From Courier-Life:
Still fuming from the WABC–Cablevision fiasco of two weeks ago that caused southern Brooklynites to miss Academy Awards’ slam-bang opening number, Fidler said he’s putting forward two City Council resolutions he hopes will change how cable companies haggle with networks in their continuing price war.
Every 10 years, cable companies re-negotiate their contracts with television networks. While the negotiations were supposed to take place in 2008, they were postponed to this year, explained Fidler, who said that the average viewer is the one who misses out when two titans like these clash over pricing.
“Over the last number of months, myself and other viewers have gotten increasingly pissed off with how the cable industry is running,” Fidler said. “They seem to hold viewers in a low regard. We’re being held hostage.”
…
In his resolutions, Fidler calls upon the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pass a regulation that would ensure that any television company that broadcasts on the airwaves — like WABC or any other network television channel — cannot charge a cable provider any more than the cost of linking the channel up to the cable system.
What do you think? Should the city government be looking out for our entertainment interests? Or is this something that market forces would rectify on their own?
(Construction Intervention TV website screenshot)
Renovation gone bad? The Discovery Channel is doing casting calls in the Tri-State Area for a show they are calling “Construction Intervention”.
If you are a business owner who started a renovation, but never got it done or had some such other tragedy involving botched construction work, you might do well in contacting the casting department. If you don’t own a headache business under construction, but have seen a Southern Brooklyn storefront in need of desperate help, why not nominate one? While it may be too late to save the now-gone Joanne’s Discount Center (formerly located at 2209 Avenue X), there may still be time to save some of the other staples of our community. The offer for intervention is open to even businesses in need of a “pick-me-up”.
Check the About Us page on their website for more information. You may contact the show organizers by e-mail or call them at (212) 264-3600 x 417 or 421.
We’re curious though: even if you’re not a business owner, what storefronts and commercial buildings in Sheepshead Bay do you think need an intervention? If you don’t have time to make the call, why not just leave the name of the most needy businesses in the comments section, here. We’ll be more than happy to call casting for you.
