AMC

[zim2dive]

Part of the problem is that the content providers _assume_ they will continue to get their increases, and use that to factor in what they pay for programming.. I think ESPN is the worst at this.. ie. they are a merciless negotiator with cable/sat/etc, forcing ESPN to in the bottom-tier and collect from all customers, which in turn allows them to make ever-increasing bids for all the sporting events (there are many events which have moved from broadcast to ESPN), which in turn fuels the crazy athlete salaries.. it will be a very amusing thing to watch if that house of cards ever collapses...

don't get me wrong, I like sports.. I just think the $$ is nuts.

 

[lparsons21]

AMC doesn't compare well to ESPN. Yeah, they've got 5 hot shows, but the rest is very ho-hum with little actual value.

AMC/Rainbow has bought into the current corporate thinking of providing less and charging more for it. Think about it, Breaking Bad will start a split last season, the Killing probably is killed, Mad Men is not going to be around for long either. That leaves exactly two hot shows to watch in future, Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead.

But wait, there's more! The Walking Dead, for all the hoorah over it, had their budget cut, Mad Men missed a year over money, but yet AMC made more money than they ever did before. So why would you want a big increase to get less?

Will Direct follow Dish in cancelling when contract comes due? I don't know. A better question might be will AMC still be around after losing about $25M per month from Dish?

And I suppose I could mention the weak sisters of the Rainbow pack, WE, IFC and Sundance. For all the bitching and stuff about AMC going away, virtually no one is talking about these channels. So why would D* or E* even want them at any price?

 

[rapidturtle]

Isn't a big part of this dispute the whole Voom fiasco. Voom has something to do with AMC, and they are in court or going to court to battle against Dish, for dropping Voom. Its pretty funny how AT&T got a deal done with AMC, but Dish, as always, is having the problems.
Me thinks there is more to this than just the fee increase.

 

[riffjim4069]

Isn't a big part of this dispute the whole Voom fiasco. Voom has something to do with AMC, and they are in court or going to court to battle against Dish, for dropping Voom. Its pretty funny how AT&T got a deal done with AMC, but Dish, as always, is having the problems.
Me thinks there is more to this than just the fee increase.

For some reason I get the feeling that Dish Network was not offered any good customer discounts. FYI: VOOM's (now defunct) parent company was AMC Networks (formerly Rainbow Media) whose parent company was (at the time before being spun off) Cablevision.