Most people who have Cable initially subscribed to keep the
“kids” amused and hopefully off the streets.

With increased advertising by cable TV operators and
lowering unique program content value (lack of repeats), that sociological
reason for “buying” is rapidly disappearing.

I’ve been talking a fair bit about advertising recently.

Probably because I’m fed up with it.

Foxtel proudly advertise that their movies don’t have any
adverts.

And ? (What they forget to mention dear reader is that their license agreement prohibits them from advertising in the middle of the movie. That's a FTA license agreement. So by not advertising, they are merely following the distribution rules – not actually trying to do the right thing by you and I.).

My $100.00 a month Foxtel Cable Subscription didn’t have any
adverts on any channels when I first subscribed. Now the non-movie channels
host almost as many adverts as the Free To Air Channels.

So how come I now have to PAY a monthly subscription to NOT
watch what I thought I was Paying for – i.e. advert free content.

Foxtel say the adverts are there for people to have breaks
in their viewing.

Bullshit. That’s what the pause button is there for.

I have to hand it to them. They introduced it gradually over
eight years. A generational thing. Most people hardly noticed. In 2001 it was
“Gee, an advert – is that what they look like ?” To now – 22 adverts in last
weeks episode of the Terminator.  The new
generation of Foxtel watchers think this is normal. They think it’s okay to
have to pay to watch  Advertising.

But they also feel its OK to download movies and TV programs
that have had the advertising removed.

Foxtel announced an extraordinary profit last year. I wonder
with the new technologies and viewing habits emerging – how much longer the new
generation will let them get away with it.

Perceptric Statistics are showing a strong correlation with
the US Bureau of Economic Analysis – younger people are watching less cable and
more individual relevant content.  Is
Foxtels’ current “subscriber ceiling” actually because people are disconnecting
due to the repeating program schedule and the large number of adverts?

At least our kids are still being amused. They are getting
their TV shows, their content, on the devices of their choosing, advert free
and at the price that they feel is appropriate.

This entry was posted on April 7, 2009 at 5:53 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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