Cablevision had what was essentially a monopoly for many years, and dictated terms and conditions. If you wanted access to decent reception and variety you had to go through them because there were few, if any, other options.
I’m sure that they dictated fees to many of the stations they carry, in much the same way they did to their customers.
The world has changed. Consumers can choose another reliable service, and stations realize that they don’t have to submit to what they consider to be less than ideal terms in order for their signal to reach households.
One of the commercials that ABC 7 ran this week claimed that Cablevision collects five hundred million dollars a year from consumers for their station, yet only pays ABC 7 forty million for the transmission. If true, that does seem rather lopsided.
I know this is only one side of the story, but given the Dolan’s reputation for greed, it seems plausible.
The availability of services like FIOS have stabilized, and in many cases reduced, the cost of television, high speed internet, and telephone service to the consumer. Much the same way as the break up of Ma Bell’s monopoly reduced the cost of local and long distance calling a generation ago.
Competition in the marketplace is a good thing.
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