Nov

19

Put This Channel on Basic Cable Today!

November 19, 2007 | by Keith | Categories Television |

I am here today to support the thousands of people who want to see their favorite channel included on their local cable company’s expanded basic channel line-up.

There is no reason why subscribers should continue to be held hostage to the tactics of the cable company in its pursuit of improving its bottom line.  So many people will not be able to see the quality programming on the channel if it is left off the system completely or buried within a special extra pay tier.

That’s why I support the movement to demand that the Oxygen Channel be made more widely available to all cable television subscribers…

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Doesn’t that request sound ridiculous?  Of course it does.  So does the request by sports fans across the country clamoring that cable companies do the same for the NFL Network.

I have already written about this issue.  You can find it here.  My opinion hasn’t changed.  Although both the network and the cable companies are concerned about their personal income,  it is the sole responsibility of the cable company to decide where a good portion of its programming resides…and for what price.

Peter King had a great take on this issue in today’s column.  He talks about how the NFL Network wants to charge 80 cents per subscriber per month for cable companies to carry the channel.  That figure is well below cable television offerings such as CNN.  King (who indicates his potential conflict because he is employed by SI parent company Time Warner) sums up his opinion with this thought:

“I have nothing against it, and I’m sure I’m missing things by not watching the regular programming. But there’s a sea of NFL programming on ESPN and Fox and everywhere else, and you could go blind watching it all. The NFL Network, it seems to me, would have a better case if it had more live events than eight games, the week at the NFL Scouting Combine and draft coverage.”

Well put.  The only travesty is that Time Warner may not come to an agreement with the NFL Network to at least offer it in some form for its subscribers before the network debuts its eight game schedule on Thursday.  That’s too bad.    


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. jimmy on November 21, 2007 10:49 am

    the solution is simple: get directv.

    and if your apartment doesn’t have a clear path to the southern sky, move. seriously.

    i’ve had directv in my various apartments since the mid-90s. whenever i went looking for a new apartment, i first made sure i could get directv.

    when i bought my house, you can’t believe how many i passed on because trees were in the way of me getting directv. i finally found one that didn’t have a tree in the way.

    so long as the cable thieves continue to put out a subpar product doesn’t mean you have to be their tool. if cable companies can continue to shovel all sorts of channels (including multiple shopping channels) down customers throats, they sure as heck can place nfl network on the same tier as well.

    it’s a shakedown by the cable thieves, pure and simple. i have no dog in this fight and i pity — to a point — the people stuck with cable.

    my suggestion to all who are victims is to get a dish, get verizon fios or get a new apartment/place to live.

    harsh suggestion? not as harsh as what the cable companies are doing.

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