How things have changed

[ncted]

I just got $70 Google Fiber 1Gb service to replace AT&T Fiber 1Gb after AT&T:

1. Increased the price 3 times in 2 years from $70 to $90.
2. "Experienced" multiple data breaches.
3. Had their CTO start talking about doing away with unlimited data (aka instituting tiered pricing based on usage or caps).

Spectrum is still offering 300Mb for $50/month for the first year, after which it goes up to $85. I bet they could lower their prices if they didn't send me promotions in the mail 3 times per week.

 

[Bruce]

It's a modem from Spectrum themselves, as they don't charge a fee to use it. It's a Hitron EN2251

Just ran:

View attachment 173007

It is fast enough.

When we first moved here, the modems kept going bad, I gave up, bought my own, been fine since 2021.

 

[Bruce]

The six first 6 months report on Home Entertainment Sales is out, Physical Sales dropping -22% from the first 6 Months of 2023, down to $451M, $580M in 2023.

At this rate, physical sales have about 2 years left, till they are unprofitable, almost there now.

Everyone knows that digital sales are more profitable, no making discs, no shipping to stores, better margins for studios also with digital.

While digital sales are over $2 Billion, up +27% from 2023.

Streaming Services (Netflix, Disney, etc) up +27% from 2023, to almost $23 Billion.

 

[ncted]

At this rate, physical sales have about 2 years left, till they are unprofitable, almost there now.

Guess I need to buy all the Blu-Rays I want to own in the next two years then.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Guess I need to buy all the Blu-Rays I want to own in the next two years then.

We'll need guys like you with physical copies when the "cloud" implodes someday and there's nothing left to download!

 

[Bruce]

Guess I need to buy all the Blu-Rays I want to own in the next two years then.

Amazon might be one of the few places to do so.

Had to go to both Target and Walmart the last two weeks, mostly gone from Wal-Mart, just the cheap under $10 deals, totally gone from Target, Best Buy tossed them out last year.

 

[ncted]

Amazon might be one of the few places to do so.

Had to go to both Target and Walmart the last two weeks, mostly gone from Wal-Mart, just the cheap under $10 deals, totally gone from Target, Best Buy tossed them out last year.

Yep. I mainly buy from Amazon.

 

[Bruce]

Yep. I mainly buy from Amazon.

Same, just purchased a bigger Media Shelving Unit for my discs.

But, I am only buying 4K Discs now, no more 1080P Blu-Rays.

While quality is better for 4K discs over streaming ( the difference is getting closer), 1080P Streaming seems to match Blu-Rays.

 

[navychop]

At this rate, physical sales have about 2 years left, till they are unprofitable, almost there now.

Can we kill the messenger?

 

[Bruce]

Can we kill the messenger?

I did not cause this.

How we receive Television Entertainment has been changing ever since it was first available.

 

[navychop]

I did not cause this.

But you are at hand.

🤤

 

[Bruce]

But you are at hand.

🤤

Darn right, I like saving money, streaming has allowed me to do so.

Knowing how to save and what not to spend on, allowed me to invest more, so to have my first retirement at 52.

Still amazed that 55 Million Households still subscribe ( but shrinking ), paying a average of $120-130 a month for less new content every year and a bunch of reruns, that you can get for free via Pluto type services.

 

[navychop]

I like convenience and am
willing to pay for it.

 

[Bruce]

I like convenience and am
willing to pay for it.

It is not convenient to save money, never has been.

Would it have been more convenient for me to purchase my lunch instead of packing it…’duh.

But by doing that and other things, allowed me to build my investment account over 30 years.

You have posted many times that all you watch anymore, are the Food Network and HGTV Type Channels, along with You Tube.

You could get all that content, plus a lot more for under $20 a month with MAX.

Then you would have a extra $1200 ( at $100 a month not spending on Paid Live TV)by the end of the year, with that extra, not wasted money, could buy about 10 Shares in Nvidia, or about 6-7 shares of Tesla, etc.

Imagine what those shares might be in 5 or 10 years, to help you in your retirement.

That is what I did, had a little over $3000 the first year we invested, over 30 years ago, keep saving and investing from there, a average of $300 a month in the first 20 years, more later on.

 

[navychop]

to help you in your retirement.

Been there, done that.

Been retired about four years now. Comfortable. I can afford the Hopper 3. And we are watching stuff off the EHD that is working. Hoping to get the others working- Dish is on it.

I am now in the mode of making good use of my savings. No need to keep piling it up.

I have enough Tesla stock in my brokerage account to buy a CyberTruck, which was the goal. -But I probably won’t.

 

[Bruce]

The new Nielsen report is out, more gains for streaming.
Here is May-

June-

And July-

July Exhibits Rare Upswing in TV Viewing, Amplified by Streaming and First Days of Summer Olympics, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge™ | Nielsen

Streaming made TV history for a second consecutive month in July 2024 as it notched the most dominant performance by a single viewing category ever in Nielsen’s The Gauge™, accounting for 41.4% of TV viewing.

www.nielsen.com

 

[Jimbo]

Wondering ...
At what point Streaming gaining is no longer a BIG Deal ...

You'd think we'd all figure that its going to happen regardless, so why is it a Big Deal every month ?

 

[Bruce]

Wondering ...
At what point Streaming gaining is no longer a BIG Deal ...

At the rate streaming is over taking Traditional Paid TV, probably a year or two.

By then, DirecTV will be close to unprofitable, more TV Providers will have dropped TV and be Broadband only.

Like how Wide Open West, Frontier and a few others have done and how Cox, Fios, Altice, who are rumored to do the same, relatively soon.

You'd think we'd all figure that it’s going to happen regardless, so why is it a Big Deal every month ?

Because things are changing , I remember when Satellite TV started, that was a big deal over the status quo of Cable.

Now we have streaming overtaking everything.

I personally love it, I get about three times the programming, new content, including the same programming from Traditional Paid Live TV, in much better quality for a less expensive price, roughly between $70-80 a month on average.

For those who what to keep paying $150-160 a month or more ( at least $1800 a year), for less new content and a bunch of reruns, go for it..

 

[navychop]

I have FiOS Internet as well as Dish. When FiOS drops their video service (I believe you can no longer sign up for it), I wonder if they’ll offer some streaming deal to ALL their customers.

But yes, I’m big on the simplicity and convenience of Dish and the Hopper 3.

 

[Bruce]

Streaming has officially become the most popular way to watch TV ever, according to Nielsen’s latest The Gauge™ report. In July 2024, streaming accounted for a record-breaking 41.4% of total TV viewing, marking the highest share for any viewing format in history. This unprecedented achievement solidifies streaming as the dominant force in how audiences consume television content, driven by the Summer Olympics and a lineup of hit shows across various platforms.