If you need any further proof of just how out of touch Fidel Castro is and how little he understands about economics (Michael Moore’s opinion not withstanding…)
This line jumped out at me:
“Castro noted that CNN was to broadcast the first half-hour live, and estimated its cost in advertising revenues at $100 million”
Presumably, he is thinking of CNN International, not the domestic CNN service (the one that has trouble rounding up 200,000 viewers in prime time).
Just as with Glenn Beck, it’s important to understand that Cable TV is a subscriber based model – most revenue comes from the monthly subscription fees – advertising revenue is not essential to the survival of a cable TV channel – viewers demanding their cable TV company carry the channel is what matters.
Note that the total operating income (profits before interest expense, taxes and depreciation) for all of CNN’s operations was $500 million for the entire year of 2009. The amount of revenue CNN lost for a half hour of daytime was probably closer to $1,000 than to $100,000,000
At the very end, the story mentions Castro made a “mistake” of referring to Russia as the Soviet Union. That’s not a mistake. Vladimir Putin, former KGB agent, makes the same “mistake”. The trap has been sprung. The plan launched in 1961 in Hawaii has worked beyond their wildest dreams.
