AT&T loses 620,000 video subs in Q1 as DirecTV deal moves ahead

[Bruce]

My question about this is how do you watch TV? Are you using a cable replacement like YouTube TV or Hulu Live, or are you using only on-demand services like Netflix, Disney+, or the like? We watch a mix of the two, but mostly cable replacement.

Have YTTV but barely use it, I use my points from my Credit Cards to buy Gift Cards for my streaming services ( Google Play/YTTV for example), so if I had to pay $$$ I would get rid of it.

I find that there are times that I channel search to find something - lazy watching targets of convenience. There are times when I want to watch something from on-demand streaming, which is deliberate.

This to me is the big distinction... how much do people value watching linear channels. The older streaming services like Netflix only offer on-demand streaming. The newer ones (Paramount+, Discovery+) also offer their linear channels.

The only linear channel I seem to watch is CNN, Food Network was a big fave of my wife, now she prefers to watch it on Discovery+ because of the superior picture ( everything in 1080P and some shows in 4K).

There has been rumors that AT&T is going to add the Live Version of CNN to HBOMax, either as a extra charge or part of the fee we pay now, if so YTTV is gone.

 

[lparsons21]

My issues with not having a live streaming service in the mix is because of golf and boing, and one single show that isn’t available without one, Queen of the South.

None of those have much streaming presence outside of live streaming. For boxing there is DAZN for some matches but gaping holes in coverage and ESPN+ has some but not much. Golf without the Golf channel is really an effort in futility outside of SOME PGA events. Queen of the South just is not available unless you buy a season pass.

But for filler shows, there are a plethora of free w/ads services that can fill the bill and since I’m not paying much attention when those are on, ads aren’t an issue.

 

[Bruce]

My issues with not having a live streaming service in the mix is because of golf and boing, and one single show that isn’t available without one, Queen of the South.

If you mean the current season you are correct, the past 4 seasons are on Netflix and the 5th will be also at whatever timeframe after the season finale.

Because of the superior picture ( and sound sometimes depending on the service) I always wait for shows to premiere on streaming, The Blacklist is a example of that, I could watch it live/DVR ( on NBC) or wait and binge all the episodes in 4K/ DD+ after the season is done on Netflix.

 

[Bruce]

I hate commercials. I record everything and skip thru commercials. I do have Amazon Prime and a Roku Ultra, but I cannot watch the free channels like Fubo, because they are loaded with commercials that I cannot stand and they will not let you record and skip commercials.

Fubo is a paid Live TV service, I assume you mean Tubi or Pluto.

And with a streaming Live TV service ( YTTV for example) you can record, Rewind, Pause and Fast Forward just like a Traditional Service.

 

[lparsons21]

If you mean the current season you are correct, the past 4 seasons are on Netflix and the 5th will be also at whatever timeframe after the season finale.

Because of the superior picture ( and sound sometimes depending on the service) I always wait for shows to premiere on streaming, The Blacklist is a example of that, I could watch it live/DVR ( on NBC) or wait and binge all the episodes in 4K/ DD+ after the season is done on Netflix.

I haven’t quite got myself to do that as much as I probably should. Since I get OTA via antenna quite well and have a DVR for that, I need to streamline the rest a whole lot better. As it sits now the most expensive part of my streaming subscriptions is the live streamer and it is the least watched.

 

[MitchDeerfield]

My viewing habits have also recently changed. I stopped watching news programming after the election and I don't watch live sports. Almost all of my viewing is on Amazon Prime Video, Roku Channel, Pluto, Kanopy, and YouTube Premium. I also can get Locast for $5. Why am I paying $69 a month for a service I barely watch?

I do have free HBO Max for three months and didn't really care for their programming. Even if I did, I don't need DTV for that. DTV is for people who watch lots of live sports and news.

This is what DirecTV is facing, and the new management is really no different than the old management.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Back when cable started..

By the time we started seeing cable-specific programming, cable was well into middle age; the cable industry was young back in the early '50s. My dad worked on the first cable system in Western Canada way back in 1953...

 

[Juan]

By the time we started seeing cable-specific programming, cable was well into middle age; the cable industry was young back in the early '50s. My dad worked on the first cable system in Western Canada way back in 1953...

It was a way to sell more tvs

 

[Bilbo1]

The problem I find is what to do when your turning it on for back ground noise as I call it.

That is my ‘lazy viewing.’

Right now, I am half paying attention to the Roy Clark episode of the Muppet Show on Disney+. I’ll let it go to the next episode, which I think is Gilda Radner. I will probably swap over to LA Galaxy v Red Bull NY at 5:30.

I really don’t want to put on CNN or other news network... too heavy. I’m done with competitive cooking, home Reno, or House Hunters. But, there are a number of things I can let run as background noise.


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[Jimbo]

That is my ‘lazy viewing.’

Right now, I am half paying attention to the Roy Clark episode of the Muppet Show on Disney+. I’ll let it go to the next episode, which I think is Gilda Radner. I will probably swap over to LA Galaxy v Red Bull NY at 5:30.

I really don’t want to put on CNN or other news network... too heavy. I’m done with competitive cooking, home Reno, or House Hunters. But, there are a number of things I can let run as background noise.


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But you then have to Choose what to have on .... DTV has a Guide I can quickly glance at and be done with.

 

[lparsons21]

But you then have to Choose what to have on .... DTV has a Guide I can quickly glance at and be done with.

And then, after looking at the entire guide you notice there’s nothing you either haven’t seen or is so utterly a waste of time to watch that you then go off to one of the on demand services with actual original shows worth watching.

 

[Jimbo]

And then, after looking at the entire guide you notice there’s nothing you either haven’t seen or is so utterly a waste of time to watch that you then go off to one of the on demand services with actual original shows worth watching.

Would never go that far if I wasn't planning to pay attention to what was on.
If I have something that I WANT to watch, then Streaming is Great (I just finished 5 Seasons of the Expanse, for example), if I rally have nothing particular I want to see, I wouldn't go the Streaming route.

 

[telstar_1]

It was before that...just too expensive to justify

But folks paid up anyway- regardless of additional channels forced to sub to, they still needed their favs. The deals were actually pretty good like 20 years back, but then they've just kept raising and forcing more packaging. Now they're trying to furiously backpedal, but people are fed up from years of being overcharged and are cutting the cord to go streaming

 

[lparsons21]

Would never go that far if I wasn't planning to pay attention to what was on.
If I have something that I WANT to watch, then Streaming is Great (I just finished 5 Seasons of the Expanse, for example), if I rally have nothing particular I want to see, I wouldn't go the Streaming route.

I do watch things that I actually pay attention to, unfortunately most of those are not on live streaming or are also available with other apps. For instance lots of broadcast stuff is on Hulu along with originals and some cable stuff, same for Paramount+ and Peacock with no few very interesting shows on Prime.

Right now the only thing not available to me without purchasing a season pass is Queen of the South. Well that and boxing and golf. But I’m considering cancelling the live streamer anyway and just buy the very few episodes left of QOS. And catch what I can of boxing and golf on broadcast or maybe an app that offers some coverage for much less than any live streamer.

 

[Bilbo1]

But folks paid up anyway

Sure. What choice did we have? We paid for channels we wanted, we paid for channels we didn’t want. We also paid for equipment, fees, and anything that they could add ( and they could add anything they wanted as a separate line item, is so it seemed).

Right now, you can pay for as little as you want to pay for. You can get quite a bit for free OTA. If you want just Food Network and HGTV, discovery+ is $5/month. That’s it. No $50/month package and $7/month receiver.


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[Jimbo]

Sure. What choice did we have? We paid for channels we wanted, we paid for channels we didn’t want. We also paid for equipment, fees, and anything that they could add ( and they could add anything they wanted as a separate line item, is so it seemed).

Right now, you can pay for as little as you want to pay for. You can get quite a bit for free OTA. If you want just Food Network and HGTV, discovery+ is $5/month. That’s it. No $50/month package and $7/month receiver.


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But once again, you need 6 or 7 different platforms to watch what you already had on 1 ...
Most people don't want to have to change to a different App everytime they want to watch something that would have been on a different channel on the same platform ...

You young kids might be ok with that ....

 

[telstar_1]

There is going to someday be an aggregation service to essentially consolidate streaming offerings that lets you select programming regardless of "platform," etc., and then simply bills for the aggregate viewing.

I had suggested something like that for linear TV as alternative to massive packages- "metered use". A system that would let you watch anything/everything, and simply keep track of the ch/program selected as well as time viewed. Maybe an extra charge to DVR. Sort of like everything's PPV, and you pay as you go, er, view. This would be answer for those who have said they don't watch enough to justify subscription or are offput by "paying for channels I never watch".

But cable & sat have had their chances to innovate in such ways, and now it's really too late for them.

 

[Bruce]

But once again, you need 6 or 7 different platforms to watch what you already had on 1 ...
Most people don't want to have to change to a different App everytime they want to watch something that would have been on a different channel on the same platform ...

You young kids might be ok with that ....

No you don’t, you need one, you have to compare Apples to Apples, if you have YTTV, you are getting the same channels ( roughly) as Dish‘s Top 200 package.

Now if you want to watch Stranger Things, you have to subscribe to Netflix, does not matter if you have a Traditional Provider or a Streaming Live TV Service, it is a extra, no different then subscribing to HBO to watch Game of Thrones, except it is on a app instead of your guide.

 

[Juan]

There is going to someday be an aggregation service to essentially consolidate streaming offerings that lets you select programming regardless of "platform," etc., and then simply bills for the aggregate viewing.

I had suggested something like that for linear TV as alternative to massive packages- "metered use". A system that would let you watch anything/everything, and simply keep track of the ch/program selected as well as time viewed. Maybe an extra charge to DVR. Sort of like everything's PPV, and you pay as you go, er, view. This would be answer for those who have said they don't watch enough to justify subscription or are offput by "paying for channels I never watch".

But cable & sat have had their chances to innovate in such ways, and now it's really too late for them.

But that will be just as expensive and fail misearbly

 

[Jimbo]

But that will be just as expensive and fail misearbly

Actually, that would be WAY more expensive.