TV Subscriptions Fall for First Time as Viewers Cut the Cord

dgingeri said:
I have a 14 year old nephew who never watches TV. He plays video games often, and does things through clubs at school, but he just has no interest in TV. When he's home, he's on his computer almost constantly, reading news, chatting with friends, playing games with friends. He also almost never uses his minutes on his phone, but nearly always hits the cap on the data. He says he's not that unusual, and most of his friends are the same way.

The younger generations are definitely thinking differently these days.
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My boy (14) does that too, never watches TV. Could be that the only TV with an antennae is upstairs and he "lives" downstairs. He's always on the PC playing games or chatting.

My little girl (7) never watches TV either, She's always on YouTube watching Mindcraft or some rubber band looms creating stuff.

I remember when I was their age, it was TV in the morning, and TV in the afternoon after school.
 
I want to pay for TV. They don't provide what i want, or how i want it.
 
canna said:
I wanna build a house where an ad don't scream
I wanna live in peace-quietly
I'm building a house where I can think and have some balance and dignity
I wanna have a place of love and safety
So get off my dick
I'm building it brick by brick
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Um, thanks I think?
 
bucketlist said:
Dude! I have a Hifi 4 head VCR with commercial advance. Just flip open the TV Guide and program the show times and at the end of recording it will mark the commercials to skip.
:)

Anyway, why should I pay for cable when free OTA got better, plus interwebs is great with a HTPC or media STB.
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Thanks for the idea, but I don't really want to watch anything on TV even without all the stupid ads. Most of the things that are on are really stupid shows or really dumb sports and none of that is as good as curling up with hot chocolates and my kitty to read a novel.
 
Just wondering.. why isn't pay-per-episode/season on Amazon, Play, etc not more competitive in pricing? $2/episode seems kinda high, and I've seen full seasons selling for $50 to $80, which just seems completely unreasonable for locked-down media. I'd buy more seasons on DVD/BD for ~$30, but many networks still don't release shows to disc, and none do so in a timely fashion.

the-one1 said:
There's this thing called "the outside". It's basically free and all the entertainment we needed. :D
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Tell me more, so I can DVR it! :D
 
the-one1 said:
My boy (14) does that too, never watches TV. Could be that the only TV with an antennae is upstairs and he "lives" downstairs. He's always on the PC playing games or chatting.

My little girl (7) never watches TV either, She's always on YouTube watching Mindcraft or some rubber band looms creating stuff.

I remember when I was their age, it was TV in the morning, and TV in the afternoon after school.
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I think TV as we currently know it is an endangered species.
 
thelead said:
As a sports fan, cable is almost a necessity unfortunately.
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That's the unfortunate truth man. I subscribe to cable for the NFL football season, and a couple of shows (TWD and Top Gear primarily.) I can pull the plug for those shows by paying by episode, but Thursday and Monday night games are cable only, and I'm assuming it won't be long before the broadcast channels move some NFL games to their respective sports channels (NBC Sports, etc.)

Still........I'm nearing my limit with Comcrap. I lived without cable for 2 years while I was getting my life together financially. Football may not be enough to keep me "in the fold."
 
About the only thing that can prevent Internet pricing from skyrocketing is Google at this point.

ATT and Verizon can impose some competition but its not very much, not to mention they are also in the TV provider market as well.

Unless Google proliferates the US, in a few years the Internet pricing will creep up.
 
mzs_biteme said:
^^^ THIS x10000!!!!

Especially when you realize (if you didn't already know, Doh!) that the cable companies are your ONLY choice for an ISP!!!! Yay, go "free market"....:rolleyes:
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The reason for this is because the market isn't free in this area.
 
I cut the TV cord a couple of years ago. You know what I hated most, I hated the damn drug company commercials. Maybe they paid better for the air time, but they are depressing as shit, specially if they are advertising a product that is supposed to help with something that killed someone you love. I suppose they must sell drugs to some people but all they did for me is convince me I never want to see their shit again, ever.
 
Of course, they still might get me somehow.

A-Clockwork-Orange-1971.jpg
 
You cord cutters talk like they aren't going to make Netflix & Amazon non-commercial or drive up their prices.
 
First to die off is the movie theater. Next is television. Haven't been to a movie theater in countless years and have been television free for over a year now. It's great! :cool:
 
I barely watch tv anymore. There's so little to watch. I'm one of those weird people who can watch the weather channel for hours though (don't you judge me)
 
kbrickley said:
2) In most big cities there are few monopolies on "cable" left ... both satelite providers are available nationwide, in the Dallas Metro area there are at least 2-3 land based competitors available ... even in smaller cities you will still have access to both satelite companies plus one land based provider ... now Internet monopolies is a different thing completely

3) Since most cable companies do not own any content themselves this is the only way the can make direct money ... if they charge too much for the content side then the studios will eventually demand more money
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Sorry but this just isn't true..

2) First most places have 1 maybe 2 if you are lucky in terms of cable services. That is a monopoly. If you think Satellite is in the same ballpark as cable service you are crazy. You really can't separate TV and Internet because people want both.So you are forced to go with someone like Comcast or TW or you'll pay more for less. It's really not even a contest. Even the amount of Satellite TV providers is what? Like 2. In addition to that some places don't allow satellite dishes.

3) Um Comcast Universal, and Time Warner don't ring a bell?
 
If my internet provider ever seeks payment from hulu/netflix/youtube i will be sure to pick a much lower package. At 20Mbit, i excede what i need.
 
jpm100 said:
You cord cutters talk like they aren't going to make Netflix & Amazon non-commercial or drive up their prices.
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Some of us wouldn't care at all if that happened because we don't use those services either. Cutting the cord (or never having one to begin with) sometimes means you don't do video entertainment at all which means the price for it going up wouldn't matter. :)
 
Bingo. Once the NCAA tournament is over, I cancel every year since the days are long and baseball sucks. When fall comes around, I get new customer pricing so I save a bit and can watch college football. If I could quit sports, I'd never have cable.


jflail2 said:
That's the unfortunate truth man. I subscribe to cable for the NFL football season, and a couple of shows (TWD and Top Gear primarily.) I can pull the plug for those shows by paying by episode, but Thursday and Monday night games are cable only, and I'm assuming it won't be long before the broadcast channels move some NFL games to their respective sports channels (NBC Sports, etc.)

Still........I'm nearing my limit with Comcrap. I lived without cable for 2 years while I was getting my life together financially. Football may not be enough to keep me "in the fold."
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jpm100 said:
You cord cutters talk like they aren't going to make Netflix & Amazon non-commercial or drive up their prices.
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The second either of those services get commercials they get dropped. Same with the price, I've been paying $7.99 and $39.99(student) for a few years, I won't tolerate much of a change in that cost.
Same with my ISP. If they try to impose a fake toll for Netflix usage, they'll see themselves without a customer.

I only pay more (TWC 30/5) for a high bandwidth connection so I can stream video.
If I'm not using that connection for streaming video, than it very quickly loses its value, and will get cut.
 
eh, fuck cable and their bullshit. sports channels I don't watch account for 40% of the bill. in fact I barely watch anything except regular network tv, discovery/history channels. And really of those we have been primarily watching netflix, So yeah, TV has a lot of issues that need to be resolved.
 
Why in the free market's name am I going to pay good money for something that is nearly 50% ads, the same, sometimes seems worse than OTA?
Same reason I don't buy newspaper, subscription costs should be passed in the ads.
Same reason I wouldn't pay for FM/AM radio.
Yeah, I am a cord never.
I can't believe there's 100million cable subscribers.
 
kac77 said:
Sorry but this just isn't true..

2) First most places have 1 maybe 2 if you are lucky in terms of cable services. That is a monopoly. If you think Satellite is in the same ballpark as cable service you are crazy. You really can't separate TV and Internet because people want both.So you are forced to go with someone like Comcast or TW or you'll pay more for less. It's really not even a contest. Even the amount of Satellite TV providers is what? Like 2. In addition to that some places don't allow satellite dishes.

3) Um Comcast Universal, and Time Warner don't ring a bell?
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Define most ... "most" americans live in the largest cities and the largest cities do have more choices than smaller cities ... the whole point of cord cutters is that internet and content are not linked (at least for those who are willing to cut the cord)

Comcast owns NBC (and their associated offerings) and Telemundo ... they also own Universal studios and Hulu ... not really that overpowering in the content department

TWC is a little stronger with HBO and CNN, Warner Brothers, and DC comics but they also only own one premiere offering with HBO

Disney is the 500 pound gorilla on the content side with ABC networks, ESPN, A&E networks, History channel, and of course their own high value studio offerings and Marvel comics

Fox is also a powerhouse with the Fox channel offerings (including FX), Wall street journal, National Geographic plus their studio offerings

CBS owns their own portfolio of shows and has recently suspended services with various providers as a negotiating tactic (that worked)

Viacom owns Moviechannel, Showtime, Paramount Pictures and others

Since Comcast owns the weakest of the Networks (NBC) they are hardly in a position to use their cable access as a block ... if they were considering a merger with one of the stronger companies (Fox, Disney, Viacom, or CBS) then there would definitely be more red flags

Disney may ultimately control when the cable companies can offer ala carte service as they control one of the two most desirable ala carte offerings (ESPN) ... Comcast controls the other desirable ala carte offering (HBO) so they might try ala carte (via the web) but it would most likely be the same price as is currently offered on the cable side ($15-$20) ... offering web based HBO would also impact their DVD/Blu Ray revenues and their negotiating position with their competitors ...

ala carte would weaken most companies revenue with the cable providers so they will not offer ala carte until ala carte offers them an equivalent or greater revenue to that they currently obtain (which is only good business)
 
I've been tempted to cancel cable TV for a while now, but my wife is the only holdout. I'd be perfectly fine downloading all the shows I want to watch.

The thing I worry about, in terms of the bigger picture, is price of internet for us out here in the country. If people start cutting cable en mass out here, the providers will simply bump up the price of internet access to compensate, and since there are only 2 options (cable and DSL...really 1 option if you want fast access), we simply have to deal with it? Scary.
 
PornoSatan said:
The loss in TV revenue will just be made up for through increases in monthly internet service costs. Instead of $50 tv + $50 internet with bundling, you'll just end up paying $100 for internet or something similar.
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I'm dreading the day when my 3-year contract for bundled TV/Phone/Internet service with Time Warner is up. I signed up for the bundle at $80/month at a time when I was paying $60/month just for the Internet service. By the time the contract is up next year, I will probably end up going back to just the Internet service and foregoing the landline altogether. I hardly ever use the TV service, especially since Braves games are no longer on TBS, so I doubt I'll miss it.

Other people I know in the area are paying around $180/month for the same package I currently have. I wonder if they will ever realize that price-gouging is not a good way to maintain customer loyalty...
 
I wonder of the cable companies will lower prices and make programming better to try and lour people back? or just fuck over the remaining subscribers by increasing prices so they can maintain their cash flow? My wife is a TV addict.. so we kind of have to have it... I rarely watch TV.. I had commercials and the movie channels rarely play something I really want to watch.. so if I sit down to watch something I toss on a blu-ray pretty much always.
 
Blasphemy incoming:

I was so STOKED when I got my first cable modem. The speeds were amazing.

But I miss my modem, and multiple ISPs to choose from
 
dgingeri said:
If it was a free market, we'd have competition that would drive down prices and drive up customer service quality. We'd have half a dozen services, at least, with different prices based on if people want cheap or good quality, just like we have with cars, computers, and many other things.

The problem is that the cable TV and internet service provider industries are a local government enforced monopoly. As long as the local government prevent other companies from being formed or moving it to provide competition, we'll be at their mercy. What makes it worse is that it is not just the local cities, but the cities surrounding them as well. If an ISP wants to move into one town, they have to get a main connection that could go through multiple suburbs. If those suburbs refuse to let the main connection in, then competition can't move in.

For example, I live in Parker, Colorado. In order to get a competitor in this area, they'd have to have a link come in from the main internet trunk (owned by AT&T, I believe) from downtown Denver, then come across much of Denver, Englewood, Greenwood Village, and Centennial. Even worse, most of those are in the most corrupt county in the state, Arapahoe County. Both Denver and Arapahoe counties would have to permit the trunk to run through, as well as all four cities. I know for certain that Arapahoe county won't allow it because they're practically owned by Comcast. They've voted down six attempts at competition in the area in the last 15 years. That's why we're stuck with just Century Link or Comcast.

So, either oust your local government or get them to allow competition. That's the only way you'll get an free market.
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Which makes more sense to you, the government decided that it is in the practice of creating monopolies? Or that the government was lobbied hard by the cable industry in the first place, the right pockets were lined and the right people were elected and appointed?

Sure, oust your local government. Who's going to replace them? People who want no competition in their particular industry so that what comes around goes around. The cycle continues.

Compare and contrast regulation of the Bells and AT&T and the power industry vs the deregulation of the airline industry. The government (at one point) largely tries, however industry does it's best to undermine and screw the government.

The 80s were the worst thing to ever happen to (more or less) successful merging of democracy and capitalism we had pulled off.

Think about this again one more time. If more people cut the cord, creating less demand, are prices going to fall? No, internet access prices will be adjusted to make up the difference. That's not government, that's industry.

Stop thinking that the government is the worst satan out there. Industry is far worse.



(all that being said, fuck the government now because of the nsa. it's like a monopoly industry that can now jail or kill you and get away with it)
 
They don't seem to understand, just like the record labels with digital music (and before that the movie studios when VHS came out).

When there are better alternatives, and your customers want something (A la carte picking only the channels they wish to watch) and you ignore them, they will then go to the alternatives that offer what they want.

The quicker they understand this the better it will be for them, or they can just bury their heads int eh sand and lose more money.
 
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