News Corp V. My Sanity

The Jazz Bus: News Corp v. My Sanity
It’s Sunday, a little after the noon hour, and I am still hoping against hope that Cablevision and Fox will come to their senses and release the hostages, we, the New York Football Giants fans. I check on line only to find they are still too far apart in their negotiations. So, like Eli Manning I need to scramble and find an open spot. I was invited to a Dish Network House but opted for what I thought to be the next best thing. On the road I go to a local spot that just might have the game. Arriving early I noticed the parking lot is practically empty. Reluctantly I asked, “Do you have today’s Giant’s game?” The reply was music to my ears so I bellied up finding a great seat in front of a huge plasma flat screen. After ordering my “first of the day” adult beverage, I relaxed.
The pregame show ended, the sound was up as was the lively crowd. The Giants were introduced, my beverage was freshened, and boom…the screen went blank, the silence deafening. A message across the screen indicated that this game was “blacked out due to league restrictions”. What??!!
The next few minutes are a blur with people running to and fro getting remotes, barking instructions while one poor soul attempted to adjust the screen and sound, but to no avail. Cell phones appeared with people calling friends or other establishments to see if they were the chosen few who might have the game. An exodus of the Giants Fateful in their full regalia, blue and whites, home and aways, left for their cars. The place could not have cleared faster if someone shouted “fire”. I sat feeling dejected. Ah, but wait someone shouted, “Grab the feed from Detroit, channel 588”. Amazingly, the picture returned as did the sound and we were only a few minutes into the game. The crowd reappeared in time to see Dodge drop another punt attempt.
So what’s the deal with this feud over charges anyway? A few months ago antennae TV was killed off, now you need a box AND provider, all at a “nominal” fee. Most homes have more than one set so additional charges add up. Premium packages, sports channels, weather channels, numerous so called news channels, etc, etc. We the consumer pay for all of these, whether you want them or not. The cable provider charges us. They in turn purchase (with our money) programming. The programmers get some of our money from our providers and also from the advertisers. Huh, our money makes more money but not for us, all making a tidy profit. We even pay to watch what once was “free” television, the local channels. So who are the evil demons of all this doing? This time not necesrrarily the Dolans (Cablevision, Newsday, The Garden, The Beacon, Rangers, Knicks,etc ,fame) but Rupert Murdoch, the NEWS CORP mogul ( FOX, Fox News, Fox Business, NY Post fame),the man who became a naturalized American so he could legally own TV stations in our great nation . I suggest a compromise to both the Dolans and Murdoch. Let the consumer specifically pick the channels we wish, not a package deal. Why did he, they, pull just Channel 5 and 9? How about pulling all 12 channels of Murdock’s evil media empire and see if we can survive? After all he is the 38th richest “American” according to Forbes. “Fair and balanced” is a joke when you ask for 150 million, double, a raise of 70 million, from the last deal. I for one do not need your “Animal Channel” or others any longer. Let’s go Giants.jazzbus@gmail.com