How things have changed

[thomasjk]

Showing up! Getting 5% over here. Pretty easy to be honest. Just gotta stay away from like BofA and such.

Getting 5.5

 

[Yespage]

I have been predicting this for more than 4 years here.

NO!!!!

This is the last year Traditional TV ( Broadcast, Cable Channels, Cable Providers, Satellite Providers) has to fix itself, after this year, it will be too late to climb out of the hole.

There is no fix. This is a change in distribution. It is already set in stone. Why do you think Ergen tried to shift Dish into a completely new direction starting several years ago?

Younger people that grew up with Napster have a much different worldview on media than people who grew up in the 80s and earlier. So cable/sat are going to disappear as direct streaming is the new thing. The initial losers are the cable/sat companies without skin in the media game. The secondary losers are going to be the others unless they figure out how to solve this puzzle of how do studios manage revenue in the direct to consumer streaming system.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Nope, as of 2022, Gen X is the winner by $30,000 more then the Boomers.

Mean disposable household income by generation U.S. 2023 | Statista

In 2023, the disposable income of a household led by a Millennial in the United States was 97,866 U.S.

www.statista.com

I read that there is over $76 Trillion in wealth in the Boomer generation. How much do the Gen X have? Especially since they haven't had the time to build that much wealth in comparison.

 

[Bruce]

NO!!!!

YES!!!!

There is no fix. This is a change in distribution. It is already set in stone. Why do you think Ergen tried to shift Dish into a completely new direction starting several years ago?

But he did it in such a naive way, not really putting up a service that most would want.

What he should of done, was put up a service with locals and the most relevant cable channels ( about 20-25), no RSNs.

If he did that instead of Sling, basically would of blocked YTTV from coming into existence 2 years later.

But they were worried it would cut into Dish Subscribers numbers.

So instead of a short term loss, YTTV came to life, Dish still lost over 7 Million Subs ( now at 6.26 million from a high of 14 Million) , Sling is now at 1.92 Million ( from a high of 2.5 Million in 2021).

Now where are they, YTTV has become the #4 provider, in just 7 years, passed a TV Service that has been in business for 28 years, YTTV has 8.3 Million Subs, Dish with Sling has 8.18 Million.

Younger people that grew up with Napster have a much different worldview on media than people who grew up in the 80s and earlier.

Cord Cutting started in 2011, not a new thing, numbers really pick up after 2017.

By as far as younger and older, I am 57, love this new world we are in.

So cable/sat are going to disappear as direct streaming is the new thing.

There will always be a need of a national service, probably with about 20-25 Million subscribers.

YTTV is already over 8 Million, a incredible advantage already.

The initial losers are the cable/sat companies without skin in the media game.

Cable will be fine because of Broadband, Satellite has 2-3 years left, if Dish loses the estimated 2.5 million in 2024-25( Dish Satellite lost a little under 1 Million in 2023), they will be at only 4 Million subs and unprofitable, that has nothing to do with their other money woes.

The secondary losers are going to be the others unless they figure out how to solve this puzzle of how do studios manage revenue in the direct to consumer streaming system.

It will be rocky the next few years, as streaming becomes profitable, broadcast/cable channels losses will continue to get worse, mainly because of lost per sub fees due to cord cutting and advertising revenues going bye bye.

But again, Disney+ just had their first profitable quarter, only had taken 4.5 years, it took 6 years before DirecTV and Netflix had their first profitable quarter, Amazon and Dish 9 years.

Fox Broadcasting Channel did not turn a profit for 17 years.

Streaming will do just fine after this transition is finished, but that does not mean all streaming services will make it.

 

[Bruce]

I read that there is over $76 Trillion in wealth in the Boomer generation. How much do the Gen X have? Especially since they haven't had the time to build that much wealth in comparison.

Most of that is probably because of Real Estate, having their homes paid off, also being older, more time to save.

I am not a boomer, but my home is paid for, hate paying interest on anything.

 

[dishdude]

But he did it in such a naive way, not really putting up a service that most would want.

What he should of done, was put up a service with locals and the most relevant cable channels ( about 20-25), no RSNs.

I'm sure Dish would have loved to offer such a service (and did at the start in the mid 90's) but the content providers would never allow it. Their greed of forcing multiple channels of reruns into every package hastened their demise.

 

[Yespage]

Most of that is probably because of Real Estate having their homes paid off, also being older, more time to save.

Yes, real estate, the stuff that has had three-ish booms in my adult lifetime (the first which led to a catastrophic economic collapse), but I was the benefactor of ridiculously low interest rates and buying before the first boom got too crazy. Gen X has to manage interest rates and inflated housing costs. Gen X onward have a much harder road to wealth. Forget about AI (the real stuff) down the road unemploying all sort of people. I mean, if they were crazy enough to have invested in Bitcoin, they'd be uber-wealthy. Granted, if they were crazy enough to invest in bitcoin, they probably blew it already.

But the TV and music is cheap at least.

I am not a boomer, but my home is paid for, hate paying interest on anything.

That is great. Your anecdotal experience isn't the median in America.

 

[Bruce]

I'm sure Dish would have loved to offer such a service (and did at the start in the mid 90's) but the content providers would never allow it.

Actually Playstation Vue started up the same time as Sling TV, in 2015, it had the Networks (Locals) and about 30 Cable Channels.

So, was Mr.Ergen unable to carry them or unwilling to pay the extra to carry them?

And yes, it would of lost money at first, YTTV has just turned profitable this year after 7 years, but look where they are going, by 2026, they will be the #1 Provider and probably the last man standing for Pay Live TV by 2028-30.

Dish could have been there, but they had to cheap out and have a subpar Pay Live TV Streaming service, then they decided to do the spectrum and mobile phone thing instead.

Should of stayed with what they were good at, Pay TV and evolved into streaming, instead they are now begging for money to stay out of bankruptcy.

Their greed of forcing multiple channels of reruns into every package hastened their demise.

That will be the end of all Cable/Satellite, does not look like they are willing to change, just keep ripping off the subscribers till the end with less and less new content.

 

[Bruce]

Yes, real estate, the stuff that has had three-ish booms in my adult lifetime (the first which led to a catastrophic economic collapse), but I was the benefactor of ridiculously low interest rates and buying before the first boom got too crazy. Gen X has to manage interest rates and inflated housing costs. Gen X onward have a much harder road to wealth.

I am Gen X, it is not that hard, they just need to quit wasting money.

But that seems to be problem nowadays, not just with X, but Millennials and Z also.

Does anyone really need to buy that $10 ( with tip)Cup of special coffee every morning, spending $10-20 on lunch instead of packing it, then Door Dash for dinner, plus that $300 a month Cell Phone bill.

What I referred to up above, is about $200 a week in savings if they change those few habits, $800 a month to go into a investment account.

Forget about AI (the real stuff) down the road unemploying all sort of people.

Going to ride it as long as possible, NVIDIA is doing a 10-1 stock split next week, time to buy for those who have not invested yet, imagine what the stock will be in 2 years.

I mean, if they were crazy enough to have invested in Bitcoin, they'd be uber-wealthy. Granted, if they were crazy enough to invest in bitcoin, they probably blew it already.

I would never touch Bitcoin, told the same to those that handle my account.

But the TV and music is cheap at least.

Yep, where I can get the majority of everything, including HBO/Showtime for $70 a month, great times.

That is great. Your anecdotal experience isn't the median in America.

Never said it was, it was obvious I was speaking about myself in that hate paying interest, I posted above.

 

[navychop]

I’m a baby boomer. I once paid about 13% interest on a home mortgage. Thankfully that did not last long.

I routinely throughout my life, starting in high school, made and packed my own lunch. Of course, in grammar school we got subsidized lunches. But I worked in the dishwashing area, big machine you loaded at one end and it eventually came out the other. Learned industrial cleansers, wash and rinse temperatures and how to adjust the machine, including taking readings.

Couldn’t get those paid less than me as an adult to consider packing their own lunch. BIG savings there.

So yes, I’m debt free. And not “just” because of white privledge. I worked and SAVED and sometimes invested. Lived within my means. And chose the Navy for a career. I don’t feel guilty about being financially secure.

 

[ncted]

Forget about AI (the real stuff) down the road unemploying all sort of people.

As a jaded Gen Xer who works with a lot of AI researchers, I am thinking this is going to a very long road to mass unemployment. Enjoy the Wall Street hype train while it lasts. AI is just the next bubble. There will be some great things that come out of this and others will be made better by AI, but it is not going to be the panacea investors think it will be, and there will be a lot of pets.com-like failures. It is really hard to sell something long-term when you can't explain how it works or whether the results are valid without a doing the process traditionally as well and comparing the results.

 

[Yespage]

I misspoke with Gen X, I meant the generations past Gen X. I feel my generation (tail end Gen X) was the last one that had things as they were. Kind of affordable college, jobs awaiting downstream, housing that was affordable enough. Post Gen X, the rules of the game changed quite a bit. I feel for people getting in when the Stock Market was 30,000, as opposed to older folks complaining they aren't saving enough when they were able to buy into a much lower market (1,000 to 3,000).

People have a tendency to get locked into their own experience and don't recognize the differences out there. The generational unique challenges the younger folks are up against.

 

[ncted]

affordable college, jobs awaiting downstream, housing that was affordable enough

Yes. College tuition for me was less than $1000/semester in 1992. When I got out, there were dozens of jobs to choose from, and I was able to buy a new house a couple years later, even with 8% mortgage rates. Very different for those who came after.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Most of that is probably because of Real Estate, having their homes paid off, also being older, more time to save.

I am not a boomer, but my home is paid for, hate paying interest on anything.

I'm a boomer and will collect Social Security in Sept after I turn 62 in July. My home is a mobile home I bought new in 1995 and that I paid off in 2007. My car I paid off in 2022 after I took out my Roth IRA to supplement my state of Texas pension I've been collecting since 2011 when I retired from the prison system. I also worked private security for 11 years after I left the state. I left that job at the end of 2021. My wife is also collecting her pension from the same place. So we take home after taxes $2875 a month. So we have used our Roth IRA s to supplement our monthly checks till I can get my Social Security and my second pension check from SAFEWAY grocery store I worked at for 12 years as a young man. So I am expecting to take home about $1985 more a month come September. That is $1657 S.S. and $328 Safeway.

But yeah this Boomer doesn't have that much wealth indeed, but I don't owe anyone and my house and car are paid for. But I am expecting like $350,000 from my parents estate when they finally pass. So that is my back up retirement plan.

 

[Yespage]

I'm a boomer and will collect Social Security in Sept after I turn 62 in July. My home is a mobile home I bought new in 1995 and that I paid off in 2007. My car I paid off in 2022 after I took out my Roth IRA to supplement my state of Texas pension I've been collecting since 2011 when I retired from the prison system.

Man, I love the spin for making parole.

But yeah this Boomer doesn't have that much wealth indeed, but I don't owe anyone and my house and car are paid for. But I am expecting like $350,000 from my parents estate when they finally pass. So that is my back up retirement plan.

Yeah, probably reword that a little to avoid that being "Exhibit B".

 

[Bruce]

Press Release Telecommunications Study 2024 | The American Customer Satisfaction Index

The fiber rollout may be slow and concentrated in urban areas, but it’s customers’ preferred choice when available.

theacsi.org

Video streaming customer satisfaction climbs 3% to an all-time high ACSI score of 79.

Amazon Prime Video moves into sole possession of first place after improving 3% to 82. The highest-rated video streaming service earns praise for its original programming, mobile app, and performance and reliability. Peacock (up 1%) and YouTube Premium (up 3%) are next at 80 apiece.

Four streamers — Apple TV+ (up 4%), Hulu (up 1%), Netflix (up 1%), and Sling TV (up 4%) — score 79, while Max (up 1%) and Paramount+ (unchanged) are at 78. Hulu + Live TV, last year’s industry co-leader, drops 4% to meet Disney+ (up 1%) at an ACSI score of 77.

The smaller streamers (up 1%) and a stable YouTube TV tie with a score of 76. ESPN+ and Crackle, which offers free ad-supported service, climb 4% and 7%, respectively, to meet at 75 — a few points ahead of last-place DIRECTV STREAM, unchanged at 72.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am surprised at that as its so hard to find anything on Amazon prime, and its hard to tell whats included or whats extra.

I wish they would redo Amazon Prime to make it easier to find things.

 

[Jimbo]

Not bad. Somebody will be showing up shortly claiming they get a better deal than that. I got one of those stickers that says I'm spending my kids inheritance.

I just got into a High Yield Account (My Credit Union just started offreing this one ... it WAS making .10 on the Money Market account ... Now makes 3.35 ... thats a considerable increase ... but still WAY less than we use to make.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I just got into a High Yield Account (My Credit Union just started offreing this one ... it WAS making .10 on the Money Market account ... Now makes 3.35 ... thats a considerable increase ... but still WAY less than we use to make.

I wish my credit union had high yield accounts. They pushed me into their Money Market account and I put $3000 in last month. I just got my first bit of interest. It was .39 cents. My $5000 C.D. makes like $12.00 a month on average with 3.04% interest rate. Come December 6th I will move it to a higher interest rate C.D. or look for a high yield account at another bank.

 

[Jimbo]

I wish my credit union had high yield accounts. They pushed me into their Money Market account and I put $3000 in last month. I just got my first bit of interest. It was .39 cents. My $5000 C.D. makes like $12.00 a month on average with 3.04% interest rate. Come December 6th I will move it to a higher interest rate C.D. or look for a high yield account at another bank.

I would Check with your Credit Union to see, this Just came out for them and my gal asked me if I was interested, don't think they have even advertised it yet.
With mine theres a $25,000 minimum.

However, you can move money in and out as needed.

I dumped anything I wasn't needing into that High Yield account ....

If you had $25,000 in it should make about $750 a year ... if my math is correct ... if you put more in, the more you make.