Another Reason to Demand Cable Choice

One of the media cartel’s favorite tricks is “bait-and-switch”: make pay-TV subscribers think they’re getting one thing, then give them something else. This week, the cable industry has provided yet another demonstration of its arrogant and overbearing behavior. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, the Biography Channel (owned by A&E Networks) will undergo a “rebranding” to become a new and different cable network called FYI. Once again, a cable network that is a poor performer financially has been unilaterally “rebranded” by its owners. But are cable and satellite customers given a choice as to whether or not they WANT this “rebranded” network? Of course not! These customers are FORCED to continue paying for the old network (the one that is unsustainable) while it undergoes “rebranding” – and when the new FYI network emerges, all pay-TV customers will continue to be forced to pay for THAT, too, whether or not they want a cable network that is intended to be “an 'inspiration engine' for a core audience of upscale women in their early 40s.” In the entire history of free markets, there has never been any other industry that has operated in this dictatorial manner…and that is because the cable industry doesn’t answer to free market principles. Instead it operates like a cartel, wielding unassailable and unfair economic leverage over its consumers. And it is simply outrageous. To lend your voice to the battle for Cable Choice, click here.