Based on what I've been hearing on the news lately, Fox 11 has withdrawn their consent for Time Warner Cable to rebroadcast their signal across their network. That means about 150,000 households across NE WI missed the Packer game on TV last weekend, and will suffer the same fate again this weekend.
Sure, both companies are just trying to make a buck. Fox 11 thinks they have compelling enough content that people would be willing to pay extra for it. TWC believes it is their right to rebroadcast the signal without paying a fee to do so. The signal is freely accessible OTA (over-the-air) thanks to the FCC.
My personal opinion is government has no role in this. And to their credit, I haven't heard that they have stepped in to help mediate - yet. The market should decide this. I don't have a dog in this fight, as I've been using an antenna combined with my TiVo for quite some time and I've been very happy with it. However, I come down on the side of TWC in this case.
If TWC subscribers tell TWC that it's content they are willing to pay extra for, they should do so. I'm not so sure they do. Yeah, they have Packer games and MLB playoffs. Their news programming is pretty bad, and there are plenty of other places to go for that. Their top show is American Idol, which is neither on the air right now, nor is it quality programming (I'm no fan of the reality genre).
What do you think about this issue?
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