Hi,
I work for a cable company. I like my job and the work I do and the folks are great that I work with and we provide something of value to the company.
However, I have nothing to do, or a say that is possible or wanted, or needed, in anything else up to and including the selection of channels and such. These folks are convinced that they "know" what you like to watch, and for crying out loud, they are NOT STUPID, and the numbers show the selection of more than 3/4 of all stuff shown on TV.
It's not my fault that you and I do not watch other things when they show up on TV. Or different shows. Or even (great example), the piddly numbers that the BBC channel has and it offers a lot of music that you and I ignore!
I do have a concern, and the last time I said something about it, I was told, "not our problem" and the suggestion went nowhere and Call Center Directors are not in touch (afaik) with any kind of programming information or selections. And it had to do with the last soccer cup, and our service did not have enough Spanish speaking channels that were focusing on the sport to show this. The inevitable result was that Univision/Galavision ended up making 3 to 4 times the money that all American Networks did! It ought to tell you the "pull" that they have that American Cable Companies are not intersted in going after ... for whatever reason.
PBS, is a perfect example, and in the old days it was much cooler than it is now, and over here in the Pacific NW it is total crap and the left overs from the cultural programming from the big cities.
I gave up on American TV. The internet is where it is at, and it will change a lot of this stuff. In the next 5 to 10 years, the Internet and TV will be pretty much the same thing, and only a group that is wanting to waste money will consider doing both, and all of the entertainment companies will make more money streaming things themselves, than they will with any other company doing it for them. BUT, it will, also, likely kill the great cash cows that TV has, like Disney, ESPN, Leno, and all those shows that bring in millions, and they can just sit there adn collect it.
They, right now, do not believe they can collect anything from streaming. And this will be cable's downfall when the time comes. You have to expand the service and show different things, to see what is going to work or not ... but the TV/Cable services are not experimenting enough, and I think this will hurt them. They should be giving Netflix and Hulu a run for their money ... instead those services are getting bigger (they are just cash cow'ing!), and not taking the other services to task.
And there is another problem. Comcast getting so big, that they eventually become the GOD in the TV business and decide what you must see and get! And you, the voter, have no say in the matter, and the FCC is not interested in your opinion.
Now stop trashing the other cable companies that do a very good job, and don't deserve this kind of consideration, and they try. Comcast, in my book, is becoming just another cash cow. My thoughts about Time Warner are that they are divesting of their TV systems, because they did not become the cash cow they wanted and got tired of waiting for it to make them more money. The publishing empire makes something like 10 to 12 times more than the tv side of things that tends to drain them.