It is no secret that online newspapers, like the NY Times, Sunday Times, and Washington Post are making plans to charge their online readers. Flying under the radar, however, is a plan by a coalition of US’ largest News Channels, including Fox News, CNN and MSNBC to begin charging viewers who have cable and satellite subscriptions.
Under the plan, each cable and satellite subscriber will be given a “paying box” that will be plugged to the subscriber’s TV. The paying box will keep track of the shows being watched and charged viewers per shows.
Contacted about the paying box, Fibeilsen, the company that makes the box, would not comment except to say that the paying box will come in different colors to match the color of a person’s house.
People who are not cable or satellite subscribers will be given “Non-Paying Boxes” to ensure that they don’t get billed. All they will have to pay, however, is a small monthly fee for keeping the non-paying boxes.
As to the paying boxes, when asked how much that they will charge satellite and Cable customers, a news official, aware of the plan, told us that “the payment will vary from few cents to up to a dollar per day depending on the shows being watched. You will get a reduced rate if you watch re-runs. If a show is really bad, like the D.L. Hughley show that was on CNN, you may ask for a rebate”, the news official says. The paying box, she says, will also keep track of people who watch commercials to give them a reduced rate.
Asked about this new payment model, many sport news channels, like ESPN, told us that they plan on creating their own paying boxes. However, instead of charging per show, ESPN, for example, will charge per sport. Under ESPN’s payment formula, football will cost more than basketball and basketball will cost more than soccer. Customers who watch figure skating and synchronized swimming will get a rebate, while customers who watch female beach volley ball and female mud wrestling will pay top price.
Rumors that that the playboy channel has created a top of the line paying box with an ingenious payment formula, could not be verified. Continue…
