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December 10, 2019 9:38 am  #1


Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

It's part of a dispute over  - what else? - money, with AMC demanding more of it to keep the channel available on the system and Rogers insisting they're not worth the extra cash. 

Wow, it takes a greedy company for me to side with Rogers! Imagine that! It means if you still watch The Walking Dead or any of its other versions, you might now suffer from the Walkout Dread come January 1st.

Rogers announces plans to drop AMC — and this isn’t the first time they’ve clashed

While Canadian stations can't hold distributors for ransom, there are no rules when it comes to American stations. The system in the U.S., which I otherwise prefer, can hold millions hostage and regularly have. Dish Network, for example, is run by a penny pincher named Charlie Ergen. He commendably tries to keep prices down, knowing it will cost him subscribers if rates go up endlessly.  

And then along comes an entity like ViacomCBS, which generally starts playing the "pay-up-or-we'll-pull-our-signals" game right around the time they have the rights to the Super Bowl. And generally the ask to keep it are ridiculously high. Disney has done the same thing with ESPN and some of its channels. 

HBO, the premier movie pay cable channel in the U.S., has been off Dish for months, after it was taken over by AT&T, now owner of rival DirecTV, and crazy demands were made to keep it on the competitor. Dish refused, lost a ton of subscribers and to my knowledge, it's still not back. 

I'm sorry to see Canadians are getting in on this ultimately losing game, especially when streaming is starting to take over the way we all watch TV. It's self-defeating and no one - not the distributors, not the channels and certainly not the viewers - ever win.

 

December 10, 2019 10:29 am  #2


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

I wonder what Bell and Shaw will do when it's time to "discuss" their carriage terms with AMC when their current contract ends.

 

December 10, 2019 11:58 am  #3


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

For this Rogers customer who has the channel in his package.....AMC can shove it.

I'm not a Walking Dead fan and the last original show of theirs that I watched was Mad Men.  As for movies they have always been a distant second to TCM and other outlets.  The films they show are edited for time & content with numerous repeat showings each month;  along with far too many commercials thrown in.

They are by no means a premier entertainment channel.

 

December 10, 2019 12:18 pm  #4


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

No great loss. I side with Rogers, AMC isn't worth it.  You can only watch National Lampoons Vacation, The Breakfast Club and The Italian Job so many times, Seems like AMC has a about 50 movies in their library and they keep playing the same flicks over and over. And they have been showing these  for years in prime time. 

Rogers and or Bell should dump the Paramount Channel as well.  How that station stays on the air is a mystery. They have what, about 6 shows and no commercials just long promo breaks?  Every time I surf by, John Taffer is screaming at some loser bar owner about the business.  They need to change some of the long 2 minute promos for Tattoo Nightmares, which have been on the air for over one year. Tattoo Nightmare, yes another stellar show!

 

December 10, 2019 1:04 pm  #5


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

Here is a list of the most popular networks/channels from 2018 in the US. AMC came in at 25th most popular. One station that in my view has really slid in quality is A&E, which I am surprised came in at 21. I did see some numbers for April 2019, and this chart had AMC at #22 and A&E way up to the 9th most popular network in the USA . Anyway these figures are from 2018, surprising how low some stations are in terms of viewers. Notice both AMC and A&E move up a bit 18-49 (scroll down).

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/12/network-ratings-top-channels-espn-cnn-fox-news-cbs-nbc-abc-1202030597/

Last edited by paterson1 (December 10, 2019 1:07 pm)

 

December 10, 2019 1:11 pm  #6


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

I never thought I'd live to see the day where some posters here side WITH a cable company? Wow!

That said, Cogeco is the opposite of Rogers -- they used to charge an extra $2/month if you added AMC to their MyMix 10, 20, 30 or 40 pack. Recently, they eliminated that surcharge. For me, AMC has/had two of my favorite shows, "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul". 

That said, why doesn't Rogers move AMC out of their P&P and slide it into a separate Pay option? They could charge $10-$15/month and keep both sides "happy". Would I pay that much? Umm, no. But, it's a solution and would quickly gauge whether their subs would be willing to pay FMV.

 

December 10, 2019 1:20 pm  #7


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

paterson1 wrote:

One station that in my view has really slid in quality is A&E, which I am surprised came in at 21.

What does A&E air besides LivePD, Live First Responders, Live Body Cam, Live Colonoscopy, Live Algonquin Park Outhouse and Live Asian Caning?

 

December 10, 2019 1:52 pm  #8


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

TheConsultant wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

One station that in my view has really slid in quality is A&E, which I am surprised came in at 21.

What does A&E air besides LivePD, Live First Responders, Live Body Cam, Live Colonoscopy, Live Algonquin Park Outhouse and Live Asian Caning?

Hahaha! The sad thing is that you are not really exaggerating that much..

 

December 10, 2019 2:41 pm  #9


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

I'll tell you one thing.  AMC plays one too many commercials.  That's why the movies are so long.  I personally wouldn't miss them because of that; although from time to time they have some pretty good films.  AMC is a station that I always have to PVR because of their commercial load.

 

December 16, 2019 1:36 pm  #10


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

There has been much discussion about this on the Rogers Community Forum mostly from people who are loyal and very unhappy viewers. Others, seem more level headed and try to look at the bigger picture of AMC trying to get as much money possible out of the carriers. Rogers won't bite and are removing the service Jan 1st. Apparently, Bell won't bite either.  One of the site contributors posted a tweet from Bell Support that AMC will be removed as of Feb 1st, 2020. I am sure there is a way to link the tweet, but I am not tech savvy enough to do it. You're dealing with someone who has a kindergarten level of computer knowledge.

 

December 16, 2019 2:03 pm  #11


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

AMC?  Didn't they make cars and bowling balls?? Sorry, couldn't resist.
 

 

December 16, 2019 5:35 pm  #12


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

AMC built the Gremlin
GM built the Vega
And pinto you will find it interesting that
Ford built the Pinto
But I am sure you knew that one already!  

 

December 16, 2019 5:51 pm  #13


Re: Rogers Cable Subscribers May Be Without AMC In 2020

mace wrote:

There has been much discussion about this on the Rogers Community Forum mostly from people who are loyal and very unhappy viewers. Others, seem more level headed and try to look at the bigger picture of AMC trying to get as much money possible out of the carriers. Rogers won't bite and are removing the service Jan 1st. Apparently, Bell won't bite either.  One of the site contributors posted a tweet from Bell Support that AMC will be removed as of Feb 1st, 2020. I am sure there is a way to link the tweet, but I am not tech savvy enough to do it. You're dealing with someone who has a kindergarten level of computer knowledge.

I don't think AMC viewers have a lot to worry about. AMC will blink, wait and see. If Rogers pulls the network on Jan 1 and Bell on Feb 1st, AMC will be getting zero revenue. What they are receiving now is a lot better than zero.

They shouldn't wait too long if they are pulled by Rogers and Bell since AMC is not really that strong a channel and could be replaced.  They really only have a few shows worth watching and are so repetitive in prime time with 35 year old movies that they show over and over and over.

Last edited by paterson1 (December 16, 2019 5:52 pm)