Hoping on the soapbox... On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 10:53 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Are you saying you would have been fine with this if ABC had been charging > for immediate access from the start? > No. Fox has had this sort of online delay in effect for several years now, to its detriment. I'm not fine with Fox continuing to do it, and I'm not fine with ABC starting to copy their online methodology. > >>> As I said, there are other legal options, specifically to me, not >> watching anything offered on their network -- choosing other shows offered >> by other content providers. This change affects lower and middle class >> people who can't afford season passes on iTunes, but who are ironically a >> highly sought demographic for most advertisers, since the upper class will >> typically do as you suggest and pay extra for ad-free content. Forcing >> those people (and those people includes me) to wait while others with >> discretionary income don't have to wait is a good way to insult an >> audience. And when you insult an audience, they are less likely to buy the >> products you promote. And when advertisers don't get their money's worth, >> they pull their money. And when networks don't get advertiser money, they >> shut down. >> > > I genuinely am not understanding your beef here. ABC's content is > available immediately and for free to anyone with an OTA antenna. > I recently spent six months in hell in a small town of 2,000 people where OTA antennas would never reach. Mostly poor people in that sort of setting, > It is also available for free to anyone who can access the internet if > they are willing to wait a week. > A delay for poor people who lack the funds to buy their way to premium online viewing options > This change will only affect people who a) do not have cable b) do not > have OTA access c) do have internet and internet devices and d) can not > afford or do not want to pay two bucks to watch a show immediately. > I know you don't understand my beef. ABC's decision is part of a larger problem, but as this is a media board and this is a media issue, I addressed it specifically, but here's my beef in a broader picture: I don't know where you live or how much you earn, nor will I ask. I haven't paid for cable in over seven years. For that matter, I haven't paid for the 3G part of my iPad (a gift from former students) since 2011. I also haven't bought a DVD in over two years. In recent years I've bought maybe a dozen CDs, all used, and a handful of vinyl records at Amoeba (I believe I've admitted that a UK friend shares files of British TV shows with me, but that's really the extent of any unsanctioned viewing I partake in). I will not waste money on a $2 viewing of a TV show, because, quite frankly I don't have that money to waste. If it weren't for the generosity of friends, I'd be homeless in California, or worse I'd be stuck back in that town of 2,000 people, living in a borrowed "fifth wheel" in the middle of a cold winter in the plains states. Apx. 1 in 10 American adults who are able to work are still out of work or grossly underemployed (I'm counted among the underemployed), and the Feds cut off aid to over a million of those people 48 hours ago. Apx. 25% of kids graduating college can't get a job, and many of the kids who do get a job won't be working in their chosen field. So I take it profoundly personally when that segment of the population -- a segment growing larger every day -- is deemed unimportant by a company like ABC. As anyone who reads this message board knows, I'm highly critical (probably overly so) of the media, and I've tried scaling back. I don't twist the knife when people post about SNL anymore, and I rarely comment on reality TV pablum. For the record, there is no show on ABC that I presently watch, but if some struggling college grad living with his folks enjoys "Dancing With The Stars" but has to work a late shift and misses the results show, he ought not be penalized a week for that -- it is the very definition of insult to injury. > I suspect we have just defined a rather small segment of the market, and > none of those people who being denied access to anything essential for the > well-being or safety. > I agree, but it is a segment of the populace who is in dire straits, and every economist will tell you that entertainment thrives in dark economic times. There's a reason for that. I'm not talking about the guy standing on freeway offramps begging for change. I'm talking about the guy living in constant fear and agony that he is just one paycheck away from becoming that guy. People want to watch TV or a movie and laugh or think about something other than their lives. You are correct, many won't even notice or care about the change. But the ones who will notice and will care are the ones constantly getting pissed on by life, and this is just one more trickle. I've been down-and-out, and I'm only very recently elevated to slightly-above-down-and-out, so please believe me when I tell you that for those who are at their lowest, the faintest slap is like a sucker punch to the kidneys. I hold a grudge about these things. This delay affects people who have enough going on in their lives and just want a release. ABC decided they aren't worth the minimal effort required to provide that release in a timely manner. The people affected are still well and still safe, but they are pissed off, and I doubt I'm the only one who holds a grudge. ... walks away from soapbox. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. 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