Hannah Montana Tickets Too Pricey, Whines CBS’s Hannah Storm

November 21st, 2007 2:11 PM

It is simple economics - something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. But that's not fair according to CBS "Early Show" co-host Hannah Storm.

See video here.

Storm gave her best shot at making an emotional plea for Hannah Montana concert tickets because the $200 price tag is just too high, although Storm has had a lengthy career in major network TV journalism, dating back to 1989 when she anchored "CNN Sports Tonight."

"They're dying to go to the concert," Storm said of her children (including one named Hannah) who appeared with her on the November 21 broadcast. "They've been asking since the summer. I've been trying for months on the Internet, pulling every string I know, making phone calls, all to no avail. I can not get Hannah Montana tickets and it is so frustrating. I logged onto online ticket reseller Stubhub.com. So, checking ticket prices, here's the latest - for the show I want to go to, they start at $200 and go all the way up to $20,000 for one ticket. Can you believe that?"

Nothing tugs at holiday heartstrings like having to see a cheapskate mommy forced to deprive her daughters of Hannah Montana concert tickets because of the price.

"We can't go," Storm said to her daughters. "We can't - look at that - $20,000. That's crazy." That's also a wild exaggeration.

One solution Storm suggested: The passage of a bill proposed by Florida Democratic state legislator Dan Gelber that enacts "tough rules to crack down on Internet brokers."

"So, average consumers cannot get tickets at face value," Storm said to Gelber, who appeared on "The Early Show" with his two daughters who are also being deprived from seeing a Hannah Montana concert. "They're reselling them at huge prices. But we're not talking about shady guys on street corners scalping tickets. How do you stop this from happening on the Internet? What is your bill proposing?"

According to Gelber, his bill would deem automated dialing as a deceptive and unfair trade practice and require the ticket brokers to file a bond and register with his state.

"This brings the Internet folks into the state physically and also requires some penalties if they do these kinds of I think pretty predatory practices," Gelber said.