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Monday, December 23, 2013

Not Enough To Boycott A&E; You Have To Cancel Your Cable

For reasons of my own, I neither participate in, encourage, or organize boycotts. This piece isn't about that. The A&E boycottover the suspension of "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson for expressing his Christian beliefs does, however, give me the opportunity to talk about a subject near and dear to my heart, which is the legal tyranny of bundled cable that means that anyboycott against A&E will have little to no effect.

If you are wondering why low-rated cable television shows and networks not only stay alive but also manage to be profitable, it is due to the bundled cable racket that forces over a hundred million Americans to pay for dozens of channels they don't like and/or watch. For example, if you want Fox News but have to get CNN and MSNBC in the package, chances are very good that CNN and MSNBC are getting a chunk of your cable bill.

Yep, that is right. This racket has been so perfected that not only is failure rewarded, the networks can pretty much broadcast whatever they like because ratings don't matter all that much. And when you have 100 channels owned by a half-dozen or so multi-nationals, they are also pretty much boycott proof.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Satellite TV here I come!

Anonymous said...

There will be an alternate soon its called Aaero internet tv,costs 80.00 per year and you get ALL channels in the universe.

Anonymous said...

Who will you pay for internet access??? Haha

Anonymous said...

BUT a boycott will hit their bottom line $ because advertisers will not pay high dollar for a lesser audience..

Anonymous said...

Simple, just jot down every advertiser while you watch A&E and don't shop there.

You get your show, and A&E gets nothing.

Anonymous said...

To all, go ahead and watch the next season of A&E duck dynasty, buy just boycott any and all advertisers of the show. This will get you your show, and kill the money. Have your show and kill the sponsor will do the job.

Anonymous said...

They charge based on ratings. Watch the show and fatten their pockets. Duck dynasty is not the only show the corporations advertise on. Watching the show and not buying certain products won't work.

Anonymous said...

11.16, yes, it will. If advertisers aren't making money BECAUSE of who they choose to ad with, they will move. Because they have to.