3 ms·
Like ESPN licenses it's channels (and even ESPN3) based on the number of subscribers, not the people who actually tune into them?
by mrkurt 16y ago
Like ESPN licenses it's channels (and even ESPN3) based on the number of subscribers, not the people who actually tune into them?
- beagle3 16y agoNo, it would be more like Toshiba would have to pay to ESPN based on number of televisions sold.
- rosser 16y agoIf you're subscribed to a package that includes ESPN*, then ESPN gets its share of that subscription revenue. If you're not, they don't. The analog for MSFT's licensing practices would have ESPN getting a cut for every subscriber, whether or not their package included ESPN.
- mrkurt 16y agoESPN gets a cut for every Comcast internet subscriber, that's why I get to enjoy ESPN3 (their streaming service). They also tend to do things like mandate that ESPN be available in the lowest level cable packages. Have you ever had to pay extra to get ESPN? If you buy more than the local channels, ESPN comes along. It's obviously not exactly analogous, but volume licensing based on the number of consumers/seats/etc is pretty standard. We grant people a monopoly over their IP and it turns out they want to extract as much value as they can from it.