Pay-TV Companies Are in Crisis Mode

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Pay-TV Companies Are in Crisis Mode


AT&T, whose ownership of the DirecTV satellite service makes it the biggest U.S. pay-television provider, said late Wednesday it will report a third-quarter loss of 390,000 satellite and cable customers, echoing a similar warning weeks earlier from Comcast Corp. The same night, Viacom cautioned that its distribution deal with Charter Communications Inc., the second-biggest cable U.S. company, may lead to a blackout, potentially testing whether millions of viewers are willing to go without MTV and Nickelodeon.

Shares of both companies retreated Thursday, contributing to a broader selloff in the sector. The S&P 500 Media Index, which includes Comcast and ESPN owner Walt Disney Co., slid 2.3 percent to the lowest level since December.

After decades of steadily increasing bills and ever-bigger packages of channels, the pay-TV ecosystem is in full-blown crisis mode. AT&T, Dish Network Inc. and others are offering cheaper, online-only versions of cable to lure customers back, but that means having to accept thinner profit margins.

“Those salad days of fat bundles, automatic carriage renewals and customary affiliate steps ups are long gone,” Citigroup Inc. analyst Jason Bazinet wrote in a note this week. “Today, every media and cable firm is jockeying for self-preservation. And we suspect the next chapter in this new era means Charter will drop -- or significantly curtail -- distribution of Viacom’s content.”


good, it is about time the business model change
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
I have Metrocast and I tell you I am sick of it.
The cost has seemed to rise as often as the tide in the Potomac River.
I have about 5 channels that I watch, and I don't watch them often.
The package is filled with BS I don't like paying for.

I am told there is a new digital antennae that is available that gives good reception and it costs about $60 bucks.
I am going to give it a try
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
I have about 5 channels that I watch, and I don't watch them often.


all I need is a FAST Internet connection ... what few shows I watch I download and binge watch
or they come from Amazon Prime / Netfliks
 

terbear1225

Well-Known Member
all I need is a FAST Internet connection ... what few shows I watch I download and binge watch
or they come from Amazon Prime / Netfliks

This is my problem, our internet is too slow/unreliable for any of the streaming options to be a viable replacement for directtv.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
This is my problem, our internet is too slow/unreliable for any of the streaming options to be a viable replacement for directtv.

Our internet at the campground here in Solomons - the service they provide - is fairly slow, but we are able to stream Amazon shows. I'm not sure how that works, because using it to surf the internet is somewhat tedious, but streaming TV has no problem.
 

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
Streaming TV (Prime/Netflix) typically doesn't use a ton of bandwidth. You shouldn't need super fast internet to do so.
 
Our internet at the campground here in Solomons - the service they provide - is fairly slow, but we are able to stream Amazon shows. I'm not sure how that works, because using it to surf the internet is somewhat tedious, but streaming TV has no problem.

Works like YouTube. If the bandwidth isn't sufficient to handle a full video stream, MPEG compression is used to reduce the resolution of the video until it can stream uninterrupted.
 
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