A Dozen Serious Media Questions with (Opinionated) Answers

Q amp160How long before the FANGS thatamp8217s Facebook Amazon Netflix Google and Snapchat have to really pay for broadband distributionA amp160Well to a degree some already doamp160 For example Netflix pays backbone broadband distributors to get closer to the right broadband distribution nodes for better service over terrestrial MVPDsQ amp160Will net neutrality really disappearA amp160Yepamp160 As long as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is in charge it willamp160 But there are other possibilities including the long shot concept of the US House and Senate actually agreeing on somethingamp160 Thereamp8217s a draft broadband bill that might just might become realityQ amp160So whatA amp160Without net neutrality youamp8217ll pay more amp8230 from both the programmerpackager using todayamp8217s OTT overthetop costfree access Internet distributed over those MVPDs and the consumer paying a la carte feesQ amp160Anything elseA amp160Of courseamp160 Players today donamp8217t have equal access to the new currency of dataamp160 For example cable MVPDs canamp8217t aggregate and sell their dataamp160 The amp8220edgeamp8221 players FANGS more can do so amp8230 and they do amp160That should change with the demise of net neutralityamp160 Exactly how isnamp8217t quite foreseeable yetQ amp160The Advanced Television Systems Committee ATSC has promulgated a new standard for overtheair broadcast televisionamp160 What does that meanAamp160 It means TV stations will have to upgradeamp160 They do get rights to track viewers and build better databasesamp160 It also means MVPDs will have to do so tooamp160 Just as when digital broadcasting arrived TV stations will if MVPD lobbying prevails have to simulcast the old and new technologies for a transition periodamp160 By the way ATSC 30 has been called the amp8220most innovative and disruptive technology platform or productamp8221 amp160Plenty of stuff to think about thereQ amp160How will broadcasters pay for the needed upgrades to ATSC 30A amp160Thatamp8217s easy amp160It39s all covered by governmentmandated retransmission blackmail aka yougottacarryoursignalsandpaywhateverwesay rules amp160SampampP predicts that retrans fees will grow to 128 billion by 2023amp160 Just last year fees increased at some broadcasters from 23 to an astonishing 1579 at Nexstar Media amp160So unless Congress moves to curb these fees the broadcasters have a permanent getoutofdebtfree cardQ amp160A related question when will more MVPDs give away cheap digital antennas and drop local channelsA amp160Soon enough to raise questions about the answer to the second ATSC questionQamp160 Whatamp8217s a amp8220vMVPDamp8221A amp160That little amp8220vamp8221 means amp8220virtualamp8221amp160 In other words it is streaming video on demand SVOD or repackaged linear channels as streaming channels all using the Internet for freeamp160 Subscribers pick packages of a sort of individualized a la carteQamp160 What affect will more streaming that is OTT like Netflix have on the socalled linear amp8220cableamp8221 network bundlesA amp160No one really knowsamp160 This is the era of the Video Wild Westamp160 Every programmer is experimentingamp160 Packages of channels are being juggled reconfigured and repurposed dailyamp160 Disney for example will quit allowing Netflix to distribute its programming in order to launch Disneyonly packagesamp160 The most expensive MVPDdistributed channels have long been the ESPN channels amp8230 the flagship ESPN channel alone costs the distributor over 7month per subscriberamp160 And it has been steadily losing subscribers as viewing habits changeamp160 Not to mention the fact that MVPDs have been raising rates aggressively for years pushing pricing beyond the means of many householdsQ amp160So is it possible that people will go back to gasp reading booksA amp160Oh please But then whoever thought Donald Trump would be in a position to refer to himself as quotMr PresidentquotQamp160 Speaking of the President is fake news realAamp160 Of courseamp160 But the amp8220fake newsamp8221 the President whines about is 97 simple direct quotes from the President himself amp8230 with audio or video to back it upRandom NotesMore competition and confusion is on the way as Apple TV Facebook and Google ramp up spending on original content amp160At the same time incumbent amp8220cableamp8221 channels are moving online into social media in a bigger way CNN is programming a daily news show on Snapchat along with selected updatesComcast is rolling out DOCSIS 31 at a rapid rate as the cable operator continues upgrades for broadband capacityamp160 For more about the amp8220edgeamp8221 and ongoing accelerating fights with and among infrastructures check out this New Yorker storyamp160 It39s a must readClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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A Dozen Serious Media Questions with (Opinionated) Answers

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Paul S. Maxwell

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