directly isn't shady it's just good business. I'd rather they drop your channel forever and I'll buy your shows digitally than have them have to jack up my rates to afford your price gouging.
The same broadcasters are also allowed to sell ad time on their networks and pocket the profits from doing so. Their channels are then broadcast over the air at no direct cost to the consumers. Well over a decade ago it became easier for us to have those channels come through our cable/sat boxes. What I didn't know back then but have learned over the years is that those providers are charged money for a service that is already free to everyone.
This to me would be like if your manager placed free doughnuts in the breakroom but charged your cubicle neighbor Bob 2 bucks to bring you one. It's ridiculous and asinine. It costs the broadcasters nothing for their feed to be delivered by the providers as the providers are absorbing all equipment costs associated with rebroadcasting the signal.
Yet every single time the broadcasters want more money than they should already be charging they come to me the viewer and tell me that it's my provider's fault they're going to be dropped and how much I will miss out on my content. This to me is laughable all I will lose out in is the convenience of being able to DVR my shows; but that just means the broadcaster stops getting my eyes on their show since I work long hours and DVR is the only way for me to catch up on my shows on my day off.
I understand my provider's done some shady crap in the past. Not wanting to pay you to deliver something to me that's free to me directly isn't shady it's just good business. I'd rather they drop your channel forever and I'll buy your shows digitally than have them have to jack up my rates to afford your price gouging.