Streaming becomes mainstream as cord-cutting accelerates

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Fed up with high prices and bloated packages, millions of Americans cut the cord on cable TV in 2017, finding refuge with a growing number of streaming services, which deliver lower prices and a competitive channel lineup over the internet.

“This was really the year that cord-cutting went mainstream,” said Craig Moffett, a senior analyst at the research firm MoffettNathanson. “It was mostly based on the availability of compelling services.”

Internet television, also known as over the top, bypasses cable and delivers video directly to viewers through a broadband connection. Major players include subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu as well as livestreaming services such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now, which air dozens of cable channels in real time.

Once an idle threat customers used to squeeze a few free months of HBO out of cable providers, cord-cutting accelerated in 2017 as disruption in the pay-TV industry reached critical mass. New streaming services launched, subscriber growth skyrocketed and more media companies took the plunge to ensure their programming found viewers online.

“The genie is out of the bottle, and it’s not going to be put back in,” Moffett said. “The media companies are now dependent on the (over-the-top) providers to sustain their distribution, so they have no choice but to steam forward and make their content available.”


Streaming becomes mainstream as cord-cutting accelerates


I gave up on TV a decade ago .... 1st Replay TV DVR's bought off of Ebay and rehabbed, and Time shifting [commercial skipping as well] now I download whatever I want to watch
 
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SamSpade

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking this is the way things will be from now on, and cable companies need to get on board.
People are tired of bloated cable packages which offer ten times more than they watch, and have to pay accordingly.
 

Starman

New Member
I don't really get the whole "cut the cable" trend. You're still paying BigEvilCorporation to get packets shipped to your house wether it's using a cable box to decode and display the data or a codec on your computer -- it's all the same. You're not cutting anything. I talk to people who complain that when they want to "cut the cable", the cable company wants to jack up the price of internet-only service, presumably to offset the revenue loss. Sure, maybe you're not paying for package deals which include channels you don't want and will never watch, but "cutting the cable" just doesn't add up to any sort of freedom to me. Get rid of your TV. That's freedom. And you'll probably get laid more often.
 

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
I don't really get the whole "cut the cable" trend. You're still paying BigEvilCorporation to get packets shipped to your house wether it's using a cable box to decode and display the data or a codec on your computer -- it's all the same. You're not cutting anything. I talk to people who complain that when they want to "cut the cable", the cable company wants to jack up the price of internet-only service, presumably to offset the revenue loss. Sure, maybe you're not paying for package deals which include channels you don't want and will never watch, but "cutting the cable" just doesn't add up to any sort of freedom to me. Get rid of your TV. That's freedom. And you'll probably get laid more often.

Verizon DSL has allowed me to remove the cable completely from my house, Metrocast had a temporary orange cable sitting behind my bushes for 10 years...
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
I don't really get the whole "cut the cable" trend. You're still paying BigEvilCorporation to get packets shipped to your house wether it's using a cable box to decode and display the data or a codec on your computer -- it's all the same. You're not cutting anything.

"What is this bleating of sheep in my ears?" (As Samuel told Saul after he'd been told they utterly wiped out the Amalekites and their animals).
There's the difference between a statement - and reality.

This isn't a philosophical rationale for the switch - as in, stick it to the cable company by turning off their stuff. It's economics.
Compare the costs and when you pay 40 some bucks a month for cable and about another 40 for streaming services - against well over 200 for the whole deal.
It IS savings, and if cable companies slowly jack up their prices for internet only, someone will come in and charge less.

Actually what I am thinking is that eventually technology will overtake cable companies, and after a fashion, TV shows will revert to the old model - broadcasting via the air, albeit in packages of channels. If the tech that allows our cell phones to function becomes more advanced, faster and more data dense, we won't need cables to deliver shows, we can do it right through the air.
 

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
This isn't a philosophical rationale for the switch - as in, stick it to the cable company by turning off their stuff. It's economics.

Exactly, the only thing that changed for me was I dropped the $120/month cable bill and picked up the $20/month SlingTV bill, I had Netflix and Amazon Prime when I had cable so they were no added cost.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
Exactly, the only thing that changed for me was I dropped the $120/month cable bill and picked up the $20/month SlingTV bill, I had Netflix and Amazon Prime when I had cable so they were no added cost.

I realized after reading this that one of the biggest costs for us is the use of all the DVR machines, and the whole house device. If there was anything that inexpensively replaced all of them, our bill would go down a LOT.
 

nutz

Well-Known Member
Another good reason to cut your cable out? You get to pay for sporting events even if you never watch them.

"It's industry convention that a cable bundle needs live sports. Otherwise, cable companies risk losing subscribers to Netflix and other sports-less alternatives.
The consulting firm PwC estimates that sports leagues in North America raked in $18.4 billion in 2016 from TV, radio and tech companies that stream games, up from $11.6 billion in 2012. That's expected to keep growing as tech companies such as Amazon and Facebook become more interested in sports, meaning more competition for rights to televise games"
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...can-you-do/ar-BBHTFSo?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=UE07DHP
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
I realized after reading this that one of the biggest costs for us is the use of all the DVR machines, and the whole house device.


until the advent of the 'digital' cable signal .. I had 3 Replay TV DVRs on my network, recording TV Shows,
a buddy had 5 to record everything he wanted to, he time shifted everything and would binge watch on show all weekend

we purchased older models where people had paid for a 'lifetime' sub to the TV guide or service
then upgraded the hard drives for more storage space ... the conversion to digital screwed up all that
now I just download what I want to watch ....


Tivo Still Exists .. you could replace the rental units
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
Tivo Still Exists .. you could replace the rental units

It does - BUT - then you have to purchase the DVR service in order to use it.
And last I checked, it comes out about the same per device, at least through Metrocast.

So I don't gain anything.

We have two issues that make it hard to resolve - one is, we have a LOT of TVs.
Part of that is resolved by the fact that the kid's TVs are Internet only - Netflix, YouTube, Hulu etc.
There's no need for a box.
The other is, at present, Metrocast's devices only record TWO simultaneous programs from the same device.
That is, you CAN record more shows broadcast at the same time, but it will have to be on a different device.
Since prime time for most of our recorded shows is 8-11 and mostly five days a week - there WILL be overlap, and more so since a lot of our shows are
cable shows that run for very short seasons, and there's always overlap.

SO - we have three DVR's and the multi-room hub. There's like sixty some bucks right there just doing nothing.

The ideal solution would be to have all the functionality of the DVRs and do it all streaming.
I haven't yet found a solution that satisfies what I want. Yet.

Because the NEXT thing after unbundling the TV cost is adding some VOIP telephone, since I have it now as part of my Metrocast bill.
If I ended up just buying Internet from them - I need my landline.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
It does - BUT - then you have to purchase the DVR service in order to use it.
And last I checked, it comes out about the same per device, at least through Metrocast.

So I don't gain anything.


:yay:

same thing I had with the Replay TV's ..... can you find used boxes with a life time sub, or is that no longer offered

The ideal solution would be to have all the functionality of the DVRs and do it all streaming.
I haven't yet found a solution that satisfies what I want. Yet.


so you have not found a streaming service that covers all you want to watch ?
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
so you have not found a streaming service that covers all you want to watch ?

Playstation VUE comes close, and the new YouTube TV when available will be really close.

But it is also the functionality - we are very used to skipping through commercials on recorded shows, and most streaming ones that aren't called Netflix won't allow that.
 

awpitt

Main Streeter
Playstation VUE comes close, and the new YouTube TV when available will be really close.

But it is also the functionality - we are very used to skipping through commercials on recorded shows, and most streaming ones that aren't called Netflix won't allow that.

I thought YouTube TV was available here.
 

Clem72

Well-Known Member
until the advent of the 'digital' cable signal .. I had 3 Replay TV DVRs on my network, recording TV Shows,
a buddy had 5 to record everything he wanted to, he time shifted everything and would binge watch on show all weekend

we purchased older models where people had paid for a 'lifetime' sub to the TV guide or service
then upgraded the hard drives for more storage space ... the conversion to digital screwed up all that
now I just download what I want to watch ....


Tivo Still Exists .. you could replace the rental units

I remember those days fondly. Buy refurb Tivo's for $49 straight from the company, replace the hard drive with whatever was the largest capacity I could get for around $100 , pay $150 (at the time) for the lifetime sub, then sell the box on eBay for $500-600 (so $200-300 profit). Every time they had that refurb sale (about once every couple of months) I would buy the limit knock them all out on a slow Saturday.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
I remember those days fondly. Buy refurb Tivo's for $49 straight from the company, replace the hard drive with whatever was the largest capacity I could get for around $100 , pay $150 (at the time) for the lifetime sub, then sell the box on eBay for $500-600 (so $200-300 profit). Every time they had that refurb sale (about once every couple of months) I would buy the limit knock them all out on a slow Saturday.

:yay:



Nice way to make extra coin ....
 
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