(no subject)
I was contemplating, as I often do, why certain channels exist. You get channels like G4 which runs Cops reruns at least 8 hours a day, then you have VH1 Classic, which I used to love, which now runs random movies most of the time. Why do these channels exist? Why are they supported by their creators? They are just running trash all day and night.
It occurred to me that ratings no longer matter for channels like that. They are part of a package, which means that millions of people get them whether they care about them or not. How many clutter channels are on your cable that you never, ever watch? I bet it's a lot. These channels tend to get pretty crappy ads, since I'm sure advertising agencies realize that there's no viewership, but they get ads. Thus, between these two facts, they can just leave a channel running old, cheap material and make money. Moreover, since these channels are all owned by big, fat megacorporations, I'm sure they can show material they already have liscensed, so it's not like they're spending money on the channel itself, but rather using assets they already have. It doesn't matter what they put on it. People will clamor for a channel they want, but nobody ever tries to get a channel they don't want removed. The people in charge have no incentive to combine redundant channels, since they make more money with a bunch of channels in indefinite holding patterns. They can show reruns of Jackass all day on MTV2 and make money, even if there are a dozen people watching nationwide. I'm sure their contracts with cable companies say, "Well, if you want this channel, you have to take these channels too!" so that the cable companies can't just cut the chaff to provide more alluring packages. If people ordered these channels on an individual basis, I imagine tons of them would cease to be lucrative and vanish in a flash.
It all makes so much sense.
It occurred to me that ratings no longer matter for channels like that. They are part of a package, which means that millions of people get them whether they care about them or not. How many clutter channels are on your cable that you never, ever watch? I bet it's a lot. These channels tend to get pretty crappy ads, since I'm sure advertising agencies realize that there's no viewership, but they get ads. Thus, between these two facts, they can just leave a channel running old, cheap material and make money. Moreover, since these channels are all owned by big, fat megacorporations, I'm sure they can show material they already have liscensed, so it's not like they're spending money on the channel itself, but rather using assets they already have. It doesn't matter what they put on it. People will clamor for a channel they want, but nobody ever tries to get a channel they don't want removed. The people in charge have no incentive to combine redundant channels, since they make more money with a bunch of channels in indefinite holding patterns. They can show reruns of Jackass all day on MTV2 and make money, even if there are a dozen people watching nationwide. I'm sure their contracts with cable companies say, "Well, if you want this channel, you have to take these channels too!" so that the cable companies can't just cut the chaff to provide more alluring packages. If people ordered these channels on an individual basis, I imagine tons of them would cease to be lucrative and vanish in a flash.
It all makes so much sense.