A big impediment for me as a legacy cable/sat subscriber is POOR it is to find programming on OTT services. The search function is inadequate (so are the suggestions based upon my viewing) to finding the programming that interests me and is available via OTT. I am reduced to going through just about EACH and EVERY tile program (now up to 300) to finally find some good stuff I like, and I won't get into how many TV series have only a FEW of all the seasons of a show, while the channels on DISH are playing ALL the seasons with ALL the episodes.
So, what tips me for stuff I may find of interest on Dish: Dish Magazine that I use for movie listings also has articles on a number of shows that I would have never otherwise known about. No such thing for OTT. The number of channels and programming is more manageable with a superior interface and even better search. OTT leaves one to browse each and every tile to find that show or movie that is not hugely popular. Heck, even in the genres I still have to wade through over 50 show tiles. I spend more time on Hulu Plus and Amazon searching for programming than watching it. I can find new things to watch on Dish or other MVPD much easier as the EPG is a superior GUI that displays all programming. Meanwhile, how would I know that some obscure "channel" (the name of a distributor or company I've never heard of) has a fairly popular or well regarded TV series that is just my cup of tea. I would never have known Danger 5 was located in the "never heard of before" channel, and was only the result of scanning each and ever tile in comedy up to 300.
Content is altered: Episodes is one example of the fact that some shows are "edited" or have language bleeped and vulgar--but funny and important to the joke--gestures blacked out on OTT. Meanwhile Showtime on the MVPD's is currently re-airing all episodes of Episodes UN-altered with no bleeps or big areas of screen blacked out.
Now, the matter of quality PQ: in general is sucks compared to even SD on Dish. While the latest shows can be in HD, far too many are horrid PQ, and I have a 30Mps internet connection. Dish, or other MVPD's, have many of the same shows in good quality HD AND DD 5.1, still not common on OTT. Too often PQ on OTT is really bad.
No CC support on the vast majority of programming on OTT. In fact, some shows have CC on some seasons but NOT on others. CC is very important to me, especially on some British TV shows.
ISP datacaps: one can be punished by an ISP for overage on the datacap, and it is easy to hit the limit. No data cap on the tons of HD programming forever saved on your HDD and ready to watch anytime while OTT can lose rights to a TV series or movie, and I have experienced this frustration having been in the middle of series only find it is no longer offered at Amazon or Hulu. Of course, after shutting your off for datacaps, our ISP will happily direct you to their business level of service to meet your whorey OTT needs at an increased price.
And the commercials one CAN'T skip, and heaven forbid you need to skip back too soon from the end of the commercial as you are taken back to watch the commercial all over again and can't skip it. We are never going to see an AutoHop on OTT nor ability to skip forwared 30 seconds to pass a commercial.
I'm not saying that OTT is terrible as I do use some of it today, but I was rather surprised by its far to often LIMITATIONS. I was also shocked to find a fair number of very recent TV series (such as the last season of Deadliest Catch) is NOT available via OTT at all or some others available, but ONLY at the pay per episode price on Amazon, not part of the Prime service. I aint paying per episode. My point is that OTT has a LONG way to go to provide the what I think is a superior experience using one of the costly MVPD's. However, when one calculates the cost of the higher bandwidth ISP, then multiple pay subscriptions to certainly MORE than one OTT service, find that NOT all seasons of a number of TV shows available, I do know people paying over $80.00 per month for their "cord cutting" experience for what I think is an inferior experience and getting less in quality, having to pay in addition to Prime for somethings they really want to watch and other OTT limitations. Hey, isn't that $80 per month what that same fellow was paying for his MVPD?
I think it is much more about preference of experience of the individual and especially generation. Younger folk are more comfortable with OTT and are willing to pay the same sky-high price for it that someone older pay's for MVPD service. Of course, these young folks experience no moral dilemma viewing pirated content via youtube, Bit Torrent or known files sharing sites that facilitate piracy. Sorry, I just won't download movies that way; I choose to access legally. However, if OTT can achieve a better interface and more clear ways of finding fresh, but not well known content that viewers would love and to add to the value of such services, and address all the above shortfalls listed above, it can surely be the prime method of TV viewing, but the matter of datacaps is by far the most likely thing to impeded OTT for the true MASSES. If datacaps are removed, then MVPD will be dead.
