How A Threat To Drop AMC Could Kill The Cable Bundle

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Wouldn't it be great if the current cable bundling system just went away? Imagine being able to buy a 25 / 50 / 100 channel package and select only the channels you want instead of being forced to buy a 200+ package to get the 25 channels you actually want.

A standoff between a consortium of small cable companies and AMC Networks could speed up the death of the cable bundle, sources tell The Post. The consortium, which represents about 4 million homes, is refusing to pay a demand for what they claim is a tripling of AMC Networks’ fees — and are telling subscribers they can get AMC’s popular “The Walking Dead” through streaming services.
 
4 million homes is nothing in the long run. Perhaps AMC not being on Comcast or Dish/DirecTV would have some serious impact.

I have been wavering on dropping my Dish for a long time, but my internet is so crappy that only Netflix barely works in SD because they are SO GOOD at what they do. Hulu and WWE Network don't stream at all on my connection which is why I keep Dish.

If AMC wasn't available on Dish I would drop Dish in a heartbeat, it is one of the FEW channels I subscribe for.
 
They would never do it, forcing those bundles gets them extra air time to throw more shit at the fan and run more ads. its also a great way to get people to sign up for more shit they don't need.

"I see you have the kids package, but if you want Disney you have to also pay for the Kids++ package"
 
4 million homes is nothing in the long run. Perhaps AMC not being on Comcast or Dish/DirecTV would have some serious impact.

I have been wavering on dropping my Dish for a long time, but my internet is so crappy that only Netflix barely works in SD because they are SO GOOD at what they do. Hulu and WWE Network don't stream at all on my connection which is why I keep Dish.

If AMC wasn't available on Dish I would drop Dish in a heartbeat, it is one of the FEW channels I subscribe for.

People still watch wrestling?!?!?:confused::confused:
 
They would never do it, forcing those bundles gets them extra air time to throw more shit at the fan and run more ads. its also a great way to get people to sign up for more shit they don't need.

"I see you have the kids package, but if you want Disney you have to also pay for the Kids++ package"

Whatever.

Pbskids.org/video
 
Would be nice, I have over 100+ channels with DISH just to get a few I watch that I''ll never watched.
If only I could cherry pick the ones I do want and drop the rest and save cash.
 
Sick of paying for cable "bundles", especially ESPN which I never watch.

Give me the local channels (I can't get anything on an antenna due to hills), and let me either add the few extra channels I want, or have some small common sense bundles like basic kids channels, news channels, movies, sports, etc. so I can choose and not have to pay for 150 channels I never watch.
 
Would be nice, I have over 100+ channels with DISH just to get a few I watch that I''ll never watched.
If only I could cherry pick the ones I do want and drop the rest and save cash.

The thing about the new "A la Carte" deal is that if you want too much stuff you will end up paying just as much or more than your package. For example if you get Netflix, Hulu there is almost $20/month.

Then if you get ESPN for $20 and HBO for $20 both over the top, you are already at $60 not counting buying shows like The Walking Dead for $20 or $30 a season off Amazon or Google. Overall it saves money as a lot of people pay $80 or $100 or $150 a month for just TV, but if you need to A La Carte a LOT of individual shows you don 't save money but at least you are giving more money to the actual show maker and not a middle man like Comcast or Dish.
 
The problem with TV in the US is that everyone wants soooo much moooooney. Every company HAS to be a billion dollar baby. I find it absurd to pay for the ad-ridden crap cable is. Im actually OK with ads an stuff, but paying for it? That is a bridge too far, and I have never paid for cable.
 
Sick of paying for cable "bundles", especially ESPN which I never watch.

Give me the local channels (I can't get anything on an antenna due to hills), and let me either add the few extra channels I want, or have some small common sense bundles like basic kids channels, news channels, movies, sports, etc. so I can choose and not have to pay for 150 channels I never watch.
Try check out free satellite... I don't know what's out there still, but supposedly its quite a bit. All you need is to research and buy the equipment.
 
I think their mighty castle is starting to crumble. Not fall apart yet, but it's being challenged by a lot.

If someone watches 5-10 channels and can get that for $30, they'd probably do it. If they watched more than that, they'd probably go the whole package.

With OTA and a few channels, I'd be fine.

What got me to finally drop Dish is the "educational" channels went to shit and I stopped watching TV. Discovery, Science, National Geographic, TLC, etc. went reality TV. I love the documentaries, but they were so few and far between.
 
AMC has to share some of the blame for this mess,they've been extorting cable companies more and more with Walking Dead.It's really their only bargaining chip now,with series like Madmen and Breaking Bad gone.None of their other new series,even the Walking Dead spin off,are that good.
 
Sling TV $20. Stations on it I like.. ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, History, TBS... and thats pretty much it.
Digital TV on the roof, Free: NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, Public, some randoms.
Amazon Prime: $7.50 per month.. Bosch, Man In The High Castle, Hand Of God, backlog of every HBO series, etc etc.
During the Game Of Thrones series, I pick up HBO Now for $15.

The downside is some pretty heavy bandwidth usage.. especially during the winter months when I am not work 70hrs a week. Last year for December, I got up over 600GB.

bandwidth.png

MidCo's bandwidth meter was broke during May to August.
 
Imagine being able to buy a 25 / 50 / 100 channel package and select only the channels you want

A 25 / 50 / 100 tier system is nearly as bad as what they currently have. I want to be able to buy one damn channel at a time.

Although, in reality, I want to buy shows, not channels.
 
I think their mighty castle is starting to crumble. Not fall apart yet, but it's being challenged by a lot.

If someone watches 5-10 channels and can get that for $30, they'd probably do it. If they watched more than that, they'd probably go the whole package.

With OTA and a few channels, I'd be fine.

What got me to finally drop Dish is the "educational" channels went to shit and I stopped watching TV. Discovery, Science, National Geographic, TLC, etc. went reality TV. I love the documentaries, but they were so few and far between.


Perfect example, "Finding Bigfoot". There is more education in an episode of South Park.
 
I'm probably the only person, but I actually like having access to every single channel. Kind of like I like having unlimited data on my cell phone and internet connection.
I just think they're charging too much for that functionality. Even with a-la-carte pricing I'll still likely go for the gusto package.
 
AMC has to share some of the blame for this mess,they've been extorting cable companies more and more with Walking Dead.It's really their only bargaining chip now,with series like Madmen and Breaking Bad gone.None of their other new series,even the Walking Dead spin off,are that good.

Have you not watched Into The Badlands yet? ! ! ? !
 
The only reason that I have TV is for sports and news. There are 2 non-OTA channels that I need and neither of them are ESPN. Hell I am willing to pay up to $30 a piece for each of them as well. Anything more than that and it would be worth it to just get the bundle.
 
Have you not watched Into The Badlands yet? ! ! ? !

Season 2 won't air until fall 2016. :(

I didn't think I'd like it, but it got me hooked, and I don't watch much TV shows. Only other TV show I watch is Walking Dead.
 
Sling TV $20. Stations on it I like.. ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, History, TBS... and thats pretty much it.
Digital TV on the roof, Free: NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, Public, some randoms.
Amazon Prime: $7.50 per month.. Bosch, Man In The High Castle, Hand Of God, backlog of every HBO series, etc etc.
During the Game Of Thrones series, I pick up HBO Now for $15.

The downside is some pretty heavy bandwidth usage.. especially during the winter months when I am not work 70hrs a week. Last year for December, I got up over 600GB.

bandwidth.png

MidCo's bandwidth meter was broke during May to August.
... That's not heavy bandwidth use. That actually seems pretty average these days for a household with more than one person who does more than Facebook and email.

I think I average 2tb/mo or so without trying.
 
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Cancel your cable subscription.

You're on [H]ardForum. I don't think we're too worried about our mind... Some around here have already lost theirs. GenMay is a prime example (and Soapbox being #1) :)
 
Would be nice, I have over 100+ channels with DISH just to get a few I watch that I''ll never watched.
If only I could cherry pick the ones I do want and drop the rest and save cash.

Same when I had Dish. I edited the guide to channels I'd actually watch and there were 12. Sad.
 
Good riddance to cable. I cut the cord over a year ago and its great. I had a PS3 and now an Xbox One as my living room media streamer, a Roku in the kids room, and a Chromecast in the bedroom. I watch less TV now in a good way. Instead of it being something that gets turned on and then sucks you in, its more objective based. I turn the TV on, watch the show I want to watch (or more commonly, binge), and then I'm done with TV. I recently picked up SlingTV because T-Mobile has a deal dropping the cost to $14/mon for a year. Sling sucks trying to go through my phone to the Chromecast, but that may be because it's only on wireless G...might pick up the newer Chromecast that supports wireless N and see if that improves Sling.

Netflix: $12
Slingtv $14
Crunchyroll $10
MLBtv+VPN $27
Total: $36/mon when no baseball and $63/mon during baseball season. Get to watch every channel I would normally watch when I had Dish and still pay $40 less a month during baseball season than when I had Dish.
 
Have you not watched Into The Badlands yet? ! ! ? !

The fight scenes are great,but they're sandwiched between boring soap opera set in a totally unbelievable world. Hundreds of years after an apocalypse,there are still functioning vehicles? There are no apparent manufacturing plants,so we're supposed to believe those cars lasted all that time? And that no enterprising warlord would start making firearms?
 
The fight scenes are great,but they're sandwiched between boring soap opera set in a totally unbelievable world. Hundreds of years after an apocalypse,there are still functioning vehicles? There are no apparent manufacturing plants,so we're supposed to believe those cars lasted all that time? And that no enterprising warlord would start making firearms?

There is manufacturing. Quite a bit of it, including oil refinery.
Firearms are banned, and there are magical people.
The Barons respect the laws.
 
even if they offered choose your channel packages they would make it as much money as a bundle and then you might as well choose the bundle.
 
Sling TV $20. Stations on it I like.. ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, History, TBS... and thats pretty much it.
Digital TV on the roof, Free: NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, Public, some randoms.
Amazon Prime: $7.50 per month.. Bosch, Man In The High Castle, Hand Of God, backlog of every HBO series, etc etc.
During the Game Of Thrones series, I pick up HBO Now for $15.

I wish SlingTV worked better, it's still pretty awful even at $20 a month. I know things will get better but the PC app is horrendous, even the one on my Roku is pretty laggy (although it tends to work better than the PC app).
 
I wish SlingTV worked better, it's still pretty awful even at $20 a month. I know things will get better but the PC app is horrendous, even the one on my Roku is pretty laggy (although it tends to work better than the PC app).

I agree, the best functioning version of Sling that I've encountered is on the Xbox One. The PC and Android versions are pretty rough. Although, I'm not surprised by the quality given Sling's parent company, Dish Network. They've got a pretty terrible track record with initial software offerings. When I worked for Dish, they're interfaces for every new receiver was absolute trash for the first 12-18 months.
 
I agree, the best functioning version of Sling that I've encountered is on the Xbox One. The PC and Android versions are pretty rough. Although, I'm not surprised by the quality given Sling's parent company, Dish Network. They've got a pretty terrible track record with initial software offerings. When I worked for Dish, they're interfaces for every new receiver was absolute trash for the first 12-18 months.

Same with TW, except their interface is pretty good but their software is super buggy/slow. On my HD DVR it freezes about once a week requiring a full reset. Calling TW its a "normal occurrence and I do not have a faulty box."
 
People still watch wrestling?!?!?:confused::confused:

Yes millions and billions. The Roman Empire toppled the McMahon empire. Destroyed Tripple H in TLC since his lackeys attacked him and cost him the title, got slapped by Stephanie, called the McMahon family a disgrace, Got a title match superman punched sheamus when he was about to win Vince pulled the referee out on the count of 3 got attacked by sheamus then the he speared Del Rio, Superman Punched Rusev then Vince was Superman punched, He got Broge Kicked then survived the count only to spear Sheamus and captured the title. That was one of the greatest Raw shows of all time.
 
I am using a dual HD HomeRun OTA tuner - this lets me watch two different channels at once. The HD HomeRun is a DLNA device on my network. I recently started using Emby (kind of like Plex). It provides a decent interface to the tv shows.

This system also lets me record the shows. I'm not 100% sold on Emby yet, but gotta say the development team is very active with the software.

The rest of my families TV needs are handled with Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. I might check into Sling someday - but already feel like there are more shows to watch than I have time.

If I could get a decent price on a la carte, I'd go for it. However, how much is a fair price to pay for a single channel like AMC? Is it worth $5 a month? What if you add in History, SciFy, TLC, and Discovery? If each is $5 - you are now at $25 for five channels. I think that is expensive.

My price point I'm comfortable with is $20-30 a month total for TV. Once I go over that, I feel its getting to be expensive.
 
People still pay for cable TV? LOLOLOL
Amazon Prime + Hulu Plus (ad free option!) + Netflix
Done and done. Everything will show up on one of those eventually.
 
People still pay for cable TV? LOLOLOL
If you want to watch your local sports teams and they aren't on OTA then you don't have a choice (legally) but to pay for cable because of the damn blackouts. I also watch Formula 1 and I haven't found a legal way to stream it online either without cable.
 
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