Only Four Networks Are Propping Up the Entire Cable TV Industry

[TMC]

https://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/on...y.php#comments

Nielsen reported a first for television: In July, the percentage of people watching linear television (cable and broadcast networks) fell below 50 percent for the first time. I feel like I see a version of this statistic every summer—mostly because linear television (broadcast networks and cable television) bottoms out during this season when there are very few scripted network television series. This year, it’s not likely to improve in the fall because of the strikes. This summer, however, is particularly brutal because the cable industry is essentially losing out to Suits, a cable series watched for 18 billion hours on Netflix in July.

Here’s the Nielsen infographic:


There are a couple of interesting things to note in that infographic: Netflix and YouTube are the most popular streamers, the FAST service Tubi is doing better than Paramount+, Peacock, and is tied with Max, and cable accounted for nearly 30 percent of linear television viewing in July.

47 million households are now cord cutters, and by the end of the year, 54 percent of Americans will no longer pay for cable TV. I will be among them. For the last several years, I have subscribed to streaming cable (YouTube TV or Hulu Live) from September until February for one reason only: to watch NFL, and mostly the Red Zone. I essentially paid $70 a month for streaming cable, plus $15 a month for the Red Zone because it was the only way.

Thankfully, that ends this year, because NFL+ is now offering the Red Zone channel for $80 for the entire season. That’s a huge savings. Plus, with Peacock, I can watch NBC Sunday Night Football, with Paramount, I can watch CBS NFL games, and with Amazon, I can watch Thursday night football. That leaves only ESPN’s Monday Night Football, and I am not going to pay an extra $400 a year to listen to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

If others come around to my way of thinking, the cable industry may soon collapse—here’s a fascinating statistic: I looked up the top 400 cable television shows for a random week in July, and of those 400, 301 come from only four networks: ESPN, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.

In other words, cable is being propped up by ESPN and cable news. That’s about it, particularly when one considers that most of the programming that makes up the other 99 series (wrestling and NASCAR on USA, Bravo reality series, and home and food shows on TLC, HGTV, and the Food Network) is already available on streaming platforms.

This, presumably, is why Peacock has not been in a hurry to air MSNBC programming live, or Max to do the same for CNN programming. They’re still making good money on those cable carriage fees, but eventually, they’ll need to relent. And why not? There’s no ad-free version of live programming, so they won’t lose advertisers. Meanwhile, ESPN+ will probably eventually become the stand-alone home for Monday Night Football and the rest of the network’s sports programming, which will eventually leave only one major news network without a live news home: Fox News. That is, unless the Fox Corporation starts streaming live Fox News on Tubi.

It’s a big deal that linear television viewership has fallen below the 50 percent mark. Television viewers have been slowly cutting the cord for years now, but we’re about to hit the death spiral. I suspect that 2024 will be the last year that viewers follow presidential campaigns on cable news instead of streaming news. Indeed, January 2025 would be a good time for Peacock and Max to flip the switch on MSNBC and CNN, respectively, and for ESPN to go standalone, leaving Fox News and the rest of the cable industry to float into the ether.

[Charles Knox]

"Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss"

[blueberrymuffin]

Originally Posted by TMC

If others come around to my way of thinking, the cable industry may soon collapse—here’s a fascinating statistic: I looked up the top 400 cable television shows for a random week in July, and of those 400, 301 come from only four networks: ESPN, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Could it possibly be because most businesses show these specific channels, and those prop them up? For instance, I go to a sit-down restaurant or a doctor's office that have televisions, and 99% of the time, one of those four channels is what's playing on the TV.

[stevea]

I've seen HGTV in various doctors' offices and car service showrooms. No controversy.

Cable has only themselves to blame for the pickle they're in. They could restructure themselves and allow customers to tailor-make their channel selections. And drop the junk on satellite that no one is watching.

Comcast also wastes a lot of bandwidth by duplicating channels on HD back down to SD. An HD channel becomes SD thru a coax cable connection, so they don't need the duplication.

[blueberrymuffin]

Originally Posted by stevea

I've seen HGTV in various doctors' offices and car service showrooms. No controversy.

Same here on HGTV, but those are usually in the 1% I mentioned before. Typically places show news and sports for the most part.

Cable has only themselves to blame for the pickle they're in. They could restructure themselves and allow customers to tailor-make their channel selections. And drop the junk on satellite that no one is watching.

I used to say this as well, and it was explained to me by someone "in the know" that they can't do that largely due to the way federal contracts with sports channels work. These channels are supposed to be a staple in TV packages due to the way the FCC negotiated with sports teams and the venues to spectate these sports. It's just too messy for them to do "ala carte" services for cable TV. This is why online has more flexibility to have these choices on live streaming services. A lot of people also seem to like it this way, and want to have sports and news shoved in their faces 24/7...

[stevea]

Sad, but true. Have everyone pay the regional sports fees, etc., even if they don't care about sports.

[Duster76]

stevea said:

Cable has only themselves to blame for the pickle they're in. They could restructure themselves and allow customers to tailor-make their channel selections. And drop the junk on satellite that no one is watching.

Bingo, this is what cordcutting is all about, people, especially younger people won't pay for product they have no interest in. If that news was not bad enough for cable operators older people are starting to join the exodus. Cable is on its way back to the original purpose, an antenna service for over the air stations.

stevea said:

"Sad, but true. Have everyone pay the regional sports fees, etc., even if they don't care about sports".

That scam is on its way over the cliff. MLB, NBA, NHL have been ripping off hapless cable subscribers for decades. From CNBC:

"Charter Communications said Monday it is changing up its cable TV offering and will allow customers to opt into a cheaper, sports-lite tier without regional sports networks. The move comes as sports TV networks, particularly regional sports channels, contend with cord-cutting and streaming options".

This has nothing to do with concern for the subscriber, this has to do with basic survival of the industry, hopefully it will spread like wildfire in the cable industry in 2024.

[Crusinforabrusin2.5]

Each cable channel has its own "theme". TruTV is the Impractical Jokers channel (Love the show, but still), Food Network is a bunch of competition shows and Guy Fieri, and Travel Channel is paranormal/mystery stuff. Combine it with reruns of old tv shows and there's no reason to ever watch cable besides maybe sports. You can watch old shows either on DVD, streaming, or "websites" online. Not to mention obnoxious commercials that show up every ~5 minutes. Easy to see why no one is watching cable anymore

[blueberrymuffin]

I guess I'm weird because I have Directv Stream combined with Frndly TV (used to have actual cable but I got fed up with Comcast), and I still like watching stuff on there. I suppose I just prefer having a variety of channels to choose from, and don't mind or even enjoy commercials. Might be a byproduct of my upbringing, and my hatred for Netflix and other streaming services.

[AMackII]

I have Roku in my house, the only apps I tune into right now are: YouTube, Tubi, Spectrum, Apple Music, Amazon Prime Video, Freevee & Roku Channel. If Only Cable TV & Broadcast TV were mergingly absorbing into Streaming TV in the near future then it would help Most of the streaming apps free while other apps cost under $5-$10.