The Inbox....

I really like this idea and maybe TV stations would find out that they would not be worth nearly as much as they think they are.

Email:

Sorry, I have to vent. I’m so tired of hearing about the retransmission fights between the “local” stations (really, their corporate offices) and the cable/satellite providers. I realize that stations and their parent companies are depending on this income stream but, it seems every couple months another station group and cable/satellite company are sparring. Here’s my thought, I think the cable/satellite providers should be completely transparent about it. Stop the fighting and pass the cost directly on, whatever the local station wants if that’s $.50 a subscriber, pass it on, if it’s $5 per subscriber, pass it on. However, instead of bundling the local stations into a “local package” of some sort, break them out on the bills individually and allow the consumer to drop the station if they don’t want to pay for it.

 So, if Tegna, Nexstar, Sinclair, or whoever else feels like they’re worth $5/mo per viewer, the cable/satellite providers should just put it on the bill like that and if the customer doesn’t want to pay, let the customer drop them. That should stop all this pretty quickly. Although, I don’t pay for satellite TV anymore, I’m one of those cord cutters and have enjoyed not throwing away $100+/mo for TV.

That’s just my two cents.

Another email from someone that cut the cord and feels good about it.

Scott,

I have been reading with interest the ongoing saga of various broadcasters asking for more and more money in retransmission fees.

Last year at this time I decided to finally cut the cord. It was a scary proposition for me since I had been a DirecTV customer since 1998. My last bill from AT&T was $180.

After doing my research, I found I would save money and receive more channels. I ended up putting up an antenna outside my house to pick up the local channels (cost $80 for the antenna).

So here are my charges now. $50 a month for 100GB of internet. $80 for a Roku (some are actually cheaper). $75 a month for a Fubo subscription. $13 a month for an Amazon Prime Subscription and $6 a month for a CBS All Access account. Total for subscriptions: $94 a month. (I had internet service while I had DirecTV.)

Cutting the cord isn't a big deal. Many, if not all, subscription services have a seven-day free trial, so you can see what service offers and the best part-no yearly contracts!

Tell Tegna, Nexstar, Gray, and the others to stick their retransmission fees. Give yourself the gift of better service and cut the cord!

And one more weighs in on all of this:

Hi Scott;

As we are fully ensconced in the streaming age, perhaps it is also time for cable to adjust their long-standing model.

If given a channel-by-channel breakdown, I’d like to know the current cost of each. ESPN, historically, was the most expensive. Frankly, I haven’t watched ESPN in more than a decade.

Part of cable’s survival is going to be, in my opinion, allowing viewers to at least build certain “packages;” sports, home and garden, comedy, etc.

A friend in the cable industry told me the long-term plan is to keep increasing internet costs - they aren’t going to lose money.

Final thought; I’m on streaming burnout. Every network has a channel - I don’t even watch two of the three to which I currently subscribe. Essentially, we seem to be building the streaming equivalent of cable.