The future of cable may be no TV at all

[osu1991]

The future of cable may be no TV at all, as one small company from Arizona shows

• A small cable company called Cable One is actively helping clients move away from their own video service.
• Cable One's shares have soared as they shed video customers and rely on broadband subscribers.
• Broadband is a higher-margin business than TV, which has become a near-term net loser for new bundlers of programming, such as YouTube TV.

Cable One CEO Julie Laulis said bundling TV with internet is not a particularly effective method to hold on to customers. That's because people aren't canceling internet to begin with. As a result, offering bundled video wasn't really moving the needle one way or another. "We don't see bundling as the savior for churn," Laulis said. "I know that we don't put time and resources into pretty much anything having to do with video because of what it nets us and our shareholders in the long run.

 

[riffjim4069]

Very interesting!

 

[harshness]

Imagine the backlash as OTT gets closer and closer to the conventional model price-wise and channel-wise. If you go all-in with Sling, I think you can hit $125/month.

You also have to be pretty confident that you can provide hundreds of times the bandwidth that the conventional broadcast model required.

 

[Juan]

Imagine the backlash as OTT gets closer and closer to the conventional model price-wise and channel-wise. If you go all-in with Sling, I think you can hit $125/month.

You also have to be pretty confident that you can provide hundreds of times the bandwidth that the conventional broadcast model required.

Its the 2 way communication that makes ip delivery attractive...they can collect more information to sell to advertisers...in other words...tv is the method to get into the homes...internet of things(iot) is what it really is about

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[harshness]

Its the 2 way communication that makes ip delivery attractive...they can collect more information to sell to advertisers...in other words...tv is the method to get into the homes...internet of things(iot) is what it really is about.

I imagine it is a lot harder to track OTT activity. The provider may be able to reverse the IP addresses, but that doesn't do much to help with what the customer is actually watching without some sort of Man In The Middle invasion of privacy. At least with the old cable box and SMART card authentication model, they could know what channels you were tuning and quite specifically what demand content you were streaming from their library.

I call horsefeathers on your proposition of tracking customer preferences being enhanced through the broadband model.

 

[Juan]

I imagine it is a lot harder to track OTT activity. The provider may be able to reverse the IP addresses, but that doesn't do much to help with what the customer is actually watching without some sort of Man In The Middle invasion of privacy. At least with the old cable box and SMART card authentication model, they could know what channels you were tuning and quite specifically what demand content you were streaming from their library.

I call horsefeathers on your proposition of tracking customer preferences being enhanced through the broadband model.

With ipv6 every device has a unique identifier built into the ip address....kinda like the codes they built into CPUs

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[harshness]

With ipv6 every device has a unique identifier built into the ip address....kinda like the codes they built into CPUs

Your IP address (whether IPv4 or IPv6) has nothing to do with what you're watching.

That still doesn't answer the question of how to figure out what specifically what content you're watching which is the information someone might want to buy.

 

[Pere845]

Living in a CableOne market that's all they preach is internet this and that. Cable is dead to them as far as they are concerned and after talking to multiple reps and techs about the video side of things it's not looking like they will be adding channels or features to those cable systems anymore.

 

[Juan]

Your IP address (whether IPv4 or IPv6) has nothing to do with what you're watching.

That still doesn't answer the question of how to figure out what specifically what content you're watching which is the information someone might want to buy.

Actually it does...not sure you understand what a server is...but thats the computer that streams the program you are watching...they geoblock programming based on your ip...the server reads your ip (like a phone number)... and then sends programming to your device...its even worse if you have to authenicate over a cellular data network...if they can identify what tower you hit...they can identify you...in ipv6. The mac address if your device is built into your ip address.....i could go on and on

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[harshness]

i could go on and on

And you'd still just be rattling on about how the streaming service knows where you live. That's not marketable data as far as your broadband provider is concerned. Rest assured that they know where you live and how you access the Internet.

The point of discussion was whether or not your broadband provider could make money by selling information about what you were watching. If they aren't handling the authentication, they have no idea what you're watching.

 

[Juan]

And you'd still just be rattling on about how the streaming service knows where you live. That's not marketable data as far as your broadband provider is concerned. Rest assured that they know where you live and how you access the Internet.

The point of discussion was whether or not your broadband provider could make money by selling information about what you were watching. If they aren't handling the authentication, they have no idea what you're watching.

Really? b.s...why do you think google tracks your every move?..ip addressing is just another stream of data for real briadband providers such comcast, verizon or att. I realize you think the web is anonymous but your ip leaves foot prints everywhere you go...perhaps you need to head to your local community college and take a course in " data analytics"... and then maybe you will understand why ip information is so valuable...granted alot of podunk rural broadband providers are not getting rich..but companies like facebook and Google make billions

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[harshness]

Really? b.s...why do you think google tracks your every move?..ip addressing is just another stream of data for real briadband providers such comcast, verizon data is collected, not at the ISP level.or att. I realize you think the web is anonymous but your ip leaves foot prints everywhere you go...perhaps you need to head to your local community college and take a course in " data analytics"... and then maybe you will understand why ip information is so valuable...granted alot of podunk rural broadband providers are not getting rich..but companies like facebook and Google make billions

You need to consider much more deeply the nature of the data that is collected. Google and Facebook see what or who you're searching for as they've developed ways of tracking the links that they offer you. A broadband provider has no similar tool to insert themselves into what you're looking for or at (unless you're using their search page). If they see you're doing traffic with an Amazon video server, it could be programming for dogs just as easily as it could be old episodes of Star Trek or cooking videos. YouTube and Facebook are specialized search engines and the only way you get details about that is from Google or Facebook.

Guessing what someone is binging on Netflix, Hulu or any other streaming service isn't possible. A broadband provider can know that the viewer was visiting a streaming site but they can't know what they were looking at because they don't control the search engine.

Knowing that someone visits grocery stores is assumed so that's of no value. What marketing people want to know is specifically what they're looking at and you can't ascertain that from an IP. Unless Google is your broadband provider, your broadband provider doesn't have access to the information that Google collects. Google doesn't give away information.

If you want to convince me that Comcast knows what I'm watching when I stream, tell me specifically how they know. As I said before, I acknowledge that they know where I live and how I get some of my broadband service.

 

[Juan]

You need to consider much more deeply the nature of the data that is collected. Google and Facebook see what or who you're searching for as they've developed ways of tracking the links that they offer you. A broadband provider has no similar tool to insert themselves into what you're looking for or at (unless you're using their search page). If they see you're doing traffic with an Amazon video server, it could be programming for dogs just as easily as it could be old episodes of Star Trek or cooking videos. YouTube and Facebook are specialized search engines and the only way you get details about that is from Google or Facebook.

Guessing what someone is binging on Netflix, Hulu or any other streaming service isn't possible. A broadband provider can know that the viewer was visiting a streaming site but they can't know what they were looking at because they don't control the search engine.

Knowing that someone visits grocery stores is assumed so that's of no value. What marketing people want to know is specifically what they're looking at and you can't ascertain that from an IP. Unless Google is your broadband provider, your broadband provider doesn't have access to the information that Google collects. Google doesn't give away information.

If you want to convince me that Comcast knows what I'm watching when I stream, tell me specifically how they know. As I said before, I acknowledge that they know where I live and how I get some of my broadband service.

So
Tell me why when I walk into a walmart...I get walmart ads on my phone?... smart technolgy is all ip based...if a advertiser knows your habits...they know what to sell to you...internet of things aka 5g is about collecting personal data...that is why they want your fridge connected to the internet along with everything else...they are data harvesting and selling your habits to advertisers...it is very scary if you think about it...google works with verizon along with other cell phone companie to filter the data in a usable form...but no doubt about it...they are selling your privacy...people are inviting big brother into their homes with open arms

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[harshness]

So
Tell me why when I walk into a walmart...I get walmart ads on my phone?

Do you have a Walmart app installed on your phone or have you used your phone's browser to visit their website?

smart technolgy is all ip based...if a advertiser knows your habits...they know what to sell to you...

They know this not by your IP address but through their own apps and websites where Walmart tracks your interactions.

internet of things aka 5g is about collecting personal data...that is why they want your fridge connected to the internet along with everything else...they are data harvesting and selling your habits to advertisers...

Where you're off the rails is in your assumptions of who is gathering the data and what they're using it for. Your ISP only sees where you're traffic is going; they have no idea what they're carrying. With almost all traffic being encrypted, the ISP can't see inside to find the marketable specifics of your Internet traffic.

When you get custom tailored ads in your search page, those are coming from the search engine you use, not from your ISP. Further, the search engine is using cookies rather than your IP address to pin down who you are.

 

[camo]

Your IP address (whether IPv4 or IPv6) has nothing to do with what you're watching.

WOW, that couldn't be further from the truth. Everything you watch depends on your IP address with all streaming services. From weather, news, sports, commercials and even junk mail.

 

[harshness]

WOW, that couldn't be further from the truth. Everything you watch depends on your IP address with all streaming services. From weather, news, sports, commercials and even junk mail.

No, you're wrong.

What you see is based almost entirely on cookies that you pick up along the way.

What are Cookies - Computer Cookies - What is a Cookie

Only the streaming service knows what you're watching and then only that content that you get from them (unless they sell that information to a third party). Netflix doesn't know what you're streaming on PlutoTV or Amazon Prime and vice versa.

 

[Juan]

No, you're wrong.

What you see is based almost entirely on cookies that you pick up along the way.

What are Cookies - Computer Cookies - What is a Cookie

Only the streaming service knows what you're watching and then only that content that you get from them (unless they sell that information to a third party). Netflix doesn't know what you're streaming on PlutoTV or Amazon Prime and vice versa.

They know if you are using a vpn to change your ip

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[harshness]

They know if you are using a vpn to change your ip

So what?

The point is that your broadband provider is out of the loop when it comes to knowing what you're watching (whether VPN is involved or not).

 

[camo]

No, you're wrong.

What you see is based almost entirely on cookies that you pick up along the way.

What are Cookies - Computer Cookies - What is a Cookie

Only the streaming service knows what you're watching and then only that content that you get from them (unless they sell that information to a third party). Netflix doesn't know what you're streaming on PlutoTV or Amazon Prime and vice versa.

LMAO, total bull you don't know what you're talking about. Its all about the IP address. Try using a VPN and see what happens.

 

[harshness]

Its all about the IP address.

No, it is not.

Try using a VPN and see what happens.

I did a VPN into my workplace and configured my 0.0.0.0 traffic to go through the VPN tunnel and none of my ads changed. Just to put a nail in the coffin of your argument, I confirmed that the Internet IP address that I was identified as having was my workplace firewall IP address and not my home firewall IP address. I would also point out that where Google maps defaulted to on my VPN connection was 50 miles away because the IP address is geolocated there (work is 9 airline miles from me but still 50 miles from its geolocation). IP addresses are pretty much useless outside of geolocation purposes and they aren't always very good at that.

If IP addresses were the key, everyone in the house (or my office campus) would see the same ads because we all share a common IP address but that's not the case. IPv6 doesn't change any of that (yet).

If I log in to Netflix or Amazon Prime, I'm presented with my watch list because Netflix and Amazon Prime associate those lists with my login, not my IP address. If I browse the Internet from different computers/devices I get different ads because each computer/device has a different set of cookies.

You should test your theories before you proclaim them as irrefutable evidence.

If you don't think cookies have any influence on your web experience, try firing up a browser that you don't use, clear all of its cookies and set out on an entirely new view of the web.