The Latest Numbers Suggest Netflix Really Is Killing Traditional TV

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Cord cutters always seem to have a little glint in their eye and wry smile on their faces whenever we run a story on traditional TV's steady loss of customers.The streamers like Netflix, Prime, Hulu, et al are taking a bigger bite than usual according to the latest figures from Nielsen, with the Guardian reporting traditional viewing has fallen 12% in the past year.

The data suggests that it’s services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu that are greedily grabbing viewers away from traditional TV. Analysts Anthony DiClemente and Benjamin Black from Nomura Securities called the latest results “one of the worst declines we have seen since we launched coverage of these companies.”
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Number one reason? Commercials. I would and do gladly pay to not see them.
 
I disagree. Commericals may play a part, but price is probably the number one reason. You can get Netflix, Hulu and Amazon prime and still pay a lot less than Cable or Dish/Direct TV.

If you are not into sports....it's a much cheaper option. As soon as someone can swing a streaming sports network (Football, Soccer, Hockey, Racing, etc. etc. etc.) that's not overly pricey.... It's over for Cable and Satellite.
 
Scythe said:
I disagree. Commericals may play a part, but price is probably the number one reason. You can get Netflix, Hulu and Amazon prime and still pay a lot less than Cable or Dish/Direct TV.

If you are not into sports....it's a much cheaper option. As soon as someone can swing a streaming sports network (Football, Soccer, Hockey, Racing, etc. etc. etc.) that's not overly pricey.... It's over for Cable and Satellite.
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Something I've noticed personally being a pretty big media consumer, from Hulu to Netflix to Amazon prime and cable TV. If you want to get content in real time and without commercials it's still hard to be cable. Delay watching something for 15 or 30 minutes and then just skip the commercials. And unfortunately you still need a cable TV sub to use online streaming for many of the online alternatives and then you still don't get the full slate of content.

But if you won't care about sports programming you probably will be fine. I would have to think in time though that will be a way to get all first run programming online without TV. Just a matter a time.
 
As soon as someone can swing a streaming sports network (Football, Soccer, Hockey, Racing, etc. etc. etc.) that's not overly pricey....
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And does not do the horrible practice of blacking out the games of the local team.

It's over for Cable and Satellite.
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Cable will still be the ISP or at least there are not many choices.
 
Commercials and price. Those are the two items.

Commercials suck, If it's live TV I literally start something I want to watch, immediately press pause, and come back 15 mins later so I have a "buffer" that I can just skip through. If it's not live, well, DVR handles that. The good new is most of the stuff I watch is on HBO, so they will have a stream option soon and no commercials.

Price is also an item. Why pay more when I can pay less for the same/better content? Businesses always spout some bullshit about "creating value". Hey cable co.: I "value" my money and will continue to give less and less of it to you, thereby "creating value" in my wallet.
 
Commercials are the biggest part of why we cut the cord a year and a half ago. You can't watch a show without 5 minutes worth of commercials every 5 minutes then not to mention the little ads and promos that show up on the screen during the show.

Cost was a factor too especially since we were paying $110 a month for something we only watched a few channels of. And due to all the damn commercials most of that was stuff on DVR.

The only time I miss it is for sporting events. I miss a lot of college football without cable and missed most of NASCAR last season (but they're going to NBC this season so I can watch more).

If they ever make it to where you can subscribe to channels exclusively like ESPN, History and so on there will be no reason at all for cable/satellite companies.
 
If cable companies want to survive all they have to do is pretty simple.

1. Offer a la carte program, only buying the channels you want and not being forced into "package.s"

2. Allow for two sub options, option A (cheaper) normal programming with commericals. Option B (little more expensive) same programming but without commericals.

I think if they were to offer those two basic things many people would still use cable and they'd be able to compete with netflix and the other streaming services.

Plus they have the advantage of real time streaming of the networks which netflix doesn't really have.
 
I totally agree with spaceman. Commercials are killing TV. The content is entertaining (some of it), but to constantly be assaulted by advertising sucks. I have both Prime and Netflix and I'm more than willing to drop both if they start inserting commercials.

TV show producers might want to start considering the idea that their show might be more popular without recaps and commercial breaks written into the script.
 
Commercials really do suck. Lately I've noticed that the ads are stacking up and running 10-15 commercials at a break, so many that by the time the show comes back on, I forgot what the hell I was watching. :eek:
 
What's hilarious about this is that waaaaaaaaay back in the day, THE reason to get cable was:

1) No commercials
2) Good quality service (no futzing with the rabbit ears)
3) It was 100% reasonably priced


They've lost sight of everything that made cable popular to begin with, and now someone else is doing the exact same thing to them :p
 
fuck em all - I haven't seen a commercial in years because I download all my TV. I'm not some crazy person who "has" to watch TV at a certain time... I like knowing I can click a magnet torrent link and 10 min later have an entire show, commercial free.

TV, cable TV, satellite, it's all a ripoff, paying 50/100/200 a month for what? the same crap thats just a re-run. If you really need 200+ channels... you have a pretty sad life.
 
"Commercial breaks have become longer. In the 1960s a typical hour-long American show would run for 51 minutes excluding advertisements. Today, a similar program would only be 42 minutes long; a typical 30-minute block of time now includes 22 minutes of programming and eight minutes of advertisements - six minutes for national advertising and two minutes for local."-WIki

Said goodbye to DirecTV last week. No major complaints from family yet. TWC offered us a TV/internet bundle for $6 more/month than our internet alone and that will likely replace DirecTV assuming we cannot get along without it. I have found EVERY series I care to watch either available on the air, or available the next day on certain websites that shall remain nameless (no commercials either). The test will come soon with F1 racing in a month, and NFL in September.

When I watch by myself sometimes I switch over to the HTPC during commercials, and get wrapped up and forget to go back to what I was watching in the first place (early onset alzheimers maybe).
 
One thing I am noticing is that Comcast is now selling its internet packages at an increased rate while offering much lower prices on a TV/internet bundle to try to keep the TV subscriber number inflated. You can get TV/internet for less than internet alone.
 
Been many years now :)


Convenience and no commercials, money saved is a nice bonus.
 
I was the first cord cutter back in 2001. I terminated television immediately after I got broadband, and everyone has been copying me ever since.
 
I have to agree with most people here. Commercials are the worst, and price is also a factor. However, there is also more control when you go online. With TV, all you are doing is watching a box... With a computer, you can do so much more, and even torrent things! TV will always lose out to the PC, and it will only get more obvious with time.
 
I also wanted to note in the 10+ years since I have moved out of my parents house, I have barely ever even seen a traditional TV setup. I have personally never done the satellite/traditional TV thing... I always found it silly compared to computers.
 
Binge watching has spoiled me completely. I can't watch anything with commercials, aside from sports. Now, Comcast runs 15 or 30 second commercials before every video on the Xfinity home page. It's insane.
 
drescherjm said:
And does not do the horrible practice of blacking out the games of the local team.



Cable will still be the ISP or at least there are not many choices.
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That's up to the sport, not the service provider. If it's the nfl, no matter the service you are using, if enough ticket sales are not made you won't be watching the sport. Unless you trick your isp that you are in a different region.
 
Stiler said:
If cable companies want to survive all they have to do is pretty simple.

1. Offer a la carte program, only buying the channels you want and not being forced into "package.s"

2. Allow for two sub options, option A (cheaper) normal programming with commericals. Option B (little more expensive) same programming but without commericals.

I think if they were to offer those two basic things many people would still use cable and they'd be able to compete with netflix and the other streaming services.

Plus they have the advantage of real time streaming of the networks which netflix doesn't really have.
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Commercials don't generally bother me, as I can record the show on my DVR and skip them when I watch the show later.

It's really the price, and the increases every year that make me want to drop cable.
There are too many expensive channels bundle together, and it's an all or nothing choice. I never watch sports, yet it's the number one expense in the cable bundle.

Cox is finally offering a cheaper package without all the sports offerings, but they are also leaving out a few key non-sports channels that the wife watches. It's almost as if they did it on purpose to keep people from choosing the cheaper package.
 
Good. It seems the cable/satellite providers are getting more desperate as they step up their annoying factor (salespeople in stores, phone calls).
 
Is it really shocking when a "basic" package of OTA type of channels and simply cable ones (TBS, TNT, Discovery, Comedy Central, etc) costs $80 a month... it's really hard to not give Netflix a go.
 
It really was the amount of money I was spending for commercials that prompted my finally cutting the cable cord. My figuring showed that roughly one-third of the money I paid the cable company was paying for commercials (about 20 minutes out of every hour)--worse when you consider that almost all channels show nothing but infomercials half the night. I couldn't abide it a moment longer. Cut the cable 3-4 years ago and after a few weeks of withdrawal, haven't looked back. Now when I see all the commercials using an antenna to capture OTA channels at least I can be thankful I'm not paying anyting for it! It is so bad now that I read some devices could be set to block the Superbowl game itself and only recorded the commercials. I've said for years that TV programming now is basically a vehicle for delivering commercials to the audience--used to be the other way round.

I did opt for a 4K TV and there isn't much content for that so joined Amazon Prime. At least that has a few other perks. Cable doens't really offer anything for now either. Have even kept my old ATT DSL connection for internet just to keep the cables out of the house. Could really use faster internet now to download 4K but I'll just wait. Cable is not an option for me. The only thing they can really hold over heads now is the total lock they have on most sports programming. No thank you cable companies.
 
I used to pay $70 a month for cable that I didn't like, flooded with commercials, that tried to charge me $7 for an on demand movie, and still had my local sports blacked out. You want to watch x movie, wwell you need the $20 a month tmn package for half a dozen movies a month.... Yah, no thanks.

With Netflix and torrents I can watch what I want, when I want, where I want.

The cable companies treated us like shit, gave us shit and shat on us from their helicopters. Fuck them, fuck them right in the ass.
 
I had just canceled internet service with AT&T, and the guy was all well what about TV? That was actually my answer, "That's what internet streaming is for". :D
 
Between netflix, hulu and amazon I'm doing quite fine without cable


I do miss a few channels and programs but nothing I can't find elsewhere or absolutely must have. What I really miss though, is being able to just turn it on and something be there. Mostly stuff I've already seen but all I really need is something on in the background with the occasional new stuff. I don't really have the time to sit and watch something with my undivided attention; I'm almost always working on something else. With the other options I spend a half hour just trying to decide on something to have on in the background.

I don't see myself going back either way. I almost have my fiance fully ok with the idea of never having cable again and I've been there for years. When I lived with my mom I realized long ago that all I ever truly watch on cable are shows and movies I've already seen a millions times and numerous commercials that I don't give a damn about.

If I could find an easy to setup antenna that guarantees me local broadcasts, I'd be 100% ok with never thinking about cable again.
 
If I could watch my local teams online via MLB and NHL, I would drop my TV service in a heart beat. There are literally 2 non-OTA channels that I watch on a regular basis, neither of those ESPN. I would be willing to pay up to $30 a month for each of those channels if I could drop the rest of them. I don't know why cable companies don't do a la carte as they make next to nothing on the TV subscriptions and could make a killing on a la carte prices.
 
spaceman said:
Number one reason? Commercials. I would and do gladly pay to not see them.
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If commercials really bothered everyone then nobody would be using Hulu. Because it isn't much better, you end up with the same commercial breaks, only difference is that they are half as long and you keep seeing the same damn thing over and over and over.

Kongar said:
What's hilarious about this is that waaaaaaaaay back in the day, THE reason to get cable was:

1) No commercials
2) Good quality service (no futzing with the rabbit ears)
3) It was 100% reasonably priced


They've lost sight of everything that made cable popular to begin with, and now someone else is doing the exact same thing to them :p
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That is the same as home movie platforms. DVD came out and they started off promoting it as having the benefit of being able to easily skip previews. They then very quickly started to block you from being able to fast forward. Same with HD DVD and Blu-Ray when they came out. They started to use the selling point that you jump right to the movie, no previews or menu, which you could then bring up from inside the movie. Unless that was just HD-DVD that was doing that. Now with Blu-ray they are back to lots of previews and preventing you from skipping them. This is always going to be a repeat cycle. The next new thing will try to shit on how the old did things but then after awhile they will slide back into that action as it lets them make money.
 
We have cable and I just don't use it at all besides for watching Archer on Thursday nights.
 
[21CW]killerofall;1041413962 said:
If I could watch my local teams online via MLB and NHL, I would drop my TV service in a heart beat. There are literally 2 non-OTA channels that I watch on a regular basis, neither of those ESPN. I would be willing to pay up to $30 a month for each of those channels if I could drop the rest of them. I don't know why cable companies don't do a la carte as they make next to nothing on the TV subscriptions and could make a killing on a la carte prices.
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You can. I was out of town staying in a hotel and the local stations weren't showing my team. So I just got on the laptop and went to one of the sites that shows every single game, for free. I'd post a link, but I'm not sure how legal it is.
 
Also, just get yourself a decent antenna, no one can stop you, no HOA, no city ordinance. TV signals MUST be received. OTARD protects you.
I'm thinking one about the size of the old Radio Shack log periodics, 20 elements at least, and stick it on the top of a roof tower or hell, just a good old fashioned tower and pick up the free digital quality broadcasts that is out there.
For the posters saying they miss just the background of something being on, there is your answer.
The picture looks damn good too.

Oh and get a rotator and the whole nine yards. I wanna see antenna as far as the eye can see.



MWuhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
 
SparkedFire said:
One thing I am noticing is that Comcast is now selling its internet packages at an increased rate while offering much lower prices on a TV/internet bundle to try to keep the TV subscriber number inflated. You can get TV/internet for less than internet alone.
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My FiOS internet was 80 without TV and 95 with TV. The added TV isn't really cheap because Verizon made the internet expensive. I used to pay between $20 and $25 for Verizon DSL. Then FiOS was $40 - then $50 - then $70 etc. It just keeps going up. Not being a big downloader I wouldn't be able to tell I had a much faster connection since surfing we is the same. ISPs hype the speed when its hardly noticeable within usual parameters
 
Price, Commercials.

Price being number one as you have to buy an option to get the TV shows you want. With equipment charges, and taxes it becomes less of a value when you think of all the channels that do nothing for the viewer.

Commercials are 1/3 of a hour program on average. All the non sense TV out there in terms of infomercials coupled with commercials when you want to watch a TV. Makes it hard to justify the value considering the content of mist TV shows is pretty sad these days anyway.

My last gripe was just the customer service itself of the satellite provider and I have had cable with much the same results. Nickel and Dime on everything and in some cases rates changed without notification. Really just piss poor management.

Just altogether a not worthwhile expenditure for me. I like netflix and OTA TV. However, even as OTA we suffer in some cases. Hard to believe Superbowl Sunday I couldn't watch from my house due to signal. I ended up spending time with Family at their place watching it, though I could have tried online I guess.

My Price for returning is 30 bucks. Top package, all equipment and taxes... If any one of the providers can meet that not on a deal.. Then I would return. However, they don't like that when they ask me what I willing to pay for their service. I usually get you have a good day, and a phone call in 3-4 days again :D
 
Scythe said:
I disagree. Commericals may play a part, but price is probably the number one reason. You can get Netflix, Hulu and Amazon prime and still pay a lot less than Cable or Dish/Direct TV.

If you are not into sports....it's a much cheaper option. As soon as someone can swing a streaming sports network (Football, Soccer, Hockey, Racing, etc. etc. etc.) that's not overly pricey.... It's over for Cable and Satellite.
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Lets not forget content. What passes for entertainment is fodder for chimpanzees.
 
spaceman said:
Number one reason? Commercials. I would and do gladly pay to not see them.
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Don't disagree, but that wouldn't explain Hulu. I don't watch it, but friends that have it say that even Hulu Plus has commercials. For the life of me, I can't understand why you'd pay 10 bucks to watch the shows with commercials.
 
heatlesssun said:
Something I've noticed personally being a pretty big media consumer, from Hulu to Netflix to Amazon prime and cable TV. If you want to get content in real time and without commercials it's still hard to be cable. Delay watching something for 15 or 30 minutes and then just skip the commercials. And unfortunately you still need a cable TV sub to use online streaming for many of the online alternatives and then you still don't get the full slate of content.

But if you won't care about sports programming you probably will be fine. I would have to think in time though that will be a way to get all first run programming online without TV. Just a matter a time.
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Yes, but it won't make sense if the ISPs have caps (though caps could be eliminated if they'd just cache these programs. Then it'd all stay within their network. But doing that wouldn't help them sell video services. Does Amazon stream current TV shows the next day? I know HULU has a lot, but AFAIK, they have commercials.
 
The price of cable is definitely why I got rid of it but the fact that I can stream Netflix/Prime/HBOGo/Vudu with better detail than Comcast's HD offerings is why I don't care to have it again, even though I can afford it now. I don't even mind watching commercials although I certainly don't miss them.
 
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