{"id":649408,"date":"2013-03-28T14:48:19","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T18:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=625399"},"modified":"2013-03-28T14:48:19","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T18:48:19","slug":"charter-to-antenna-maker-dont-tell-our-customers-about-cord-cutting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/649408","title":{"rendered":"Charter to antenna maker: don\u2019t tell our customers about cord cutting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You don\u2019t need a cable subscription to watch ABC, CBS or NBC \u2013 but don\u2019t expect to learn about alternatives if you\u2019re a Charter customer. Over-the-air antenna maker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.antennasdirect.com\/\">Antennas Direct<\/a> recently wanted to buy some air time on Charter\u2018s cable channels to explain how TV viewers can access these channels without a pay TV subscription.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought it was a fairly benign message,\u201d Antennas Direct President Richard Schneider told me Thursday. Charter disagreed \u2013 and rejected the spot for competitive reasons.<\/p>\n<p>The spot was part of a bigger marketing campaign that Antennas Direct is currently running for its products, with six different spots already airing in 15 markets and plans to show them in two dozen additional markets soon. Here\u2019s one of them:<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"604\" height=\"370\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T8KAvm3jgGI?version=3&#38;rel=1&#038;%2338;fs=1&#038;%2338;showsearch=0&#038;%2338;showinfo=1&#038;%2338;iv_load_policy=1&#038;%2338;wmode=transparent\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/span> <\/p>\n<p>Antennas Direct has been one of a number of antenna manufacturers that has profited from interest in cord cutting. And over-the-air TV has also started to find its way into new technologies, including Boxee\u2019s cloud DVR and Aereo\u2019s TV streaming service. (Speaking of which: I\u2019ll be interviewing Aereo founder and CEO Chet Kanojia at our paidContent Live conference in New York next month. Check out the full program for that event on the <a href=\"http:\/\/event.gigaom.com\/paidcontent\/?utm_source=video&#38;utm_medium=editorial&#038;%2338;utm_campaign=intext&#038;%2338;utm_term=625399+antennas-direct-vs-charter&#038;%2338;utm_content=jroettgers\">paidContent Live site<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Schneider told me that the company\u2019s early customers were mostly home theater enthusiasts interested in getting uncompressed HD TV signals. Then, some 18 months ago, more and more average consumers started to look for antennas \u2013 a trend that he largely attributes to the growing popularity of online streaming services. \u201cHulu and Netflix are helping revive antenna sales,\u201d Schneider said, adding: \u201cOver-the-air digital is really the new basic cable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consumers would increasingly watch the basic broadcast channels for free, and then pay for catch-up and on-demand viewing, he argued. Of course, cable execs tend to argue that cord cutting doesn\u2019t exist, even though <a href=\"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/2013\/02\/11\/dishs-charlie-ergen-i-think-people-are-cutting-the-cord\/\">people like Dish\u2019s Charlie Ergen disagree<\/a>. Asked about these arguments, Scneider responded: \u201cSomeone is buying all these antennas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Antennas Direct\u2019s sales have nearly tripled last year, and the company is expecting to generate close to $15 million in revenue in 2013 \u2013 even without those ads on Charter.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;%23038;post=625399&#038;%23038;subd=gigaom2&#038;%23038;ref=&#038;%23038;feed=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/jump?iu=\/1008864\/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;%23038;c=920681\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ad?iu=\/1008864\/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;%23038;c=920681\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:<\/strong><br \/>Subscriber content. <a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/?utm_source=video&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=625399+antennas-direct-vs-charter&#038;utm_content=jroettgers\">Sign up for a free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2012\/10\/what-the-shift-to-the-cloud-means-for-the-future-epg\/?utm_source=video&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=625399+antennas-direct-vs-charter&#038;utm_content=jroettgers\">What the shift to the cloud means for the future EPG<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2012\/06\/over-the-top-video-in-2012-trends-and-technologies-to-watch\/?utm_source=video&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=625399+antennas-direct-vs-charter&#038;utm_content=jroettgers\">Over the top in 2012: trends and technologies to watch<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2012\/05\/the-living-room-reinvented-trends-technologies-and-companies-to-watch\/?utm_source=video&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=625399+antennas-direct-vs-charter&#038;utm_content=jroettgers\">Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img width='1' height='1' src='http:\/\/gigaom.feedsportal.com\/c\/34996\/f\/646446\/s\/2a1b79ca\/mf.gif' border='0'\/><\/p>\n<div class='mf-viral'>\n<table border='0'>\n<tr>\n<td valign='middle'><a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/viral\/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&#038;title=Charter+to+antenna+maker%3A+don%E2%80%99t+tell+our+customers+about+cord+cutting&#038;link=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F03%2F28%2Fantennas-direct-vs-charter%2F\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/images\/emailthis2.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td valign='middle'><a href=\"http:\/\/res.feedsportal.com\/viral\/bookmark.cfm?title=Charter+to+antenna+maker%3A+don%E2%80%99t+tell+our+customers+about+cord+cutting&#038;link=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F03%2F28%2Fantennas-direct-vs-charter%2F\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/images\/bookmark.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/da.feedsportal.com\/r\/161990760922\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/2a1b79ca\/a2.htm\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/da.feedsportal.com\/r\/161990760922\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/2a1b79ca\/a2.img\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/pi.feedsportal.com\/r\/161990760922\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/2a1b79ca\/a2t.img\" border=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/OmMalik?a=VLkQuWicQKA:_FOdEOVFPnU:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/OmMalik?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/OmMalik\/~4\/VLkQuWicQKA\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You don\u2019t need a cable subscription to watch ABC, CBS or NBC \u2013 but don\u2019t expect to learn about alternatives if you\u2019re a Charter customer. Over-the-air antenna maker Antennas Direct recently wanted to buy some air time on Charter\u2018s cable channels to explain how TV viewers can access these channels without a pay TV subscription. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2854,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}