I am pretty new to the forum, but I have seen a few posts from certain users with a decent amount of negativity. The reality is, Pay TV is a luxury.
I'm fairly convinced that if they could make any case for it at all, some folks would go around saying that food is a luxury. And, sure, by some standards (bare minimum to survive), cable or satellite, is a luxury, but the fact is, we're talking about total penetration for cable and satellite at 90% in an article I just looked up, and it cited that number as an 18 year low. People grew up with this stuff, many having had it all their adult lives, and, while of course it's not necessary to live, people are going to want to hang on to it and have, in some cases, real difficulty adjusting to missing it.
Plus, many people don't have over the air television available in their area (and that number increased with the digital transition, because people who used to get "snowy" reception often now simply get no signal due to the way the technology works- digital is "all or nothing" signal wise), and even for those who do, it offers less than it used to in many areas. For example, when I was a young child, before we got cable, there used to be like 70 OTA baseball games a year from my local team in it's main market, with those same games dual broadcast in several secondary markets. The cable and satellite RSN channel got a slight majority, but it was only slight, and many of the key games were on OTA- plus all the playoff games. Now, only 25 games are OTA (non exclusively) and only in the home market with no secondary markets allowed to pick up the games, and some playoff games have migrated to cable/satellite as well.
OTA isn't the same as it used to be, because it used to be assumed that it's all the majority, or at least a sizeable minority had. Now it's assumed that nearly everyone has something in addition to that- because almost everyone does- and so some sports teams and leagues feel little compunction about moving their stuff almost entirely off OTA tv.
Mr. Realist, welcome to the forum! I agree with you totally, but I must tell you that for some, logic is not important.
Maybe people just don't buy into your ideology. That's not a rejection of logic, it's just people who see the world differently. Some folks like to see the world as some sort of contest of survival of the fittest. Others like to see it as a place where we rise or fall together, and try to make sure there's a good minimum standard of living for the folks who struggle.
You cannot convince them that TV of any kind is a luxury because there will be arguments that they are entitled (despite the fact that not that long ago in history TV didn't even exist, not even for the rich and everyone seemed to live just fine).
Not that long ago in history, electricity and running water didn't exist either. Would you suggest those things are luxuries? Times change. In Europe, at least one country has declared access to the Internet a basic human right- talk about times changing!
They will not buy into the idea that in America, there is opportunity to rise above any situation.
That's mythology, if applied in absolute terms. Can some people "rise above" tough circumstances and succeed? Sure. That opportunity isn't there for everyone, though, and declining rates of upward economic class mobility is showing that in terms of hard numbers.
Just for kicks I looked up the 5 year average Net Profit Margin (NPM) on some companies using Forbes.com (feel free to verify these numbers yourself). I used 5 year averages because they are much more accurate than a report on one year.
[...]Using your logic, you should be complaining every time you do virtually anything...from washing clothes, to talking on a cell phone, eating out, brushing your teeth, or even throwing back a cold one. If you don't like Dish, that is perfectly fine...but their profit margin is well within reasonable standards...and further complaining about this issue just shows that people either cannot comprehend this information, or simply want to argue. But there is nothing out of line with these numbers from Dish.
I buy the $1 tubes of toothpaste. I doubt they make much money off me. But I do complain about the price of beer- pretty frequently, actually. I just don't do it in the television forum.
Anyhow, while I will grant your point that many corporations generate huge profit margins and it's becoming the new normal, I'd argue that the pressure to achieve that may be part of what causing these bubbles and financial crises, massive layoffs, and moves that don't benefit consumers. Like I said, they now feel the need to squeeze every last penny out of everyone, except about the CEOs, who can pay a cool $10,000,000 a year while they lay off loyal long-time employees and raise prices at whim.
In fact, these numbers suggest that what Dish is doing is providing an outstanding value!
If you say so. Their first year prices aren't bad. Their regular price? Eh, it's about what everyone else's is if you want what I'd consider to be today's basic sports and news, channels-- your local RSNs, ESPN, ESPN2, NBCSN, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNEWS, etc.. My parents have all the channels I need in a cable package are actually cheaper than my regular price Dish package (Though cable prices might be different where I live). Unfortunately, I'm over a state line and the local cable here won't carry an RSN's alternate channel they use for some hockey games (But do actually provide extra RSNs from other adjoining regions, so more games, just less of "my" games), so there's that to consider. But when my contract expires, I may just have to sacrifice that, especially for a promo rate. Or I could look into Directv.
Good information, if folks want to see some profit margins, I can only imagine what the furniture industry is. I have a strong feeling they are pulling some high margins
You're right, which is part of why I've never bought a new piece of furniture in my life. The couch in my apartment was purchased for $35 at a flea market. And, come to think of it, someone else saw it, knew I needed a couch, and brought it over and gave the thing to me, so I didn't even pay the $35. But you can't buy used television service.
