Fragmenting of Cable Market

[locutus49]

In the US, there is an annoying trend towards fragmenting of the cable TV market.

So if you want certain TV shows or movies, you might have to subscribe to your local cable company (mine is Spectrum), then Hulu, then Amazon Prime video, then Netflix, then Epic, and now Disney/ESPN is starting their own subscription service and removing their content from Netflix.

And each of these services has proprietary content (like Bosch on Amazon) and each costs $9.95 to 15 a month, and this does not include the cable company's monthly fee, which is expensive if you have HBO and Showtime.

And don't forget On Demand charges.

And now each network channel (like CBS) is starting their own subscription service. Where does this end?

Am I the only one seeing this annoying trend as a way of eating into our wallets?

[rr-nyc]

I think the networks channels like ABC, CBS, NBC will be sorely disappointed to learn that very few would actually pay for their channels especially if I can get a digital antena and watch it for free.

I have FiOS and was annoyed to find out that "basic" no longer includes cable news channels; Thats only included in premium packages now.

[encarter13]

I agree, but I also see it as way out of the cable/satellite price gouging.

For example, I pay Dish $98/month for a lot of channels I don't watch. I watch Game of Thrones on HBO and lots of sports (mostly football, baseball, and golf). What I am thinking is that I can subscribe the new HBO offering for $10 and the ESPN offering for $10 and save myself $80/month. Then, add an antenna and see if I can pick anything else up. I have yet to make the jump, but I am strongly considering it.

[Kingair]

I pay about $ 237.00 to TWC/ Spectrum each month but that's including their fastest Internet and fixed phone

Called them 2 days ago and if I drop my fixed phone since that combined with their 'new' Spectrum Gold package would drop the price to $ 203.00 including HBO
Also they will send me new equipment - DVR / 2 extra HD boxes and a new Wi-Fi router
Silver would cut the price for another $ 15.00 a month

Now I was thinking to switch to Dish or Direct TV

Got no clue how good Dish is and their Internet provider ?

Direct TV only offers fixed price for the first year and goes to full price from month 13 . . .
Also you need to take a 2 year contact with them

Also got Netflix . . . guess I watched 5 movies in the last 3 months . . .

So should I have all these extra channels . . . no !

But when you got kids . . . you do

So that makes over $ 2,400.00 a year to watch TV and browse the Internet

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[SearChart]

I have Netflix which has a lot of content but some shows like Game of Thrones are from different networks so I download those through torrent websites.

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by SearChart

. . . I download those through torrent websites.

Isn't that . . . . psssssst !



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[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Kingair

Isn't that . . . . psssssst !



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They don't prosecute us for it yet, when that starts happening I'll be sure to use a vpn, I'm not going to subscribe to ten different networks.

[dddrees]

It will only continue the trend as long as enough people pay for it. Ultimately the consumer is to blame. I guess it was just a natural progression of how this was going to go, I've been giving it some thought as well but with a 4K TV the 4K content is extremely enjoyable. Unfortunately there are few options and even if it's in 4K that doesn't mean it's enjoyable or even a good show for that matter, So to maximize my possibilities I have Amazon as well as NetFlix.

[uscmatt99]

Eventually cable providers will morph into internet service and digital telephone providers, and entertainment content will all be ala carte. The good news is that all of the crappy channels you don't want will go away. Cable's death knell will be when live sports can be viewed reasonably over the web.

[locutus49]

I hope you are right.

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

Eventually cable providers will morph into internet service and digital telephone providers, and entertainment content will all be ala carte. The good news is that all of the crappy channels you don't want will go away. Cable's death knell will be when live sports can be viewed reasonably over the web.

[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

Eventually cable providers will morph into internet service and digital telephone providers, and entertainment content will all be ala carte. The good news is that all of the crappy channels you don't want will go away. Cable's death knell will be when live sports can be viewed reasonably over the web.

Wait a minute, are you saying there are crappy channels?

[BristolCavendish]

If consumers are going to be forced to pay even more for specialized cable/dish programming, why can't the providers eliminate 75% of those tacky advertisements?

Commercial-free TV would be a godsend.

[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

Wait a minute, are you saying there are crappy channels?

As long as CSPAN-2 finds a home, we will all be okay

[locutus49]

I remember when cable TV first came out. The selling point was that you would pay a monthly fee, but would not have to watch advertising. That did not last too long.

Originally Posted by BristolCavendish

If consumers are going to be forced to pay even more for specialized cable/dish programming, why can't the providers eliminate 75% of those tacky advertisements?

Commercial-free TV would be a godsend.

[rr-nyc]

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

Eventually cable providers will morph into internet service and digital telephone providers, and entertainment content will all be ala carte. The good news is that all of the crappy channels you don't want will go away. Cable's death knell will be when live sports can be viewed reasonably over the web.

I think we’re already here. Cable and internet have been bundled together for nearly 20 years while cable, internet, and phone bundles have been around for at least 10


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[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

I think we’re already here. Cable and internet have been bundled together for nearly 20 years while cable, internet, and phone bundles have been around for at least 10


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So close for my family. If I could catch college football games, baseball games, and HBO without cable I'd be all over it. I think you can get an HBO package, but I don't think it's there for sports yet.

Well, I guess we'd need Bravo and HGTV to satiate my wife as well. The kids already think everything is instant on-demand and don't watch any scheduled programming. In fact, they could watch Youtube videos of other kids playing video games all... day... long.

[bdex75]

We have had directv for 15 years. Paying them $150+ a month and an additional $75 month to Spectrum for fast internet.

The local NBC affiliate and DTV are having another pissing match and I have not had NBC for a month.

I have researched the options to the Nth degree. I will probably do DirecTV Now and hdtv antenna for locals.

For $50 a month I get all the channels we watch and will pick up Netflix for the kids for $13 a month.

Half the price and what we need.


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[Etschell]

I pay a ton but am probably going to switch to direct tv and if that fails hulu plus.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by locutus49

I remember when cable TV first came out. The selling point was that you would pay a monthly fee, but would not have to watch advertising. That did not last too long.

Same can be said for satellite radio. Although I still love it and worth the $$ for me.

[ronricks]

I am on a promotional rate with Comcast until January and then I am ditching Comcast and just going to use an ota antenna and Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Cable is a rip off and only getting worse.

[mfer]

I just watch less anymore. Netflix isn't perfect but good enough. Can't find anything to watch....I just do something else.

[Star Ferry]

I've read that the average American watches 5 hours of TV per day. If they're addicted, then they might keep paying as the all-in price rises

[Rockrolex]

I watch very little TV, mostly the network news from 5:30 - 7:00 PM and from 11;00 - 11;30 PM. I subscribe to Comcast for which I get TV, landline phone, and internet service. If I could get a reasonable price for phone and internet and just the channels I like to watch, I would do that in a heartbeat. My cellular provider is Verizon,with which I have three phones and an iPad.

[GB-man]

It is annoying I agree.

Right now I have fios internet. PS Vue for tv. Netflix. Amazon prime. Hbo and showtime are bundled with Vue.

All in its about $145 (not including prime as I would never not have prime lol)

Until last month I had fios ultimate or something and that was 185 + Netflix so around what 200?

I'm not sure it's worth it to be honest. Might just give fios my money lol

[77T]

The fragmentation of cable is more of an integration of content and carriage. That way the content owner keeps more revenue to themselves.

I see a disruptive technology with 5G where “that which went through the ground will go through the air”. (Meaning trend from wired to wireless delivery).

I’m already able to use LTE and free Apps from the content providers. I might not see the shows live (which I seldom do due to DVRs).

So the price you pay for this new trend will be higher Cell charges for bigger data plans. New, more aggressive compression algorithms and codecs, GPUs, etc will help keep data consumption in check.

But for time being, cord cutters are the big threat to the cable franchises.


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[ekiro]

I just pay for internet ($60/mo) and watch media through Hulu ($12/mo) and HBO ($15/mo) as well as TYTnetwork (independent media - $10/mo). I had a Netflix subscription too but never really used it. No need for cable as I don't care about ESPN and various cable networks. I do watch content on History too by accessing my brother's cable subscription. :)

[BrazenC5]

Originally Posted by locutus49

I remember when cable TV first came out. The selling point was that you would pay a monthly fee, but would not have to watch advertising. That did not last too long.

I remember "On tv" and "Select tv" back in the early days.

Should look into PlayStation Vue, been using it almost a year...saving a bunch.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=503186

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[crew]

I dropped Cable earlier this year for Direct TV Now and an outdoor OTA antenna. I get all the channels I want, a better picture, and I save a little over $50/month.
The satisfaction of dumping TWC/Spectrum: priceless!

[Rolex addict]

I only have a tv with rabbit ears. No cable, satellite, or internet (except the office). There are better things to do than sit in front of a tv for hours.

[BNA/LION]

We have Cable TV, HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Amazon Prime as well as TV access to the internet.

Do we get our monies worth? I guess it's entertainment and its there if we want to use it.

The fragmentation of the places to get content and to good series is hard to follow as they are on so many options.