Iain grant wrote...."But it's not all about customer service, it's also about theft.   If people are just stealing the shows online there's nothing the terrestrials can do to compete with that.  They pay millions for a series that people go online on Youtube or Pirate bay and grab in 10 minutes."

I disagree Iain. I think if you catch Marketplace tonight and listen to the cell phone users who have problems of one kind or another that won't be fixed then customer service is a major issue. Rogers has a poor reputation don't you think??

 Rogers Hockey package is a prime example with me. My favourite team is Montreal but I live in the "Toronto" area. I can take their N.H.L. package but do you know for the full payment and from day one they black out certain Montreal games?  Let me repeat that. They will black out a certain number of Montreal games even though I have paid full price and follow all their rules, and that's just because I live where I live. Is that not insane?? Do you think I'm going to purchase their package at 2 hundred dollars plus tax or do you think I'm going to say  I've got a different alternative . I'll go where I can watch what I want to watch live any night of the week. If they had a hockey service  that gave me what I wanted I would buy it. They don't....... they give me 85  per cent or 90 per cent of the games. And so from me they get nothing and I watch every Montreal game live.

And that's my fault because...???
 
 
 

Last edited by unclefester (February 12, 2016 3:03 pm)

I liken this current situation with News and what has happened in Radio as the same chicken or the egg argument.   The large corporations make cuts to both.   The quality drops as a result and people stop watching.  The numbers drop, the boardroom hatchet men (women) say profits are down, time to make further cuts.  The deeper cuts result in more losses of audience and guess what happens again.I have seen it in the market I live with local Radio and Television.   The quality of the local Radio stations is quite simply awful.  As for local Television, the first 5 minutes or so of the 6 pm hour long newscast and that is it.I wonder if the quote "..if you build it they will come" would reverse the current situation.  Put quality on the air, actual local information and stories on the local News, and make the oh so obvious improvements to the local radio stations would bring back the eyes and ears, and reflect in the bottom line. Just wondering.

In regards to traditional news. Your right, it's a cycle of cuts equals worse programming which equals more cuts and so forth.

What should be said though is that the large corps that own the stations have inserted themselves into the conversation. And what happens is that the news becomes propoganda. This has an twofold effect.
The first is that people stop tuning in because they don't want propaganda they want news. They don't want to read the Sun endorsing the Conservatives and the Star endorsing the Liberals. It's not news anymore.
The second is that there are people who want propaganda, confirmation bias and don't want to hear anything positive about their "enemies". These people end up watching more extreme one sided newscasts and radio. Once you drink the kool-aid you only want it stronger.

You could say it's a no win situation as traditional media is caught between being cheerleaders and being fair. The demographics are sliding to an us vs them with folks giving less thought to the mushy middle.

News used to have a slant. Now it has an agenda.

Steve wrote:

In regards to traditional news. Your right, it's a cycle of cuts equals worse programming which equals more cuts and so forth.

What should be said though is that the large corps that own the stations have inserted themselves into the conversation. And what happens is that the news becomes propoganda. This has an twofold effect.
The first is that people stop tuning in because they don't want propaganda they want news. They don't want to read the Sun endorsing the Conservatives and the Star endorsing the Liberals. It's not news anymore.
The second is that there are people who want propaganda, confirmation bias and don't want to hear anything positive about their "enemies". These people end up watching more extreme one sided newscasts and radio. Once you drink the kool-aid you only want it stronger.

You could say it's a no win situation as traditional media is caught between being cheerleaders and being fair. The demographics are sliding to an us vs them with folks giving less thought to the mushy middle.

News used to have a slant. Now it has an agenda.

Well said.

BoredOp wrote:

Steve wrote:

News used to have a slant. Now it has an agenda.

It really should have neither.

Good point.

I think slant is required if your going to have any connection to the audience. Even if that slant is hamburgers over hotdogs. (I prefer burgers)

Sometimes though I don't want a connection to the host, I just want facts and numbers. Apparently focus groups feel differently.