# New Forum Section; "Media Business" ?



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Suggesting a new forum section dealing with disputes and/or media business news and announcements that don't really fit well in the existing sections.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Most disputes are provider specific so there really is no need for a forum like that. Besides, some users have all forums removed from their list except their own provider which might keep them from seeing disputes that could affect them.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Chris Blount said:


> Most disputes are provider specific so there really is no need for a forum like that.


True, but some involve other parties like the Time-Warner dispute. Granted that's cable not DBS, but it's still of interest to some considering the current frequency of disputes and the "I'm switching carriers" comments. More coverage of these might show that it isn't either DBS carrier that is more 'at fault'.

I also see quite a few other stories about the content providers not specific to DBS like the NBC/Comcast sale.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Kicking this back up again.

Stories like the SOAPNet shutdown and the associated article on 'zombie channels' are not specific to any carrier or even distribution method. It affects everything, cable, satellite and streaming.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Renewing the call for this. Lots of merger stories and others don't fit any one category or forum, such as the one regarding Customer Service just posted.

All it takes is a couple of mouse clicks to create a forum.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Guess this never got enough votes to put onto the island. 

Seems like there are some nooks and crannies for most of this: Cable TV Discussion, Legislative and Regulatory Issues, possibly General Satellite Discussion, or there is always the OT.

If it doesn't fit, might need to acquit (to somewhere else.)

Peace,
Tom


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## David Bott (Jul 12, 2005)

Sorry...There just really is not enough need for a dedicated forum section like that when most of it i covered in other areas without issue.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Chicken and the Egg.

The lack of an appropriate section is why I don't post a lot of stories that don't fit into any of the existing pigeon holes. This one doesn't really fit in OT either, but it fits better there than anywhere else since it covers several companies:

http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/218077-consumer-service-lacking-as-cable-firms-consolidate/

If there were a section (chicken), there may be more stories and discussion (eggs).

It's not like it costs anything to add one.

.


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## David Bott (Jul 12, 2005)

Your right, it does not. It Just looks poor on the site when there are no posts in them. I have many times had to move posts somewhere else as a forum which we thought we be a good idea just did not get the posts and needed to be removed as it looked poor. In fact we have some here like Cable TV that really has not done well. In fact, last post was April.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Seems as though the answer is right here in this thread. After 3 years and 2 bumps by the thread starter there has only been one non-moderator post in this thread--and that was a where else in the existing forums this material can go.

If there was ANY interest, there would be at least a couple affirming posts. If it were really right for DBStalk, there would be a clamor. 

Peace,
Tom


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Yeah... not too long ago we had separate forums for the top 5 cable companies, and they were mostly like ghost towns... so we decided to consolidate that back down to just one Cable TV forum.

When a channel goes away, it is either provider-specific (goes in that provider forum) or is channel-specific and we have general TV forums for that scenario.

About the only situation we don't have a clean place for... are mergers... like the ATT/DirecTV one. Discussion of that is important to DirecTV customers as well as ATT U-Verse customers... but that's really the rare situation. The recent cable mergers (or attempts) go cleanly in the Cable TV forum since they are just Comcast/Time Warner or Charter/Bright House/Time Warner.

Full disclosure... I pushed for the top-5 cable company forums (I wasn't alone) when we expanded this site not to long ago to cover the broader DBS content. I used the argument from Field of Dreams (build it and they will come)... only, I was proven wrong... we built it, and they did not come... at least not in enough quantity to warrant having the diluted sections for each of them.

So now I've fallen back with the experienced folk here who kind of saw that coming... and usually wait for there to be real demand for a new forum before going about creating one.


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