Unfathomable Business Models. No. 232 in an occasional series
So I’m coming back in from a client meeting earlier today and I catch a hint of the latest news about the sniper flashed up as a headline on the Elevator News Network.
Like most people in North America, I guess, this thing has me transfixed. Reaching my desk and anxious to learn more, I bring up CNN.com.
Curses.
Don’t know when they started doing this, but it appears that you can’t just watch CNN streaming at your desk any more.
You can catch it for free in lobbies, on street corners, at the local Future Shop – but online? Nope. Now they want you to subscribe.
Er...OK. Let’s just see now....
To come close to what you can catch on TV, CNN offers the “RealOne SuperPass”, which lets you watch streams from CNN, CNN/Sports Illustrated, CNN/Money, plus a bunch of “Premium Programming from ABCNEWS, Wall Street Journal, NBA, NASCAR.com, FOXSports.com and much more!”
All for the bargain price of US$9.95/month
The local Canadian Tire store, meanwhile, carries a perfectly acceptable little 13” colour TV – capable of receiving all of the above channels and, indeed, “much more!”. Measly hunnerd forty Canadian. Stick one of these in the corner of your office or den.
Option A: slow, choppy, pixelated, fuzzy CNN stream through your computer screen for US$119 per year – all nicely wrapped up in CNN-branded ad-spam and other bandwidth devouring clottage.
Option B: exact same CNN content, without all the fuzziness and other bollocks – with a picture you can actually see and audio that works. Plus a whole bunch of other TV channels and no “targeted”, “permission-based” ad-spam to wade through. $139 + tax (in Canadian dollars – so about 90 bucks US).
Ahem.
So I’m coming back in from a client meeting earlier today and I catch a hint of the latest news about the sniper flashed up as a headline on the Elevator News Network.
Like most people in North America, I guess, this thing has me transfixed. Reaching my desk and anxious to learn more, I bring up CNN.com.
Curses.
Don’t know when they started doing this, but it appears that you can’t just watch CNN streaming at your desk any more.
You can catch it for free in lobbies, on street corners, at the local Future Shop – but online? Nope. Now they want you to subscribe.
Er...OK. Let’s just see now....
To come close to what you can catch on TV, CNN offers the “RealOne SuperPass”, which lets you watch streams from CNN, CNN/Sports Illustrated, CNN/Money, plus a bunch of “Premium Programming from ABCNEWS, Wall Street Journal, NBA, NASCAR.com, FOXSports.com and much more!”
All for the bargain price of US$9.95/month
The local Canadian Tire store, meanwhile, carries a perfectly acceptable little 13” colour TV – capable of receiving all of the above channels and, indeed, “much more!”. Measly hunnerd forty Canadian. Stick one of these in the corner of your office or den.
Option A: slow, choppy, pixelated, fuzzy CNN stream through your computer screen for US$119 per year – all nicely wrapped up in CNN-branded ad-spam and other bandwidth devouring clottage.
Option B: exact same CNN content, without all the fuzziness and other bollocks – with a picture you can actually see and audio that works. Plus a whole bunch of other TV channels and no “targeted”, “permission-based” ad-spam to wade through. $139 + tax (in Canadian dollars – so about 90 bucks US).
Ahem.
