Cord Cutting - which box? Some comparisons

[harshness]

Yes, like staying alive at 37,000 feet.

That's more a case of biology, but it illustrates one of the liberties taken. Perhaps, when in a state of hypothermia, it may be possible to survive on that low an oxygen concentration but I doubt it. The frostbite issue is another the producers seemed happy to ignore once the ordeal was over.

I look at the movie as sort of a reality-based Jules Verne tale and it does that well. I encourage those with Prime to give it a view.

Happy New Year to you too.

 

[harshness]

"Lack of name recognition in the marketplace" would be the last thing Google/YouTube would ever need to worry about if they ever went all-in on the channel aggregator approach.

Being the ringleader in a small bathtub isn't the same as having tens of millions using your web browser or search engine. YouTube is a decidedly different product from YouTube TV. YouTube TV is a big player in the streaming market but it isn't a big player in the pay TV market. I think you hit the nail on the head about being tuned into it because you've actively chosen the subclass of streaming pay TV.

 

[Bruce]

Being the ringleader in a small bathtub isn't the same as having tens of millions using your web browser or search engine. YouTube is a decidedly different product from YouTube TV. YouTube TV is a big player in the streaming market but it isn't a big player in the pay TV market. I think you hit the nail on the head about being tuned into it because you've actively chosen the subclass of streaming pay TV.

The only reason YouTube TV ( and the rest ) is not gaining a lot of subs is because the majority of those cutting Traditional Service are just sticking with OTA and the Netflix type services.

1.9 million left Cable/Sat. TV service last quarter, it was estimated that both YTTV and Hulu Live gained 200,000 subs each( rough estimate based on the Cord Cutter sites) and Sling gained a tad above 100,000, that means 1.3-1.4 million did not go to another live TV service.

This shows it has nothing to due about knowledge of the service ( streaming services are everywhere in the news )it is just people are deciding that just do not need Live TV anymore, especially with the High Content of the streaming services ( both in quality and quantity).


Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[harshness]

I suspect that most of these "estimates" on streaming pick-up of former conventional pay TV customers are pure hogwash. Absent real numbers, the denizens of "cord cutter sites" are making up their own. They could be close or they could be way off in left field, but it seems unlikely that they are based in fact.

 

[lparsons21]

Yeah, it is hard to figure out why live tv via streaming is all that important outside of sports. Nearly every new show that is on live tonight will be on some free ad-supported service or places like Hulu and others with low cost streaming.
And if you really don’t care about the new shows but want to watch some good shows, then it is even less of a draw for a live TV service.
While I haven’t made the jump to OTA+streaming, I probably will when my current ‘deal’ expires with my cable service. I’ll convert my Tivo to OTA to get all but NBC via antenna, keep my current streaming services and kick in premium channels now and then to binge watch some series I really want to watch.
Part of what makes me want to make the switch is that I watch TV during the day and live TV then just sucks! Soaps, reruns of reruns, judge shows of all sorts but nothing of real interest, just noise in the house.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[harshness]

Yeah, it is hard to figure out why live tv via streaming is all that important outside of sports. Nearly every new show that is on live tonight will be on some free ad-supported service or places like Hulu and others with low cost streaming.

I agree with this other than the fact that you've left out the oddly rabid classes of news and weather junkies. The documentary channels seem to have slowed production of new content to a relative crawl and replaced it with alien shows and shows suggesting that the Knights Templar were devil worhippers.

 

[lparsons21]

I suspect that most of these "estimates" on streaming pick-up of former conventional pay TV customers are pure hogwash. Absent real numbers, the denizens of "cord cutter sites" are making up their own. They could be close or they could be way off in left field, but it seems unlikely that they are based in fact.

Since I’m more of a positive person, I think you’re stretching it a bit.

I think the estimates are based on best data available with some educated guesses added in for flavor. The losses satellite and cable are seeing must be going somewhere as it stretches the imagination that they would cancel those services and not pick something else. That the something else doesn’t seem to be cable/sat replacement streaming services seems obvious given the subscriber numbers given for them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[lparsons21]

I agree with this other than the fact that you've left out the oddly rabid classes of news and weather junkies. The documentary channels seem to have slowed production of new content to a relative crawl and replaced it with alien shows and shows suggesting that the Knights Templar were devil worhippers.

The news and weather junkies appear to be a relatively small number of viewers though their rankings get some good news coverage now and then.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Ronnie-]

There are plenty of news and weather channels for free with streaming. Unless you wanted to follow a specific channel like fox or cnn for news or the weather channel for weather I can’t see that being a huge reason to keep live tv. The news is the news unless you want a slant either way, and the weather is the weather.
For live sports , if you want to follow a specific sport or team, often you are left with little choice but live tv channels, and specific ones at that.

 

[Bruce]

Part of what makes me want to make the switch is that I watch TV during the day and live TV then just sucks! Soaps, reruns of reruns, judge shows of all sorts but nothing of real interest, just noise in the house.

Yep, we discovered that the only thing we watched live was News ( CNN) and Food Network (wife) so we dropped YTTV, while I could easily afford paying for Live TV ( Traditional or otherwise) I just could not justify it for 2 channels and then also paying for the streaming services, I hate wasting money and that mentality ( on spending for anything wasteful) has allowed me to retire at 52 ( every extra dollar went into investment’s accounts).

Food Network is handled by Hulu ( catalog and seasons at a delay) and News is handled by CBSN ( and ABC News and NBC News are going 24/7 in the first 6 months of the year).

And as far as regular cable shows, they are always on a delay on the streaming services, for example currently watching 2 seasons of Killing Eve on Hulu.




Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[lparsons21]

I actually don’t watch anything live and haven’t for years. Everything is recorded for delayed watching so I can skip through the ads and drivel. And for sports, well I’m not a big sports fan. I watch some on occasion but don’t follow a team or players much, and in general if a sports event is on and I’m tuned to it, I’m also reading a book and even sometimes taking a nap!
My Tivo is a 4-tuner with 500Gb HD and if I change it over to OTA then that is more than good enough. It is also on ‘all in’ service so no bill for that. Got it at a great price with one of TiVo’s sales a couple of years ago.
My AppleTV has all the streaming apps I care to use, so that is covered well also. And my internet service is rock solid with a high enough data cap I don’t get surprise bills from them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[harshness]

The losses satellite and cable are seeing must be going somewhere as it stretches the imagination that they would cancel those services and not pick something else. That the something else doesn’t seem to be cable/sat replacement streaming services seems obvious given the subscriber numbers given for them.

I don't think this is sound reasoning as it doesn't contemplate the many alternative activities. I'm betting a lot of people are doing various forms of social media. I say "doing" because I'm not convinced that social media is a participatory activity but more a exercise in following "influencers". I can't imagine a much bigger waste of hours.

 

[Bruce]

I think the estimates are based on best data available with some educated guesses added in for flavor. The losses satellite and cable are seeing must be going somewhere as it stretches the imagination that they would cancel those services and not pick something else.That the something else doesn’t seem to be cable/sat replacement streaming services seems obvious given the subscriber numbers given for them.

They might already had something else when they stopped paying for Live TV, it has been reported that 60-70% of those who have a Traditional Service also have Netflix, that is why the sub numbers for Netflix do not change much because the Cable Cutter already has it.

When I had Comcast I already had Netflix, when I had Vue and then YTTV i added Hulu, when I dropped YTTV i still had them ( and still do), so I would not count as a gain, the only thing I added since dropping YTTV was Disney+.

 

[lparsons21]

They might already had something else when they stopped paying for Live TV, it has been reported that 60-70% of those who have a Traditional Service also have Netflix, that is why the sub numbers for Netflix do not change much because the Cable Cutter already has it.

That’s probably as good an explanation of what is going on as there is. I’m on cable now, but I also have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu w/ads, CBS All Access, AppleTV+ and Disney. When I turn off cable TV I won’t be adding a service either as those cover anything I would want to watch.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Juan]

You can turn those services off on a monthly basis...just use them when you want them

That’s probably as good an explanation of what is going on as there is. I’m on cable now, but I also have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu w/ads, CBS All Access, AppleTV+ and Disney. When I turn off cable TV I won’t be adding a service either as those cover anything I would want to watch.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[lparsons21]

You can turn those services off on a monthly basis...just use them when you want them

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

I could, but in reality I use them every month.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Bruce]

That’s probably as good an explanation of what is going on as there is. I’m on cable now, but I also have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu w/ads, CBS All Access, AppleTV+ and Disney. When I turn off cable TV I won’t be adding a service either as those cover anything I would want to watch.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Just read this-

Virtual MVPDs, after two straight years of solid growth (2.5 million additions in both 2017 and 2018), slowed down in 2019, with Jayant estimating the category added less than 1 million customers in 2019. That slowdown should continue this year, especially since Sony PlayStation Vue, which Jayant estimated once had about 700,000 customers, has said it will close its doors early this year.

Since the loss of Traditional Subscribers was in the 6 million range, that means 5 million among those who left was just happy with OTA, Netflix and the like, that does not bold well for Traditional Providers and I believe the losses will continue to get worse because of all the increases on top of too expensive prices.

Jayant: Cord-Cutting to Ease in 2020

Analyst predicts existing pay TV base could be ‘stickier’

www.multichannel.com

 

[harshness]

Since the loss of Traditional Subscribers was in the 6 million range, that means 5 million among those who left was just happy with OTA, Netflix and the like, that does not bold well for Traditional Providers and I believe the losses will continue to get worse because of all the increases on top of too expensive prices.

Let's not forget that Netflix is missing their projected growth figures too. In my small circle of people that can stand to be around me, nobody subscribes to Netflix anymore.

 

[Bruce]

Let's not forget that Netflix is missing their projected growth figures too. In my small circle of people that can stand to be around me, nobody subscribes to Netflix anymore.

and yet-

Look for 7.6 million member additions in Q4
During the first three quarters of 2019, Netflix added a total of 19.1 million new subscribers.After adding 9.6 million paying members in Q1, Netflix whiffed on its member growth in Q2 and missed its own guidance for the period: Net subscriber additions in Q2 were 2.7 million. But member growth picked back up again in Q3 as the company added 6.8 million new paid memberships.

Netflix's Subscribers May Have Hit 166 Million in 2019 | The Motley Fool

That's up 27 million from last year.

www.fool.com

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[lparsons21]

Just read this-

Virtual MVPDs, after two straight years of solid growth (2.5 million additions in both 2017 and 2018), slowed down in 2019, with Jayant estimating the category added less than 1 million customers in 2019. That slowdown should continue this year, especially since Sony PlayStation Vue, which Jayant estimated once had about 700,000 customers, has said it will close its doors early this year.

Since the loss of Traditional Subscribers was in the 6 million range, that means 5 million among those who left was just happy with OTA, Netflix and the like, that does not bold well for Traditional Providers and I believe the losses will continue to get worse because of all the increases on top of too expensive prices.

Jayant: Cord-Cutting to Ease in 2020

Analyst predicts existing pay TV base could be ‘stickier’

www.multichannel.com

Yeah, I’ve been reading articles here and there about the slowdown/loss of traditional subscribers not picking up streaming versions of cable/sat.

Other articles have even talked about the growth of ad-supported free sites and there have been comments indicating that after all these years of bitching about ads, we’ve nearly come full circle. I know that for me during the day, ads or no ads just isn’t a big deal and I find myself watching free ad-supported sites for reruns of shows that are not on cable/sat/OTA but that I haven’t seen in a very long time. L


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro