COMM 122 1st Edition Lecture 21Outline of Last Lecture I. The Digital TVII. Two ScenariosIII. New Technological DevelopmentsIV. CATVV. Cable Stages VI. 70/70 RuleOutline of Current Lecture I. NewsII. Subscribers III. The Main Broadcast NetworksIV. Two scenariosV. Concentration of ownershipVI. TCIVII. MSOVIII. Networks Merging IX. Cable Act of 1984Current LectureDigital channels doing their “new” fronts instead of upfronts- From 2013-2014 digital video increased from 7.3% to 10.9% of all media timeThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- Percent of ad spending: 2013: 2.4%, 2014: 4.4% (they think people pay less attention to ads they see on line—also physically, visually smaller—they think it’s not worth as much money)Netflix had 57 million subscribers - Predicted: 4.1 million; however they actually added 4.9 in the first quarter - Netflix worth: $34 billion- Doesn’t have advertising however the general trend to put TV programs online is accelerating—it is attracting advertisers - Ratings not counted Nielsen and Adobe came up with a way to measure ratings on web-based platforms (can target even more specific groups)- Advantage for advertisers: they will have access to all other kinds of datao Based on all different kinds of data on your lap top—everything your laptop knows about you will be available to advertisers (location, browsing history, interest in specific products, travel)- How many people buy things based on what they see on the ads Some viewers may experience seizure/stroke when exposed to 3D TV TV that lets you watch 2 shows at the same time—you put on the glasses, one side sees the football game the other sees the romantic comedy—it isn’t split screen As the number of basic subscribers leveled off (or declined), cable industry pushed new services- Digital cable- High speed internet—cable monitors- Telephoneo 2001: 67 milliono 2014: 54 millionABC, NBC, CBS (The main broadcast networks went to the FFC and said that cable TV was going to threaten their free TV- 1966: took over jurisdiction of cable, to restrict its growth and services, to protect broadcast networks o Cable was restricted, could only carry a certain amount of cable stations (to prevent cable from becoming a competition for the broadcast networks)- It worked for awhile until 1976: new copyright laws- 1977: HBO decision: allowed distant signals (before wasn’t able to do distant signals) , syndicated programs o First super station out of Atlanta (signal sent around the country) Duals between cable and broadcasting (who does a better job, who has more viewers)- Cable: ratings remain steadyo C7 Ratings greater- Broadcasting: there is a dip in the summer o Top 10 Broadcast programs: have audiences that are larger than the top cable audiences o Individual broadcast stations have greater Live + 7 audiences Two Scenarios:1. Because we have all of these programs, it is more diverse in choices2. More choices doesn’t mean more diverse programs—it means more of the same Concentration of ownership:- Multiple System Operator: thousands of different cable system—small number of companies owning multiple systems in different sites - More cable systems are owned by fewer people (number dropping, concentration/consolidation_)o Comcast in by far the largest MSO o Until 2002: AT&T was the largest MSO—however, Comcast bought AT&T cable system for $48 billion TCI: Telecommunications Inc. - Headed by John Malone: largest land owner in the US (3x the size of RI)- Owned Telecommunications Inc. and bought several cheap cable systems throughout the 80-90’s and turned them into a massive steam roller that became the largest MSO o TCI: Cable systems (brought the systems in); also bought Liberty media: cable networks (provide the programs) AT&T bought $115 billion in cable systems including TCI—became the largest MSO in the country- Law: the maximum that any one cable company could reach (cap— they couldn’t reach any more than 30% of the country)- Accumulated so much debt from buying all the cable systems— liberty media spun off sothey sold it to Comcast in 2002 (now Comcast is the largest MSO)John Malone: has a significant influence on cable systems (Service providers) and cable networks (program providers)—he has an interest in both - Owns liberty global (the cable company in 14 countries)o Moved it to o Saved him $200 million by moving the Corporate address o Building a new stadium with $300 million of public funds - Liberty interactive Corporation- He thought the merger would be a huge threat to NBC and the affiliate—wanted to get rid of the affiliates (he wanted control over content)Sometimes when the networks merge, they get too big and split up (because they become to large)- Merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable for $45 billion (it would give them massive power over internet, programming)o Comcast subscriber: 22,002,000o Time Warner Cable: 12,344,0007 of the top 10 cities in the country didn’t get cable (because cable franchises are set up as monopolies—if you have a cable franchise in north Hampton, you are the cable provider in that area)- Political and economic complications (institutional factors affect how technology is used)- Led to niche services in 1980’s o STV: subscription TV (scrambled UHF signal—would provide uncut movies without commercials—would send signal over the air but you needed to pay a monthly fee to unscramble the signal)o MMDS: Multichannel distribution (wireless cable) – spectrum space was taken away o SMATV: Satellite Master antenna—used for apartment buildings, hotel (large satellite dishes on the top—monthly fee)o DBS/DTH: Home satellite (the only real alternative to cable) Cable Act of 1984:- Massive deregulation of cable (Cable grew, niche services gradually died out)- Could drop weak channels- Eliminated public access requirements - Deregulated monthly rates (local communities had the right to regulate the rates) Cable regulations Milestones:- 1966: FCC restricts cable to protect networks- 1977: restrictions loosened, HBO ruling, distant signals, superstations, cable networks- 1984: Major deregulation- 1992: