On Wednesday, April 23, 2014 10:14:36 PM UTC-4, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 4/23/14 8:01 PM, trader_4 wrote:



Now let's get to what I don't understand. The networks have their shorts

in a knot and brought this suit against Aero. What I don't get is what's

the big threat? The networks are putting this out over the air for free

and all you need is an antenna to receive it. They get paid for advertising

based on the number of viewers. The more viewers, the more $$$. I guess

what's threatened is that they are getting paid by cable companies who

carry their broadcasts. Which seems kind of funny too, no? With an

antenna you can get it for free, but to watch it on cable, you're paying

the fees that the network collects from the cable companies.



Would it have anything to do with lack of Nielsen ratings over the

web? Or is there some way to measure viewers?

I don't see why they can't measure ratings for any media. Nilesen picks
out names just like would be done for any survey. They send you a survey
that asks you to keep track of what you watch for a week. No reason that
couldn't include what you watch via streaming. If it's done for TV, cable,
radio, etc, there isn't any reason they can't figure it out for streaming
video.

But you already have two ways of distribution being treated totally
different. If you receive via an antenna, it's free. If you receive
via cable, the cable company is paying a huge amount to the broadcaster
for the right to distribute what otherwise would be free and you in turn
are paying for it in your cable bill. I think that revenue stream is
what the broadcasters are trying to protect.