Future of C-Band Paid Programming

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Thanks prime once again saving the day. Don't you like it when women complain about you watching to much tv when they watch more than you do. I have the maf mom accept factor.
 
I was thinking about the days when Discovery was about.. well.. Discoveries.
And The Learning Channel (TLC) was about .. well... learning, Not Honey Boo Boo and some drunken Gypsy sisters.
And when the History Channel actually had ... well ... lots of actual History. ...
I hear you. You speak of a past that I miss very much -- when there was more interest and participation in science / tech.
... I wish they would let you pick too. I suppose if they could make money that way, they would have.
If they went alacarte, I wonder how many of the lesser channels would disappear?

And a lot of the marketing is based on "We have more channels than the other guy."
I look forward to when Dish, DirecTV, and the cable companies are forced to abandon their business model of bundling everything together for $100 a month. I'd love to see more content providers follow HBO GO's example.
 
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I hear you. You speak of a past that I miss very much -- when there was more interest and participation in science / tech.

I look forward to when Dish, DirecTV, and the cable companies are forced to abandon their business model of bundling everything together for $100 a month. I'd love to see more content providers follow HBO GO's example.

I read 2 days ago that close to 1,000,000 people cut the cord this year. Dish and Direct TV were considering a la carte.

Norman
 
I read 2 days ago that close to 1,000,000 people cut the cord this year. Dish and Direct TV were considering a la carte.

Norman

I won't be cutting the cord just yet but I'm considering shortening the cord. I've had the Dish 250 package for a few years now and for the money it's not really worth it. I had 4DTV and later HITS, up until then and was fine with a couple of dozen channels because realistically that's all I watch. By the time I add up my time watching OTA and FTA it cuts into the hours I pay to watch Dish. Pretty soon I'm going to drop to a much lower tier and would welcome a ala carte pack instead if it ever happens.

I understand the content providers force the companies to package certain channels together in their contracts which currently drives the market. In the end when more and more people decide to drop their expensive subscriptions, perhaps they would see the light and offer alternatives. When it comes down to selling some programming vs. none at all perhaps they'll wake up. If you have no need for sports, cartoons, local channels, movies or whatever why pay for it?
 
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I read 2 days ago that close to 1,000,000 people cut the cord this year. Dish and Direct TV were considering a la carte.

Norman

That figure needs to be put into context.Maybe it was included in the original article,I don't know.
1)What is the normal yearly turnover rate?
2)How many of that nearly 1,000,000 just switched from one 'D' to the other? Some people switch back and forth every few years to get the new user savings.
3)How many new subscribers did they get?

In other words: What was the actual net loss or gain?

There may even have been a larger $ loss due to subscribers who only reduced their packages.

It's amazing how 'poor mouthed' they can get around time to start negotiating new contracts with one of the networks.Remember the big Weather Channel flap on Di-rect last year?
 
I was thinking about the days when Discovery was about.. well.. Discoveries.
And The Learning Channel (TLC) was about .. well... learning, Not Honey Boo Boo and some drunken Gypsy sisters.
And when the History Channel actually had ... well ... lots of actual History.

And when MTV and VH-1 were only about music. I don't watch either one anymore.
 
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I have had Directv and Dish Network at one time or other. I think I had cable once, but that fades into memory.

Now I am exclusively C and Ku FTA. Even forgetting for a moment that I don't get a monthly bill, just blocking out all other thoughts and feelings, and focusing on how I feel about the TV I now get compared to the TV received with the providers, I find that the feelings are basically the same. For example, I used to watch the Food Network. Now I watch PBS Create TV for that. Italian, French, Mexican, Asian cooking are all in there. I feel no loss there.

the History Channel ? It was such a great concept - all of the grand stories of history in the form of programming. Then they went to alligator hunts, pickers and restorations - ok, but not history. There is more history on the PBS stations. Just last night they did Madame Curie, for example. And who can match Ken Burns for his documentaries?

And has anyone noticed that movies haven't been that great for the last few years? I have my dvd and blu-ray collections when I am jonesing for a movie.

Add the networks, retros, Ions, and NASA, and I just don't feel like I am missing anything. I does feel like the decision makers with the satellite providers aren't adapting to the new realities. Nothing I've seen persuades me to pay monthly and go with a few good programs on a few stations, rather than what I do. With the explosion of streaming, many peoples' viewing habits have changed dramatically. The providers, or the media execs, are just not keeping up with all of the alternatives out there.
 
That figure needs to be put into context.Maybe it was included in the original article,I don't know.
1)What is the normal yearly turnover rate?
2)How many of that nearly 1,000,000 just switched from one 'D' to the other? Some people switch back and forth every few years to get the new user savings.
3)How many new subscribers did they get?

In other words: What was the actual net loss or gain?

There may even have been a larger $ loss due to subscribers who only reduced their packages.

It's amazing how 'poor mouthed' they can get around time to start negotiating new contracts with one of the networks.Remember the big Weather Channel flap on Di-rect last year?

It was an article from NPR. It said that 966,000 people canceled (not reduced) their subscriptions from cable and satellite. They said that a large part were millennials going to Netflix or watching shows on their phones. They said that ESPN took a big hit from people reducing their packages.

Norman
 
Just last night they did Madame Curie,
I give that an A+++, you cant even buy such excellent programming! Ken Burns too.

And has anyone noticed that movies haven't been that great for the last few years?
To the point that they have to rip off and defile such greats as Mission Impossible and most recently Man from UNCLE.

Add the networks, retros, Ions, and NASA, and I just don't feel like I am missing anything.
:amen Amen Brother!
 
For actual history i'm swaying towards that show on BYU that I've caught small bits and pieces of. Wish I knew the title so could set the HD SE to record it. Guy that rides a (motor) bike narrates it. A whole lot more detailed than what you get in 'history' books (from what l remember). One explained the reason that boat was sent to Havana, and then being sunk*, starting the Sp-Am war. (Spam, ah , no) *was it intentionally sunk, or a boiler explosion??)
Anyway, if anyone knows the show title, let me know -Thanks.
 
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People in modern society take the path of least resistance. If 250 channels can be had on an 18x24 dish for an inflated price where there are no moving parts or motors to deal with of course they will do it. That was always the big plus with cable tv.
Big dishes require technical skills. Those skills are more advanced than the average person's abilities. We are a small niche group with special understandings of electronics and TVRO equipment. I am an HVAC tech. Most of my customers have no clue what happens inside their heat pumps, furnaces and ac units. They have no idea how refrigerant changes states boiling and condensing to move heat from one set of coils to another. As far as they are concerned it is pure black magic and I am a witch Doctor.
 
I don't see myself as tech savvy. I have probably a good spatial sense of what I am aiming at and what needs to be done to hit the target, but the electronics? I have no idea, for example, what S2 is or how broadcasts are encrypted.

For this hobby, I really don't think the required notions are beyond other people. They may think they are too busy to bother with them. This isn't because they can't do it.
 
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