GORDON wrote: But FOX gets paid by advertisers placing commercials. ANything they get from DTV is extra. So fuck fox.
Well, you're leaving things out and misdirecting anger. Let me explain...
First of all, let's paint DirectTV in the proper light. This is a company who core business requires them to demand the lowest price for content. So if you think they're flexible in negotiations, you're wrong. DirectTV is constantly in fights like this, and far more so than cable companies. The reason is because their technology is inferior to cable (wired vs wireless), and their marketing is about the price difference. However, before you think they're struggling and fighting for the consumer, consider how long they've had exclusive rights to the NFL Ticket, which was their idea and they pay HUGE money to own. I know you're not into sports ball, but the reason they pay a ton more for this is because it locks out any non-DirectTV viewer. Yes, they are literally overpaying paying for a monopoly with your subscriber fees to try and force NFL fans to get their service. You'll notice they've never run ads about the NFL being mean and not wanting you to watch their product. That's because they pay what the NFL wants. DirectTV also used to, and might still, blatantly lie to new customers about local stations. They would tell people "Yes, you can watch all your local stations. You just have to write them and ask for a waiver." Thing is, they knew all the stations would refuse that waiver request unless it was necessary due to poor signal. The local stations giving waivers would be like your grocer telling you not to buy your groceries there and to instead go elsewhere. We used to get some ANGRY calls. Peeps didn't realize how badly DirectTV was fucking them.
So DirectTV is not without sin.
FOX makes your shows that you want to see. They either pay for production themselves or buy the shows from studios. Supporting them is directly supporting the shows you love like The Orville, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, etc. Point being, they have to pay for everything you watch. The more money they have, the more they can spend on production. The more money they make on a show, the more the odds increase of it sticking around. Your statement about them double dipping is false because it goes much farther than that. They make money from shows in licensing, advertising (commercials), product placement (if you see a label on a product in a show, it's not an accident), digital distribution (Hulu, Netflix, etc.), and DVD sales. If you cut those streams of revenue, you lose your shows.
Before you go off on all those revenue sources, remember FOX isn't just FOX. FOX is also FS1, Fox Sports, FX, FXX, Fox News, 21th Century Fox, etc. They are just a piece of a larger empire that share all these revenue sources. Just something to take into account.
I just want you to understand FOX's role here, because...
GORDON wrote: So fuck fox. There are alternatives, and Fox doesn't have the bargaining position they think they do.
No, no, no, no. You're misdirecting blame. This is where peeps get very confused about how TV works. FOX has nothing to do with the issues you have right now.
This is ONLY about DirectTV versus American Spirit Media. Go back to where I listed off the revenue streams and look for the word "licensing". That'd not just toothbrushes with a character's face. See, NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX don't own the TV stations. They do own a couple here and there, but generally local stations are owned by companies like
American Spirit Media. When I worked for NBC in Toledo they were owned by
Raycom Media. These stations gets bought and sold all the time because it's a pretty small profit margin. Now go look at their wiki pages I linked. How can a company own stations in different cities, and those stations be different networks? Because that's how licensing works.
This is how stations can completely change their network, which has happened in the Toledo market. You watch a network as your go to ABC network, and then one day they're airing CBS shows. While the former CBS station is now ABC.
American Spirit Media, and their ilk, pay FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, etc. for the broadcast rights for their content in the market where they own a station. In this case, ASM pays FOX to air their content in the Toledo market via WUPW. Part of that deal means ASM gets the EXCLUSIVE rights to FOX content in Toledo. They get to decide how much DirectTV pays to air their signal to its customers. This exclusive agreement also means DirectTV can't give you the FOX signal from, say, New York. Only ASM via WUPW has the rights to air FOX content in the Toledo market.
That's the quick breakdown of how local TV works. It sucks. However, without it, you wouldn't see local ads, local news, local content...
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
