The golden age of cord-cutting is upon us - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Patty Duke · 10-30-2014, 12:28 AM

The only problem with internet streaming is a lot of people don't have unlimited internet and it seems less providers offer it. We have 3 options for internet, none are unlimited so we aren't able to watch anything online without exceeding.

Here is the article.
The golden age of cord-cutting is upon us. Don't let scare tactics tell you otherwise.

After years of tying its best content to cable, HBO recently announced that it will offer a standalone streaming service in 2015. CBS followed up with its own standalone streaming announcement, and Showtime is looking into the concept as well. ESPN and the NBA have a deal to offer a streaming service for basketball games, and the Dish Network is trying to put together a cheap bundle of Internet-only channels aimed at cord cutters.

What you’re witnessing is the first few cracks in the mighty cable paywall—a handful of bricks knocked loose by Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other disruptive forces. The wall isn’t crashing down anytime soon, but each fragmented piece makes it just a little easier to watch TV on your own terms.

Naysayers would have you believe otherwise. They actually think that big, bloated cable bundles are a great deal, and that dismantling them leaves us in no better shape than before. But that only makes sense in a world where people are constantly glued to their televisions. Times change, one size doesn’t fit all, and the fearmongers will be proven wrong.

Before I correct all the gloom-and-doom prophecies, let me explain the current situation. With their current massive channel bundles, the cable/satellite/telco providers (we’ll just call them “cable” for short) pay the networks a per-subscriber carriage fee for each channel they want to show. The networks negotiate their individual rates with the cable provider, and popular channels like ESPN tend to command greater fees. Mega-channels like ESPN in turn help subsidize less popular ones, because every subscriber is chipping in no matter what channels they actually watch. Viewers get a diverse range of content, and everyone else makes plenty of money. Win-win, right?

The problem is that this system promotes excess and bloat. When the NFL asks ESPN for more money to carry Monday Night Football, that cost gets passed onto the cable company, which passes it onto you. To jack up costs even more, a network with lots of channels, like Viacom, may only sell them to the cable company as a package deal, thus encouraging them to add more. Meanwhile, the cable company, trying to protect its profits, hikes its rates, invents new fees, and makes subscribers pay the company’s excise taxes. Suddenly, your cable bill is far outpacing the rate of inflation, even as your viewing habits stay the same.

The system isn’t sustainable, and we the people are starting to defect. Each new study of “cord-cutting” shows that a higher percentage of people—especially younger folks—have given up cable or never had it to begin with, and more people turning to online services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Meanwhile, these same young people are finding new venues for entertainment, whether it’s the new wave of YouTube stars, or the vast streaming community on Twitch.

The events of last week were the first signals of an established TV industry realizing it can’t dismiss these trends forever.

Forget the fearmongers

Predictably, the arrival of new streaming options has provoked plenty of fearmongers and cable apologists—people who want to scare you into thinking we’re on a bad path. Be careful what you wish for, they say, because a la carte is going to be a lot more expensive than buying a big fat cable bundle.

Much like the TV industry executives who spent years denying that cord-cutting was a real thing, these naysayers have a tendency to ignore reality. The reason HBO and CBS are finally going standalone is because they’ve reached a tipping point where the cord-cutting audience has become too hard to ignore. Over time, more networks will follow suit, at which point they’ll all be competing directly for your money instead of milking it the easy way through cable. The ones who offer quality content at reasonable prices will win.

Cable bundle cheerleaders also like to assume that networks could not possibly make any less money than they do now, therefore each channel will get away with charging insanely inflated prices for standalone streaming. But in all likelihood, the TV industry will face some hard times ahead as more people live outside the traditional bundle system, just as the music industry did when it transitioned from CDs to MP3s to streaming services. In the end, the result will be more and better ways to watch what you want, whether that’s through a big buffet of channels, or a cheaper, smaller a la carte selection.

The transition will be slow, but it’s finally starting to happen in earnest, and the only things to fear are the rhetoric and brutal tactics from cable companies as they try to keep people hooked. So instead, let’s tear down the bundle for good.
http://www.techhive.com/article/2838...otherwise.html

Mace Dolex · 10-30-2014, 01:49 AM

Pretty soon everyone will just have to implant little USB ports into our skulls and get WiFi whenever we want.

Regulus · 10-30-2014, 10:30 AM

Yong Fang · 10-30-2014, 11:11 AM

I am an American living in China, and I have not dealt with getting internet/cable TV in the USA for about 15 years, but my understanding that basically the cable and internet are the same provider, and basically they are forcing their customers to have cable to have internet. They might gussy up this with something like "Widespan Internet for $39.99 a month with free basic cable!" It the cable isn't "free", it is just part of a package one might not want.

Cable companies have been ripping off the consumer, have had monopolistic policies, bad to horrid customer service, selling services people do not want, while not offering things people do want (like more choices). This is what a monopoly does, and I have never understood except from bribery why the government has not stepped in more on this. But again, most communities do not need two or more companies selling this service.

Like I said, I live in China and can basically watch anything I want through the internet and also Chinese websites. I am content and happy watching TV through a computer or iPad. No commercials either.

MrCleveland · 10-30-2014, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yong Fang

I am an American living in China, and I have not dealt with getting internet/cable TV in the USA for about 15 years, but my understanding that basically the cable and internet are the same provider, and basically they are forcing their customers to have cable to have internet. They might gussy up this with something like "Widespan Internet for $39.99 a month with free basic cable!" It the cable isn't "free", it is just part of a package one might not want.

Cable companies have been ripping off the consumer, have had monopolistic policies, bad to horrid customer service, selling services people do not want, while not offering things people do want (like more choices). This is what a monopoly does, and I have never understood except from bribery why the government has not stepped in more on this. But again, most communities do not need two or more companies selling this service.

Like I said, I live in China and can basically watch anything I want through the internet and also Chinese websites. I am content and happy watching TV through a computer or iPad. No commercials either.

I like that site called tudou.com, I watched "Full House" eps on there.

Are there any more sitcoms on that site?

I've said **** it with cable awhile back, TWC is the worst they're motto is "**** you, pay me" they don't care if you're in debt! You can watch more on the internet than you can with cable...I just hope there's a site out there that has one-year wonder shows on it!

Tubehead · 10-30-2014, 11:02 PM

I think in the future theaters will be no more we would probably have a device to down load newest movies or the latest TV series it happened to video games just look at play station 4 or x-box one me my brother and my dad would go to arcade shops before Nintendo came out we would spend hours playing arcades I remember when Nintendo it first came out was big deal when it first came out. I think the future is going to be like net flex or video games were you can use your dvr or some type of device to down load the latest movies coming out.

10-30-2014, 12:28 AM	#1
Patty Duke Good night, John Boy Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 09, 2013 Location: The Land of Milk and Honey Posts: 788	The golden age of cord-cutting is upon us The only problem with internet streaming is a lot of people don't have unlimited internet and it seems less providers offer it. We have 3 options for internet, none are unlimited so we aren't able to watch anything online without exceeding. Here is the article. The golden age of cord-cutting is upon us. Don't let scare tactics tell you otherwise. After years of tying its best content to cable, HBO recently announced that it will offer a standalone streaming service in 2015. CBS followed up with its own standalone streaming announcement, and Showtime is looking into the concept as well. ESPN and the NBA have a deal to offer a streaming service for basketball games, and the Dish Network is trying to put together a cheap bundle of Internet-only channels aimed at cord cutters. What you’re witnessing is the first few cracks in the mighty cable paywall—a handful of bricks knocked loose by Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other disruptive forces. The wall isn’t crashing down anytime soon, but each fragmented piece makes it just a little easier to watch TV on your own terms. Naysayers would have you believe otherwise. They actually think that big, bloated cable bundles are a great deal, and that dismantling them leaves us in no better shape than before. But that only makes sense in a world where people are constantly glued to their televisions. Times change, one size doesn’t fit all, and the fearmongers will be proven wrong. Before I correct all the gloom-and-doom prophecies, let me explain the current situation. With their current massive channel bundles, the cable/satellite/telco providers (we’ll just call them “cable” for short) pay the networks a per-subscriber carriage fee for each channel they want to show. The networks negotiate their individual rates with the cable provider, and popular channels like ESPN tend to command greater fees. Mega-channels like ESPN in turn help subsidize less popular ones, because every subscriber is chipping in no matter what channels they actually watch. Viewers get a diverse range of content, and everyone else makes plenty of money. Win-win, right? The problem is that this system promotes excess and bloat. When the NFL asks ESPN for more money to carry Monday Night Football, that cost gets passed onto the cable company, which passes it onto you. To jack up costs even more, a network with lots of channels, like Viacom, may only sell them to the cable company as a package deal, thus encouraging them to add more. Meanwhile, the cable company, trying to protect its profits, hikes its rates, invents new fees, and makes subscribers pay the company’s excise taxes. Suddenly, your cable bill is far outpacing the rate of inflation, even as your viewing habits stay the same. The system isn’t sustainable, and we the people are starting to defect. Each new study of “cord-cutting” shows that a higher percentage of people—especially younger folks—have given up cable or never had it to begin with, and more people turning to online services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Meanwhile, these same young people are finding new venues for entertainment, whether it’s the new wave of YouTube stars, or the vast streaming community on Twitch. The events of last week were the first signals of an established TV industry realizing it can’t dismiss these trends forever. Forget the fearmongers Predictably, the arrival of new streaming options has provoked plenty of fearmongers and cable apologists—people who want to scare you into thinking we’re on a bad path. Be careful what you wish for, they say, because a la carte is going to be a lot more expensive than buying a big fat cable bundle. Much like the TV industry executives who spent years denying that cord-cutting was a real thing, these naysayers have a tendency to ignore reality. The reason HBO and CBS are finally going standalone is because they’ve reached a tipping point where the cord-cutting audience has become too hard to ignore. Over time, more networks will follow suit, at which point they’ll all be competing directly for your money instead of milking it the easy way through cable. The ones who offer quality content at reasonable prices will win. Cable bundle cheerleaders also like to assume that networks could not possibly make any less money than they do now, therefore each channel will get away with charging insanely inflated prices for standalone streaming. But in all likelihood, the TV industry will face some hard times ahead as more people live outside the traditional bundle system, just as the music industry did when it transitioned from CDs to MP3s to streaming services. In the end, the result will be more and better ways to watch what you want, whether that’s through a big buffet of channels, or a cheaper, smaller a la carte selection. The transition will be slow, but it’s finally starting to happen in earnest, and the only things to fear are the rhetoric and brutal tactics from cable companies as they try to keep people hooked. So instead, let’s tear down the bundle for good. http://www.techhive.com/article/2838...otherwise.html
	__________________ Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

10-30-2014, 10:30 AM	#3
Regulus Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 07, 2011 Location: Port Orange, Florida Avatar - Poiuyt Posts: 3,374
	__________________ Grail Shows: *Doc Elliot, Owen Marshall-Counselor of Law, Here's Boomer, Three for the Road, Holmes and YoYo* Bucket List Shows: *Hot Wheels, Skyhawks, Run Joe Run, Westwood*

10-30-2014, 11:02 PM	#6
Tubehead Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 12, 2007 Location: chattanooga.tn Posts: 5,139	movie theater be no more in the futuer . I think in the future theaters will be no more we would probably have a device to down load newest movies or the latest TV series it happened to video games just look at play station 4 or x-box one me my brother and my dad would go to arcade shops before Nintendo came out we would spend hours playing arcades I remember when Nintendo it first came out was big deal when it first came out. I think the future is going to be like net flex or video games were you can use your dvr or some type of device to down load the latest movies coming out.

10-30-2014, 01:49 AM	#2
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,668	Pretty soon everyone will just have to implant little USB ports into our skulls and get WiFi whenever we want.

10-30-2014, 11:11 AM	#4
Yong Fang Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 04, 2009 Location: Memphis Tennessee Posts: 3,073	I am an American living in China, and I have not dealt with getting internet/cable TV in the USA for about 15 years, but my understanding that basically the cable and internet are the same provider, and basically they are forcing their customers to have cable to have internet. They might gussy up this with something like "Widespan Internet for $39.99 a month with free basic cable!" It the cable isn't "free", it is just part of a package one might not want. Cable companies have been ripping off the consumer, have had monopolistic policies, bad to horrid customer service, selling services people do not want, while not offering things people do want (like more choices). This is what a monopoly does, and I have never understood except from bribery why the government has not stepped in more on this. But again, most communities do not need two or more companies selling this service. Like I said, I live in China and can basically watch anything I want through the internet and also Chinese websites. I am content and happy watching TV through a computer or iPad. No commercials either.