Many years ago the president of a top basic cable network told me over lunch that the politicians and corporate leaders who meet regularly in Washington, D.C. to hammer out the rules and regulations that govern the television business “couldn’t care less about consumers.” Having sat in many of those meetings, the executive told me, it was clear that they were all about making money and advancing the careers of the players involved and not about providing the American public with television entertainment at an affordable price. That conversation, I should note, took place before the rise of the machines -- that is, the conversion from analog to digital and the staggering price increases on cable bills across the land (regardless of provider) due mostly to costs associated with renting the new set-top boxes that were suddenly required simply to watch cable television.
Is This the Beginning of the End for Cable?
