I’ve been noticing lately that there are many stories online about cable and satellite TV companies fighting for either more money or money at all; as many stations run for free they rely on a provider’s broader audience to sell advertising. Now with the economy in a slump and money not flowing as freely and the usual amount they get paid not being worth as much they are being forced into a situation where they have to ask for more money or money at all from satellite or cable providers.
This is changing in many ways what is available for us on over the air antennas, and with the deadline looming for the analogue to digital switch and 8 million people found to not be ready. Over the air stations are getting nervous of how big of an impact this could have on their viewer base.
Satellite TV and cable providers are getting nervous that paying the stations for what has been free to them before, would add to extra stress for their customers and a rate increase. Lately even Time Warner (a provider well known for rampant rate increase) is getting nervous about raising their rates at all.
The question for most of us is if the economy will affect things so much that we see media companies like these finding a significant number of subscribers. I know for us the television will be the last thing going off if it comes to that. Well depending on if it’s summer time or winder, -20 would be no fun and I know there is no way to enjoy Sponge Bob with frost bite.
There is no doubt though that extras will start seeing a decline, and stations like HBO and Showtime will most likely find that their numbers are significantly dropping by the end of the year. If that is to say Obama isn’t able to wave a magic wand and save us all.
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