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Years ago, when TV was just getting started, some movie theaters
showed their patrons a short film that envisioned the customer
constantly feeding money into a coin box on top of the TV. The
ad was intended to remind movie patrons that TV was meant to
be free (and subsequently not take money from the customer that
the movie theaters wanted spent in their businesses!) While
this low-tech version of pay-per-view was never a reality, most
consumers pay monthly for their TV viewing, either through their
cable company or satellite provider.
Small cable providers, who are often
members of the National Cable Television
Cooperative (NCTC), serve many of the
country’s rural communities. These
providers struggle to keep their costs and
services comparable to large, national
companies and satellite providers.
Many of these small, independent cable
companies stay competitive through their
membership with NCTC, a not-for-profit
programming and hardware buying
cooperative headquartered in Lenexa, Kan.,
that does business only with cable operators.
“
NCTC helps cable operators in small
communities keep their costs as low as
possible,” said Dan Mulvenon, NCTC’s
senior vice president of Member Services.
“
Almost every cable network requires
payment for carriage on a per customer
basis. The bigger the cable company, the
more leverage they have with the
programmers to get the best prices. Smaller
operators, like those in the Co-op, have
almost no leverage on an individual basis.
NCTC lets them get the discounts bigger
cable operators receive.”
Cable television was developed as a way to
import distant over-the-air broadcast signals into rural areas where TV reception
was
spotty at best. What originally was only 6 or
12 channels of viewing has mushroomed
into the 100+ channels now available in
many homes. HBO was the first satellite
service, and that idea of delivering “cable-
only” channels was the impetus for the
myriad of viewing choices consumers enjoy
in both large cities and in smaller, rural
communities across the country.
Along the way, these new networks didn’t
have the large viewer base of NBC, CBS or
ABC, so in addition to selling ads to pay for
their programming costs, the cable networks
sought per subscriber fees from the cable
operators. These monthly license fees
allowed the cable networks to offer more
and more original programming and
become more competitive with the
established broadcast networks. The benefit
of this subscriber supported TV is evident every time you surf through all
the channels now available in
most homes today.
The downside has been the
number of channels that depend
on these subscriber fees to cover
their cost, and the wholesale cost
paid for this large volume of
programming has been the
primary reason for rising
subscriber fees.
National Cable Television
Cooperative was formed to help
operators battle these rising
wholesale costs. NCTC
represents more than 1,000
independent cable operators,
their 7,000 individual cable
systems and more than 14
million subscribers nationwide.
Of those 7,000 systems, about 6,000 serve fewer than 1,000 customers,
most of whom are found in rural
communities, Mulvenon said.
NCTC, which celebrated its 20th year of
service last year, deals only with cable
operators and has no rights to sell
programming or equipment to home
subscribers.
Faced with a seemingly constant wave of
new technology and programming choices,
rural cable operators have asked that NCTC
be more than just a programming
cooperative.
“
The Co-op will continue to work to
achieve fair and equitable programming
rates that are commensurate with our size.
That’s the backbone of the cable business,”
said Michael L. Pandzik, NCTC’s president
and CEO since created it was created in
1984. “But we also have to help members
launch new services like high-speed Internet
because that’s how they’ll stay competitive
and keep their customers satisfied.”
To meet those challenges, the Co-op also helps member companies buy the
equipment needed to build, rebuild, and
expand existing cable systems. To add
Internet service, digital channels, video on
demand, and other new services, members
turn to NCTC for their equipment
purchases. Member companies can even buy
their service trucks through the Co-op.
The value of the NCTC to members was
noted last year in a special 20th Anniversary
booklet. “The Co-op began as an aggregate
for purchasing power,” said Patrick Knorr,
general manager of Sunflower Broadband,
an original NCTC member. “And for that
alone the small cable industry owes its
existence to the Co-op for its viability.
However, in the past five years, the Co-op
has demonstrated the ability to evolve,
positioning it for continued success beyond
this decade and probably for another 20
years.”
RFD-TV has been available to all NCTC
members through a master agreement that
was signed between the companies in 2003.
“We are proud of our affiliation with
NCTC and the operators that have chosen
to carry this rural television network as a basic channel,” stated Patrick
Gottsch, Founder & President of
RFD Communications, Inc. “It’s
our goal to serve the needs and
interests of every home in rural
America. If there ever was a
television network designed
specifically for the rural cable
operator, its RFD-TV.”
NCTC systems carrying RFD-TV
seem to agree:
“
RFD-TV has helped us in many
ways,” said Jim Lynn of CC
Communications in Nevada.
“
The programming is definitely
appealing to our 30,000
subscribers. We are very glad we
made the decision to carry RFD-
TV.”
Dave Lull of Lavalle Long
Distance in Wisconsin said “The customer helped us find RFD-TV. We had
a lot of complaints when we didn’t carry
RFD-TV,” he said. “Since we’ve added
RFD-TV we have had no complaints
whatsoever.”
Janell Hansen of Marne and Elk Horn
Telephone in Iowa agreed. “We get more
positive comments about RFD-TV than any
other station that we have added. RFD-TV
is very appealing to our subscribers.”
Jody Graham of TCT West in Wyoming
said her customers like the channel as well.
“
Our subscribers love the cattle auctions and
the shows on trains and antique tractors.
RFD-TV is very popular with viewers in
Wyoming.”
Consumers wishing to have RFD-TV added
to their cable system should contact their
local cable operator and request that the
network be added to their channel lineup.
Requests from the local cable system’s
subscribers are most influential as these
operators determine which channels to carry
or add to their system through the NCTC. |
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