tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post3277855752806126758..comments2024-01-17T00:45:37.075-08:00Comments on Bud Meyers: The Monopolies of Cable TVBud Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post-8154936946416720062016-01-19T14:04:04.759-08:002016-01-19T14:04:04.759-08:00UPDATE: January 2016
[Study favors cable companie...UPDATE: January 2016<br /><br />[Study favors cable companies to keep ripping us off.]<br /><br />Senator John McCain recently proposed a bill that would force cable television providers to offer consumers the opportunity to purchase TV channels individually, rather than being forced to buy the bundled packages: “When I go to the grocery store to buy a quart of milk, I don’t have to buy a package of celery and a bunch of broccoli. I don’t like broccoli!”<br /><br />Prices for cable service have risen far faster than inflation for decades, despite the nominal growth of competition from satellite and telephone company entrants. At the same time, Nielsen has found that the average household watches only 16 of the more than 100 channels available to them.<br /><br />Might not letting households buy only those channels they are interested in lead to lower consumer bills? while à la carte at fixed costs offers benefits to consumers, it may also lead to higher costs and higher prices per channel, leaving the net benefits uncertain.<br /><br />Based on the analysis in our paper, we would not advocate for it. We find that some households would win and others would lose, but that on average they would be no better off in an à la carte world. <br /><br />http://microeconomicinsights.org/should-cable-television-channels-be-offered-a-la-carte/Bud Meyershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post-83159628436644515122016-01-09T11:25:17.672-08:002016-01-09T11:25:17.672-08:00UPDATE: Jamuary 2016
Big Cable Owns Internet Acce...UPDATE: Jamuary 2016<br /><br />Big Cable Owns Internet Access. Here’s How to Change That.<br /><br />We know that Big Cable’s plan for high-speed internet access is to squeeze us with “usage-based billing” and data caps, so as to milk ever-growing profits from their existing networks rather than invest in future-proof fiber optics. We are also seeing that Big Cable has won the war for high-capacity, 25Mbps-download-or-better wired internet access, leaving AT&T and Verizon to concentrate primarily on mobile wireless. Indeed, Big Cable’s share of new and existing wired-access subscribers has never been greater — cable got both all new net subscribers in the third quarter of 2015 and captured millions of subscribers fleeing DSL — and its control over this market is growing faster than ever.<br /><br />https://medium.com/backchannel/big-cable-owns-internet-access-here-s-how-to-change-that-131fe62cd98f#.70tlslvjc<br /><br />Bud Meyershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post-56136700720609549632015-12-29T13:08:12.329-08:002015-12-29T13:08:12.329-08:00Center for Public Integrity
U.S. Internet users p...Center for Public Integrity<br /><br />U.S. Internet users pay more and have fewer choices than Europeans<br /><br />http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/04/01/16998/us-internet-users-pay-more-and-have-fewer-choices-europeansBud Meyershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.com