2 of Big 4 TV Networks Considering Going Off Air

How worried are the owners of the major broadcast television networks about Aereo, the Barry Diller-backed digital television service they've been trying unsuccessfully to sue out of existence? Worried enough that at least two of them are actively entertaining the possibility of pulling their free over-the-air signals altogether.

That may sound like a doomsday scenario, but it's happening, says Garth Ancier, a former top-level executive at NBC, Fox and WB. A Reuters story about the threats posed by Aereo and Dish Network’s ad-skipping Hopper DVR to the broadcast business model quoted Ancier making the claim that two of the Big Four networks - ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox - have for months been evaluating whether they might be better off becoming, in effect, cable channels.

Also......

Bad news for Sons of Anarchy fans: FX and the rest of Fox Networks' cable channels  might be going dark for DirecTV subscribers, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Fox said DirecTV sent the company a proposal on Thursday that said unless Fox agrees to their terms, DirecTV's 19 million subscribers will lose access to more than two dozen Fox cable channels including FX, National Geographic, and several regional sports networks beginning Nov. 1.

I really don't understand the histrionics regarding this service. You could essentially do the same thing 10 years ago with a slingbox hooked up to an antenna in your house. Heck, you could still do that if you wanted to. For free! Well, you have to buy the slingbox, but they're not very expensive.

-W&J's Producer

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