2006-7 All-Access

[billhoward]

I have it on good authority that All-Access works best on a PC using an Intel processor, Microsoft Windows XP operating system (MS Media Center Edition is permissible), Microsoft Office 2003, and Windows Firewall. Running Service Pack 2, of course, and forced (Microsoft) automatic updates turned on. Also, you should be using a Microsoft-brand optical mouse; a Microsoft laser mouse is acceptable if you're a gamer. Rather than unproven software such as Adobe Premiere, one should stick with Microsoft MovieMaker. It is considered acceptable to have borderline applications such as Acrobat Reader (Adobe Acrobat Reader not Acrobat) installed.

Life is better for All-Access when you follow the rules.

[DeltaOne81]

[quote KeithK]On a tangential note, I will never understand pro sports blackout rules.  If I have a satellite dish I can't watch the Yankees game on YES when there's a local Giants or A's game on.  This assumes that I simply want to watch baseball and will watch the local team when I can't watch the game I want, which is just not true most of the time.  Yes, there is the premium service market that blackouts help prop up (e.g. MLB Extra Innings) but the blackout rules predate these services.[/quote]

Just fyi, you can't watch a Yankees game on YES ever... no matter what else is or isn't on at the same time.

The idea definitely is to support local fanship for the local team... thereby getting people out to the park and get ticket and food sales, etc. Does it work? Well, that's another question. But with the option to pay more for sports subscriptions (or mlb.tv), it certainly makes even more sense now.

[Scersk '97]

[quote ugarte]It really shouldn't be surprising because this is the same industry that took decades to realize that broadcasting their games (on the radio! and then the debate revived again over television!) wasn't competition to ticket sales, but rather advertising for home games.[/quote]

And Bill (f---ing) Wirtz just got the memo:  this year, he's being so generous as to put 5 WHOLE HOME GAMES on (cable) TV.  Wowsers!

[Trotsky]

John, your very example contradicts the idea that the free market is the source of monopolies.  The university's cutting of the exclusive deal that locks out the competitors creates a subsidized market.  This is equivalent to the government getting involved to distort the market, which results in artifically picking winners and losers, and likewise the politicization of the market, with suppliers paying as much to bribe the overseer as it does to manufacture and market their product.  I hope Andy at least got a "happy ending" out of this deal.

Your example also points out why monopolies are inherently suicidal.  By insulating CSTV from competition from other service providers, Cornell guarantees that the service will become more expensive and inferior in quality, which will drive down the market for Cornell hockey games, which will hurt Cornell in the long run.  The best model for Cornell to follow is either (a) to grant non-exclusive rights to carry the product and let the competitors fight for audience share every week (which would also be the best for the consumer, since we would see immediate improvements in service and pricing), or (b) renegotiate the one-year exclusivity deal every year, opening the bidding to all competitors, and cutting out the lap dances or however else the sad sacks at CSTV closed this time.

[jtwcornell91]

So does "you do not have access to this content" mean they dudn't actually re-subscribe me?  (BTW, thanks for making me watch an ad before telling me I don't have access, fuckers.)

Also, is the actual video really going to be 1/16 the size of my laptop screen?