Cord cutting on the cheap!
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A report recently stated that within 5 years, cable/satellite will be losing 50% of subs. Streaming is where everything is going. With the new system's in play to make low lying satellites offering low cost high speed ($50 for 200 down), The programming not available now via streaming will become a reality in the very near future.
In this world of bloggers and re-bloggers, you can find prognostications that will advance any and all futures.
This one reminds me of a popular quote from Mark Twain:
Samuel Clemens said:
The only place I remember giving that number was some exec at Roku. I took it for what it was, a positive forward looking comment. I’ve seen nothing that actually attempts to show that result on that timeline.
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a few. The channel lineup is found here (varies by region) Spectrum TV Choice Package and Channel Lineup - Spectrum Customers
My choices included ESPN 1&2, Fox Sports1, NBC Sports and the NFL Network.
The link you provided gives the following instructions. However, when I go to Spectrum.com, there's no menu offering "Add TV". Anything I try to do online asks for my address then offers me conventional cable TV. How do you sign up for this internet Spectrum Choice? Do you have to be a Spectrum customer before you can become a Spectrum customer? Thanks.
For some reason, the forum won't let me post my complete reply, including instructions for getting service.
Yes, it was only one report, but cord cutting is increasing at a huge pace. So anything is possible. Right now, I am not ready to cut the cord as the channel variety isn't there and DVR functions aren't either. It will be a while for me. I like my line up with Dish. I looked at my options a few months back and no where could I get the channel line up streaming I can with Dish. Locals are not all available streaming. If you are lucky you might find 5 or 6 networks. But what about the rest? I do not like using a cloud for a DVR. I want HDD. Several services do not allow you to keep a program or movie permanently. Contract rights are different in streaming. Too many rules or this or that for me. Will that change, probably. But I am staying with Dish for a while. I get a good deal and I still have the Super Stations. There is nothing wrong with my old vip211k either with the outboard HDD and OTA tuner.
But is it really? AT&T Now seems to be losing more customers than Sling is gaining.
I fully expect people to get bored with Disney if they don't add much more of the promised content soon. Apple TV+ may be in bigger trouble.
Viewers are experimenting a bit but when they have to think about their choices too much or they start missing stuff, the shine dulls.
The phone is your friend in this case. Call your local spectrum office and ask about the TV Choice package. Its not something they heavily advertise. I basically went in to the office and did it in person.
Perfect example:
And usually those speculations (on both sides) are based on selective information. Yes, AT&T Now is shedding customers, but they've done everything they can to go from one of the better live OTT services to the absolute worst in terms of value. You were better off pointing out the demise of PS Vue.
Whether customers stick with Disney+ or Apple+ or whatever else comes along this year on next, it's safe to assume that they won't be dropping a $7/mo service in favor of one costing more than $100/mo.
The truth of the matter is customers are dropping traditional cable/sat TV at a torrid pace, which may end up forcing many smaller channels to close up shop, which makes cable less enticing, etc. (aka "death spiral). From November 2019:
Cord-Cutting Has Reached an Epic New Level
The end of cable television as we know it may be closer than you think.
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From the almost 3 million loss in 2018 to the 7 million loss in 2019 would indicate that Cord Cutting in whatever form is more then just a trend.
- Nov 29, 2003
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What am I and others are missing?
I still get every every cable show I watched ( at a slight delay), I get every new OTA show (DVR or Live), I can get older stuff via the free apps on the Roku or Netflix, Hulu, Amazon. Disney or OTA ( but I never watch older stuff), I get live News via CBS, ABC and soon NBC, and I do get all the original shows ( and in 4K) from the Paid Streaming Apps that I could not get if I only had Traditional Service and for all that I only pay about $35-40 a month.
The only thing I don't get is some Sports ( which I do not care that much about), but if you look at the ratings. the majority don't care that much about sports anyways, even the Super Bowl, the biggest Sporting Event of the year was less then a 3rd of the TV viewing audience.
Speaking of the shine getting dull, I was in another online discussion today about the demise of the SyFy channel, once among my favorite top 10 cable channels. But with their quick cancellations of some of their better shows the past few years (Dark Matter, The Expanse, Deadly Class, Happy, etc.) while keeping more mediocre shows around (Van Helsing, Winona Earp), I would no longer regard SyFy as a "must-have" channel when considering my streaming options. In fact, I won't even watch any new series on SyFy anymore knowing that if it's any good (i.e., has a decent budget), it will likely get cancelled. And another "must-have" channel, FX, may be on life-support as well, with some of their more anticipated new shows going direct to Hulu with no linear TV release. Another favorite of mine for quality original scripted programming, AMC, has been in decline for a while.
SyFy is still on my list of must have channels, but like you, for me it is becoming a bit tenuous. Right now The Magicians is about it on there for me. I am looking forward to some new shows there, but who knows if they will be good or if they will stick around if they are?
I don't think you'll find many singing the praises of DIRECTV Now or Uverse.
There you go again with the "all I need is a single streaming service" argument. The recent Nielsen survey indicates that a majority of those who use streaming services (either entirely or as a supplement to conventitonal pay TV services) subscribe to more than one. It isn't about money for everyone but if they don't think they're getting a good value (not the content that they had hoped for or just not enough of it), they may walk.
That was so last year. This is a wild market and many viewers are just beginning to get a feeling for what it does and doesn't bring and how it brings what it does.
From the consideration of Disney or Apple TV+ as somehow comparable to a $100 pay TV package.
You may not be missing anything. That you're needs are sufficiently met doesn't mean that all cord cutters must obviously be satisfied with the programming and features of one or more of the streaming services. You may speak for your household but there are another 120,599,999 households with widely varying needs.
The "I'm getting what I want, the rest don't know what they want" is a poor argument.
In your earlier post, you questioned the rate of cord cutting (dropping cable or sat TV services), saying that "when they have to think about their choices too much or they start missing stuff, the shine dulls," which I took to mean (especially the "missing stuff" part) that you thought people would go back to cable/sat once they realize the grass isn't greener with new streaming services like Disney+ and Apple+.
In other words, if people lose interest in or have trouble finding enough content on the shiny new services (Disney+ and Apple+), the vast majority aren't going to take up cable or sat in their place (go from paying $7 (or $22) to $100+ per month).
Many of these cord-cutting hopefuls (like Lloyd and mwdxer1) haven't cut the cord yet. Yet others may be reeled back in by attractive winback offers.
Others may switch to another conventional provider after they've left the familiar mess that is their old provider.
It is hard to assess where everyone is at any one time and that's the danger of buying in to heavily on any of the reports (even those from otherwise reputable sources -- not that the Motley Fool is the acknowledged seer of pay TV trends). It is also folly to ignore the part that inertia plays in decisions such as these. There are often plateaus in paradigm shifts where the wave loses energy and the tide ebbs.
