Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.
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"We’re pleased that we’ve made
significant enhancements to the
programming choices for our
customers this year, at the same
time we remain very concerned about
alarming rise in fees that local
broadcast stations, regional sports
networks and national cable
programmers are seeking for their
content," Lovett said. "In the case
of local broadcasters that content
has historically been free to our
customers.
Lovett called for reform in the retransmission process that often leaves viewers caught in the middle during fee fights between the TV provider and programmer.
Lovett called for reform in the retransmission process that often leaves viewers caught in the middle during fee fights between the TV provider and programmer.
"As
we have seen in the increasing
number of disputes between operators
and programmers, it’s the consumer
that ultimately gets hurt, either by
losing access to programming, even
for a short time or paying far too
much. The model that the industry is
currently working under is more than
flawed and in need of remediation,"
he said.
In other news, Lovett said Charter
is testing a TiVo DVR service in
Texas and hopes to offer it
nationwide in the first half of
2012.