- Nov 29, 2003
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That could happen regardless of what TV service you have, hopefully the 5G service works out and then there will be competition to help with the pricing.
Largest-ever quarterly loss of Pay TV Customers
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That could happen regardless of what TV service you have, hopefully the 5G service works out and then there will be competition to help with the pricing.
Of course it could but as streaming gets more and more used the internet providers are going to want a bigger piece of that action because the product goes over their lines. 5G will want some of that action as well.... There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Internet prices are pretty outrageous already. I'm paying about double what I was 10 years ago for my cable company's standard level of internet speed (the one commonly included their advertised promo bundles). Yes, the level of speed has greatly increased, but I never needed much more than 10 Mbps anyway (I now get 100) just to stream Netflix or other HD video.
If cable TV and internet price increases had kept pace with the rate of inflation (rather than grossly exceeding it), we wouldn't be having this conversation. I do feel sorry for those just now graduating from college, saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in collage loan debt and faced with an economy where most jobs they'd be eligible for won't allow them to afford today's rents, especially in metro areas. Cable TV will never be in reach for them; it's now a luxury instead of a standard utility like it was for me in the early 90s. But at least they can get a decent amount of content on Netflix and Hulu, and share those accounts if necessary.
If cable TV and internet price increases had kept pace with the rate of inflation (rather than grossly exceeding it), we wouldn't be having this conversation. I do feel sorry for those just now graduating from college, saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in collage loan debt and faced with an economy where most jobs they'd be eligible for won't allow them to afford today's rents, especially in metro areas. Cable TV will never be in reach for them; it's now a luxury instead of a standard utility like it was for me in the early 90s. But at least they can get a decent amount of content on Netflix and Hulu, and share those accounts if necessary.
We moved into a newly built home recently and our only option was AT&T fiber-to-the home. Sure, 1Gb fiber works smashingly well...sadly, their U-Verse TV does not support our three 3TB Tivo Bolts and three Tivo Minis with Lifetime subscription, and there is no way am I using their crappy Whole Home DVR. Right now we're using OTA (rabbit ears), Netflix, and will probably going to subscribe to YouTube TV w/Roku. My interest in Pay TV is far less if I can't use my Tivos.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Everything costs so ultimately every service will have to charge something.
My Spectrum cable internet went from $60.00 to $64.99 for 2018,but then my speed went from 60MB/5MB to100MB/10MB, and that's having my own wireless router.
- Nov 29, 2003
- 14,638
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OTT-TV Gains Slow to a Crawl in Q3, but Cord-Cutting Does Not - Analyst | Light Reading
The traditional pay-TV grouping, which includes the cable operators, telco TV and satellite TV providers, combined to lose 1.12 million subs in Q3, widening from a loss of 870,000 a year ago. While that represented a record rate of decline, satellite took it especially hard on the chin -- losing 726,000 subs in Q3, while cable saw Q3 sub losses narrow to 293,000 versus 322,000 in the year-ago quarter. Telco TV losses improved to 104,000 versus 202,000 in the year-ago period.
Moffett estimates that the virtual MVPD group added 414,000 subs in Q3 (extending the grand total to 6.45 million), well off the 909,000 subs gained a year ago.
Among individual virtual MVPDs, DirecTV Now gained just 63,000 subs (excluding free trials) in Q3, compared to an increase of 323,000 a year earlier. Moffett said Sling TV "positively unraveled" in Q3 2018, as it added 26,000 subs compared to 236,000 adds in Q3 2017.
Moffett estimates that there are now 17 million homes that have cut the cord or have never taken a traditional pay-TV service. There's also more than 10 million that don't take any sort of pay-TV subscription, even from an OTT-TV provider, he said.
The traditional pay-TV grouping, which includes the cable operators, telco TV and satellite TV providers, combined to lose 1.12 million subs in Q3, widening from a loss of 870,000 a year ago. While that represented a record rate of decline, satellite took it especially hard on the chin -- losing 726,000 subs in Q3, while cable saw Q3 sub losses narrow to 293,000 versus 322,000 in the year-ago quarter. Telco TV losses improved to 104,000 versus 202,000 in the year-ago period.
Moffett estimates that the virtual MVPD group added 414,000 subs in Q3 (extending the grand total to 6.45 million), well off the 909,000 subs gained a year ago.
Among individual virtual MVPDs, DirecTV Now gained just 63,000 subs (excluding free trials) in Q3, compared to an increase of 323,000 a year earlier. Moffett said Sling TV "positively unraveled" in Q3 2018, as it added 26,000 subs compared to 236,000 adds in Q3 2017.
Moffett estimates that there are now 17 million homes that have cut the cord or have never taken a traditional pay-TV service. There's also more than 10 million that don't take any sort of pay-TV subscription, even from an OTT-TV provider, he said.
Some of the number discrepancies (between cord cutters and low numbers of signups for new services) could be a sign of a delayed adopter curve for OTT live TV services. I'm sure many folks are confused about the different choices and how to access them, especially older people on fixed incomes forced to cancel cable for financial reasons--some of whom may have limited access to internet. I know if my dad couldn't afford Dish Network's $150/mo bill anymore, he would be at a complete loss to find the right service for him and get set up with a cheaper OTT alternative if I wasn't around to do it all for him. And he's no techno-phobe and still has a sharp mind. In my Facebook cord-cutters group, I often see people wish they could hire someone to get them hooked up with an antenna and/or alternate service.
Or it could be as Craig explained it as people truly cutting the cord from linear programming.
If you're paying $150 or more with DISH, you're not trying very hard to save money.
This is more an indictment of the OTT providers than it is the concept of OTT. OTT doesn't have to be hard. All you really have to do is get yourself set up with something like a Roku or a FireTV and sign up. Those without Internet service are SOL and that's why getting away from a $100 pay TV bill is kind of an out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire proposition for many who could do e-mail and web browsing on their wireless phone or tablet but now they need an always-on Internet connection and maybe a TV antenna to support their viewing habit.
Where there's a will, there's a way but there's no real assurance that OTT will deliver the same (or at least a serviceable) product at a significant savings as there's pressure on both the broadband side and the OTT provider side in terms of pricing.
I know several people who decided to go to free streaming services like Pluto TV due to the number of commercials on television. I dumped both Dish and DirecTV due to the rising cost of television, and the fact that they bombard their subscribers with commercials. I now do FTA to get my television. I still have the commercials, but at least I don't have to pay for them.
The program providers make enough off commercials, they could give their service away and still make tons of money. Television commercials are quickly heading toward a Trillion dollar market, and it's ruining the broadcast market. I've counted as many as 28 commercials in a one hour program.
Well tomorrow will be in another 5 years because Charter Spectrum cable promised the F.C.C. no caps on their internet service for 7 years if they were allowed to merge with Brighthouse and Times Warner cable, and there are 5 years left to go.
There sure is as I reported for 2018 it went up $4.99 a month more,but as you and harkness said"There is no free lunch" and I believe that also.
I don't remember where I heard this but I remember hearing that cable's TV service is just an extra offering,that the cable company wants the customer to be paying for their internet most of all,I believe that quote was in a magazine article.
And not to put anyone down because all the TV service providers are not for everybody,but I have always thought that both satellite and cable providers charge way too many little extra fees,even when I had them.
So for lunch I am going to buy a sandwich from my OTT provider and I will pay their price for the sandwich which seems like a decent price.Then for lunch I will buy a sandwich from a cable and or satellite provider,now the charge looks to be a little higher for their sandwich,so I examine their bill and with the price of sandwich,there is a mayo fee,kethup fee,mustard fee,tomato fee,onion fee,pickle fee,ect.ect.
