Comments on: 7 ways Comcast is killing the cable killers

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:42:50 +0000

Brian, great question. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I do think the Internet threatens to bring about an a la carte style of shopping, and that value for those channels or maybe just shows would result in a lower-overall value for the content industry. The distortions come in when people who don’t care for Real Housewives don’t pay for Bravo, and stop subsidizing those who do care. And that spans the entire ecosystem.

By: Dylan Rolf

Dylan Rolf — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:35:54 +0000

Yes, they really need to revisit their cap. 250gb may have been more than enough 5 years ago but that’s no longer the case.

By: Absurdity

Absurdity — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:47:06 +0000

Collusion? Among different businesses? Ridiculous! They don’t establish gasoline prices by agreeing on price points. lol Just like John Walton realized that there were better profits if the lumber mills worked together instead of undercutting one another nothing has really changed. And all the BS about competition is just that – BS!

By: trip1ex

trip1ex — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:46:45 +0000

Hey they also have a decent product. Good value for family of four. On demand content via their internet site or their back end site. Content you can’t get from internet services. DVRs too for further time shifting.

They do need competition or perhaps should be regulated like a utility in areas where their internet service is the only game in town.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:20:44 +0000

Good analysis, but please, please, http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/its.html

By: Unkie Samuel

Unkie Samuel — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:10:14 +0000

I predict: not unlike channels of television, the cable-co’s and studios will push internet-based content as apps. We see it now with Hulu, Netflix, Crackle, HBOGO, etc, but you have to be on their pipe/subscription.
Dark will be the day You-tube sells out (goes like ebay and integrates IP/ads/subsciption and You-Tube Deluxe for “premiere” content providers… shows that are awesome, don’t want to be part of “Hollywood”, have production value but not raping the viewer or lowering the viewers expectations/intelligence with commercials.)
We will see the Tv of Babel with the net, relabel of the distribution model, and maybe, folks will get up from their screens and walk out side!

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:13:22 +0000

I started off thinking the cap was reasonable, but since more people are hitting it and usage is rising, I think its probably becoming less reasonable as time goes by. But yes, creating services that bypass the cap are even worse.

By: Brian Harris

Brian Harris — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:04:08 +0000

Thanks for the nice summary of Comcast’s strategy. You state that the teevee “market has incredible distortions.” But for that to be a meaningful statement, don’t we need some consensus on what an truly free market would be on these networks that we have? Is your conceptions of a market along the lines of a grocery store, or an entire mall, or something along the lines of an Apple store? It is hard (for me at least) to see why a wide variety of ownership structures, business models or levels of control would automatically lead to a “distorted market.”

Given these new networks and the ad hoc approach we’ve taken to regulating (or not regulating) them, I’m not really sure it’s even possible to talk in terms of whether or not a market is distorted or effectively competitive in a sense that promotes the pubic interest.

By: Lou Mazzucchelli

Lou Mazzucchelli — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:52:05 +0000

The is no free lunch, even on the Internet. Some arithmetic at http://lminfernaloptimist.blogspot.com/

By: deepacket

deepacket — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:30:08 +0000

Comcast subscriber xFinity voice traffic isn’t counted against the cap either — but Skype’s traffic is. How is this new managed video delivery service any different from the managed voice service? The precedent was set with OTT voice back in the early Vonage and Skype days.