Consumers Dropping Pay TV Services

[fbara]

Consumers Dropping Pay TV Services

The number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom TV services in the U.S. fell for the first time ever in the second quarter, according to research firm SNL Kagan.
The U.S. multichannel TV market lost 216,000 customers last quarter, vs. a gain of 378,000 a year ago. The total number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom video fell to 100.1 million in the second quarter, SNL Kagan says.
Cable TV firms lost 711,000 subscribers last quarter, while satellite and telecom TV services managed to add 81,000 and 414,000 subscribers, respectively.
Are more people moving to Internet-based TV?
"Although it is tempting to point to over-the-top video as a potential culprit, we believe economic factors such as low housing formation and a high unemployment rate contributed to subscriber declines in the second quarter," said SNL Kagan analyst Mariam Rondeli.
Many analysts believe over-the-top TV eventually could upend the pay TV business. OTT TV is video programming delivered over broadband Internet and bypassing traditional service providers.

 

[Scherrman]

That sounds about right. That all seems to make sense to me.

 

[fbara]

I'm working on setting up a HTPC and OTA antenna to get all my stations. Once that's done, I'm getting rid of E*.

 

[Mr Zulu]

If I weren't a sports fan, I'd have already dropped pay tv. I can download everything else or watch on blu-ray.

Actually, most of the sports stuff I can catch online too but the video quality isn't quite there yet.

 

[Jhon69]

Internet TV is still in it's infancy it reminds me of 1985 when I first put up my first BUD everything was free,then as more transferred to it the channels became scrambled,then came the request for paid subscriptions to view.

The same will gradually happen to Internet TV,some of it has already happened.The more viewers recorded will come the demand to be paid by the programmers.Believe me it has happened before,it will happen again.As viewer numbers rise so will the prices.

If it walks like a duck,and sounds like a duck?.It's a Duck!.

 

[fbara]

If I weren't a sports fan, I'd have already dropped pay tv. I can download everything else or watch on blu-ray.

Thankfully, I only live about 40 miles outside of Chicago and I can pick up all the Cubs and Bears games OTA. That will help me make the break. The only thing I would really miss would be ESPN Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight.

 

[zafdor]

The same will gradually happen to Internet TV,some of it has already happened.The more viewers recorded will come the demand to be paid by the programmers.Believe me it has happened before,it will happen again.As viewer numbers rise so will the prices.

<snip/hack>

Well, I have a history of being wrong on streamed video, so take this with a grain of salt..... The limiting factor here is bandwidth to the home. I am 'lucky' to be able to get 3Mb DSL. Based on my experience with Netflix, this is enough to get ONE stream that is perhaps 480p quality. My home needs are for (at least) 2 HD streams. Perhaps the codecs will continue to really improve compression significantly, but the way I see it, this requires 20Mbp+ connection, which AFAIK is FIOS (only) and available to only a very small number of people.

Even PAID internet TV will be good for consumers. Being on America's 250, I can tell you that about 200 of these never get watched by anyone in the family (yet I pay for them).

 

[empiretc]

Internet TV is still in it's infancy it reminds me of 1985 when I first put up my first BUD everything was free,then as more transferred to it the channels became scrambled,then came the request for paid subscriptions to view.

The same will gradually happen to Internet TV,some of it has already happened.The more viewers recorded will come the demand to be paid by the programmers.Believe me it has happened before,it will happen again.As viewer numbers rise so will the prices.

If it walks like a duck,and sounds like a duck?.It's a Duck!.

Agreed. Just look at Hulu. We will know the sh!t has hit the fan when OTA channels require a subscription.

The only thing we can hope for is that as more sources become available, D* and E* will drop prices.

 

[JTBenson]

I have 8 TV's. I cannot watch internet TV on all 8. The one in my living room is hooked up to my laptop, XBox 360 and my 722k and is the only one that is hooked up to the internet right now. The rest are just hooked up to Dish Network and 2 of them to OTA. (Also cannot split OTA 8 ways - I live 60 miles from KC and it degrades signal).

Internet and OTA is for those that have 2 TV's at most with very high speed connections. The rest of us still "need" satellite/cable.

 

[TheKrell]

Many folks split their OTA antenna lead 8 ways... It's called a "distribution amplifier".

 

[JTBenson]

Many folks split their OTA antenna lead 8 ways... It's called a "distribution amplifier".

Do those people live 60 miles from the TV stations? I have a distribution amplifier on mine already for the 2 TV's.

 

[allargon]

Do those people live 60 miles from the TV stations? I have a distribution amplifier on mine already for the 2 TV's.

The fact that you have 8 TV's has nothing to do with whether or not you can use OTA. You can choose to view only OTA on the 8 TV's, Internet or only satellite or a mix of the two. Now, if you haven't run coax (OTA does NOT require a "high speed" connection) to the other TV's, that's on you. But it has nothing to do with whether or not you "NEED" satellite.

 

[whatchel1]

Mostly not lasting

Consumers Dropping Pay TV Services

The number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom TV services in the U.S. fell for the first time ever in the second quarter, according to research firm SNL Kagan.
The U.S. multichannel TV market lost 216,000 customers last quarter, vs. a gain of 378,000 a year ago. The total number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom video fell to 100.1 million in the second quarter, SNL Kagan says.
Cable TV firms lost 711,000 subscribers last quarter, while satellite and telecom TV services managed to add 81,000 and 414,000 subscribers, respectively.
Are more people moving to Internet-based TV?
"Although it is tempting to point to over-the-top video as a potential culprit, we believe economic factors such as low housing formation and a high unemployment rate contributed to subscriber declines in the second quarter," said SNL Kagan analyst Mariam Rondeli.
Many analysts believe over-the-top TV eventually could upend the pay TV business. OTT TV is video programming delivered over broadband Internet and bypassing traditional service providers.

I read a report about this just day before yesterday. That a large percentage of those that cut the cord only do it for around a year. Then they go back to cable or sat. Reason is many get tired of having to wait for the on line services to get the series that say HBO, Sho have. The most that are doing the cutting the cord are in a younger demographic that are more used to searching for the sources they want to watch. These are people that know how to use P2P sites as well as other sources that carry the video. I haven't left sat for the exact reason stated. I don't want to wait 6 months to a year for the most recent "Dexter", Weeds, Tru Blood, or as in the case coming this fall the "mobster" drama that HBO is going to be showing. I am thinking very seriously about dropping Starz though since they don't seem to be able to come up with anything that I think is worth paying for.

 

[KAB]

I am thinking very seriously about dropping Starz though since they don't seem to be able to come up with anything that I think is worth paying for.

The next season of Torchwood (a co-US and UK) will be on Starz if that is of interest to you.

 

[vaylon]

For me, the best piece of home theater equipment I have is my PS3 and PC.
No need for a separate HTPC because the PS3 serves that purpose more than adequate.
I use my PC as both as a decoder and transcoder on the fly. That way I can use media server software like TVersity to stream anything to the TV.
There is also work on a new type of sling technology that will use a form of cloud computing.
In essence, All your media (movies, shows , music etc...) are partially stored in the cloud and the rest on your hard drive. Since the cloud will be tide to hundreds of thousands of other users there is potentially millions of media files at your disposal. Just look for what you want and set it to put it together. It then downloads all the tiny pieces and puts it back together.
Best way to describe it would be as a cloud shaped torrent distributor, big difference being that no one will ever actually have the complete file to copy or transfer for legal reasons.

Right now I just use my 722 to record all my shows , so I can watch them later without the commercials. But very quickly the ease of doing the same thing on one of my media server programs will make my Dish setup completely obsolete.

 

[whatchel1]

when describing it

For me, the best piece of home theater equipment I have is my PS3 and PC.
No need for a separate HTPC because the PS3 serves that purpose more than adequate.
I use my PC as both as a decoder and transcoder on the fly. That way I can use media server software like TVersity to stream anything to the TV.
There is also work on a new type of sling technology that will use a form of cloud computing.
In essence, All your media (movies, shows , music etc...) are partially stored in the cloud and the rest on your hard drive. Since the cloud will be tide to hundreds of thousands of other users there is potentially millions of media files at your disposal. Just look for what you want and set it to put it together. It then downloads all the tiny pieces and puts it back together.
Best way to describe it would be as a cloud shaped torrent distributor, big difference being that no one will ever actually have the complete file to copy or transfer for legal reasons.

Right now I just use my 722 to record all my shows , so I can watch them later without the commercials. But very quickly the ease of doing the same thing on one of my media server programs will make my Dish setup completely obsolete.

When you describing it sure sounded like some sort of P2p torrent related site. Only difference when you get a torrent the final product you play does download to your computer. So are they trying to keep the movie gestapo out of peoples homes by only putting the products into the cloud? That way the gestapo can't come take a PC away and say you have all this stuff on it. Now you going to pay big fines for it. I don't see that E* will become completely obsolete anytime in the near future like you a claiming though.

 

[Ghpr13]

Internet TV is still in it's infancy it reminds me of 1985 when I first put up my first BUD everything was free,then as more transferred to it the channels became scrambled,then came the request for paid subscriptions to view.

The same will gradually happen to Internet TV,some of it has already happened.The more viewers recorded will come the demand to be paid by the programmers.Believe me it has happened before,it will happen again.As viewer numbers rise so will the prices.

If it walks like a duck,and sounds like a duck?.It's a Duck!.

I agree with you. Bottom line, as soon as broadband speeds increase enough so that mainstream consumers can afford high speed access, and the broadband can handle HD video with out choking, the fees will start up. No more free ride.

Ghpr13

 

[fbara]

For me, the best piece of home theater equipment I have is my PS3 and PC.
No need for a separate HTPC because the PS3 serves that purpose more than adequate.

I have a PS3 and am interested in doing this. So I don't hijack the thread, can you point me to a site, or sites, that have reliable info on how to do this? Thanks.

 

[JTBenson]

The fact that you have 8 TV's has nothing to do with whether or not you can use OTA. You can choose to view only OTA on the 8 TV's, Internet or only satellite or a mix of the two. Now, if you haven't run coax (OTA does NOT require a "high speed" connection) to the other TV's, that's on you. But it has nothing to do with whether or not you "NEED" satellite.

No where did I say OTA requires a high speed connection. I was saying that "need" satellite because of two reasons:

1) I cannot get a OTA signal to all 8 of my TV's and the signal would be degraded if I did - I have tried it on more TV's - the signal weakens as I split it more times. I just split it to a third today and the signal strength is borderline on a couple of the channels. (I have COAX running to EVERY TV.)
2) I cannot get Internet to all 8 of my TV's and I don't have the bandwidth to do it right now.

My point was that dropping satellite is not an option for me BASED ON MY "NEEDS". And I put needs in quotes on my original post because I don't need satellite. No one does. It is a personal preference, but I am willing to pay for it because it gain more satisfaction from having it than it costs me.

 

[Mr Zulu]