Let's talk the business of broadcast / cable / satellite / streaming TV

[PanthersATL]

31 minutes ago, Paa Langfart said:

It free money if you qualify 

The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (getemergencybroadband.org)

Note: It may require you to switch plans, which may not end up being a desired outcome. 

After you received a notice that you have qualified for the program, households must contact a participating provider to select an Emergency Broadband Benefit eligible service plan.

[Brooklyn 3.0]

I wonder how many cord cutters pay more now with all their subscription services than they did with just cable, lol.

[Paa Langfart]

1 hour ago, PanthersATL said:

Note: It may require you to switch plans, which may not end up being a desired outcome. 

After you received a notice that you have qualified for the program, households must contact a participating provider to select an Emergency Broadband Benefit eligible service plan.

Chances are you will not have to switch providers.  Most are in the program - check yours here

Companies Near Me - Lifeline Support - USAC

[PanthersATL]

21 hours ago, Paa Langfart said:

Chances are you will not have to switch providers. 

I didn't say you'd have to switch providers - but that you may have to switch plans under your provider. It all depends whether your provider can/will apply the credit to any plan they have OR if they will only support the credit under specific plans. 

Some fineprint I've seen from individual ISPs suggest that they may not apply the credit to unlimited data or higher-speed plans, but it would apply to some of their lower-service/lower-cost plans.

[PanthersATL]

22 hours ago, Brooklyn 3.0 said:

I wonder how many cord cutters pay more now with all their subscription services than they did with just cable, lol.

Here is an outdated calculator that will provide that answer to you - all services = $121 monthly.

https://www.theverge.com/a/online-tv-stream-price-guide 

From Bloomberg a few months ago: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-26/disney-netflix-hikes-bring-cost-of-cord-cutter-package-to-92
 

Quote

If you put together the flagship streaming services from the biggest media and tech companies, including Amazon.com Inc., AT&T Inc., Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co., it would now cost you $92 a month in the U.S. That’s almost as much as a typical cable-TV subscription, which S&P Global Market Intelligence puts at $93.50.

Per the article: Nearly a third of households subscribe to four or more streaming services, and that leaves out the majority of news and sports content

[Brooklyn 3.0]

I'd bet at some point if cable is hurting (it won't be), they could give customers Netflix, etc. for free. Like, my cable (FiOS) has Netflix and YouTube as a channel. Not like an app, an actual channel. It's weird. But if you could tune in to your account that way and they foot the bill that would be something. I also have a Smart TV as I assume will be the norm with most TVs hence forth. It's nice to be able to watch all my subscriptions there and not have to watch on my laptop or push the stream from the laptop to the TV.

[Shocker]

23 hours ago, Brooklyn 3.0 said:

I wonder how many cord cutters pay more now with all their subscription services than they did with just cable, lol.

[PanthersATL]

1 minute ago, Brooklyn 3.0 said:

I'd bet at some point if cable is hurting (it won't be), they could give customers Netflix, etc. for free. Like, my cable (FiOS) has Netflix and YouTube as a channel. Not like an app, an actual channel. It's weird. But if you could tune in to your account that way and they foot the bill that would be something. I also have a Smart TV as I assume will be the norm with most TVs hence forth. It's nice to be able to watch all my subscriptions there and not have to watch on my laptop or push the stream from the laptop to the TV.

SmartTV makes things "easy", but is starting to become problematic for consumers. Vizio announced with their most recent quarterly filing that they made almost as much money that quarter by inserting/selling advertising and viewer tracking info on their SmartTV platform than they did selling hardware. https://investors.vizio.com/news/news-details/2021/VIZIO-HOLDING-CORP.-Reports-Q1-2021-Financial-Results/default.aspx  (approx $38m vs $48m)

Roku, which started as a set-top box (OTT, or Over The Top), has gotten into producing their own exclusive content in addition to trying to be the best way to access as many different provider apps as possible. 

Peacock is just now finally getting onto the Samsung TV platform as of this morning, which should help their overall availability and usage.

Some cable companies are contemplating making their cable boxes "smarter" to compete with Rokus and smart TVs, but they may find themselves fighting an uphill battle there -- it may be in their own best interests to be solely a service provider to get that broadband into the home rather than facilitate transactions between Netflix and others -- unless the cable companies get a cut of thae transaction fee, there's nothing in it for them to be an order taker.
 

[Wes21]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:13 PM, PanthersATL said:

For those of you with cable subscriptions, do you like that you can log in and access any of the streaming/on demand versions of channels like History, Starz, or Showtime if they're part of your package? Is keeping the cable subscription worth that convenience of "you've already paid for it, so go and watch it?"

I have COX Cable and its actually not that simple.  I can only access X number of channels "on the go."  For channels like NFL Network, ABC, NBC, CBS and a bunch of others they don't allow me to go thru my COX mobile app if I'm not literally connected to my home wi-fi.  What they do is force me to go thru the channels specific app, and input my COX Cable info. 

So let's say I'm out on a fall Saturday and I want to flip back and forth between a Notre Dame college football game, a South Carolina football game and I want to watch a little NFL Network for previews of the upcoming matchups for tomorrow (Sunday).  At home this is no problem.  Out of the house is a different story.  It means I have to individually make sure I have the particular app that each one of the events is playing on and download it.  Sometimes you even have to be dialed in and know its on NBC Sports and not regular NBC, or vice versa.  So I would have to go into the NBC app to watch some Notre Dame...then at the commercial break get out of that app and pull up the one for the South Carolina game, find the link for the game and wait for it to buffer...then when I want to change from that channel and go to NFL Network I have to get out of the app with the SC game and open the NFL app, find the link to what I want and wait for that to buffer.  If that's on commercial break or the segment is boring...I have to get all the way out of it and reboot the NBC app all over again, find the link to the game and wait for it to buffer.  And its all due to "licensing agreements."  That needs to be fixed pronto. 

So I have cable.  I've always had cable so I'm still one of the holdouts that does something just because that's the way its always been done.  But I also have these services.

• Netflix
• HBO Max
• ESPN+
• Disney+
• Amazon Prime

I have prime because I use Amazon regularly and it comes with it.  I actually find it to be pretty decent overall.  I have Disney+ for my daughter so she can watch it easily on her iPad, but I'm going to cancel once the current "special" runs out.  I have Netflix because I love it.  I have ESPN+ for the UFC fights but admit I would probably like it more if I'd give it a chance.  HBO Max comes with our cable subscription.

I will gladly cut the cord in the future.  The biggest "issue" I had with cutting the cord in the past has been the thought of giving up live sports.  That no longer appears to be the case.

[PanthersATL]

If you need one ---> "The Roku Ultra 4K HDR streaming device is $30 off at Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon today, which drops the price to $69. This is currently Roku’s high-end model, and it apparently has 50 percent more range than the previous model, with a faster quad-core processor that makes channels launch faster"

I suspect that there will be similar/more streaming device deals as we head into Amazon Prime Days

[holderoftruth]

This is very timely topic on my end.

 

We currently have cable through Specturm, along with streaming services (Hulu, Netflix, Prime). We currently are paying $65 a month which includes all fees netting the internet bundle savings. However, it’s set to increase $30 a month in August.

Im really interesting in switching to YouTube TV. It has DVR, which we currently don’t have, plus the channel selections are overall better. Any thoughts on YouTube TV or other similar streaming services (Fubo, etc.)?

[PanthersATL]

Amazon Prime is offering 2 months of "select channels" for 99 cents during Prime Days.  Among the opportunities:

• Starz
• Showtime
• Paramount+ 
• Discovery+
• AMC+
• EPIX
• and more

As seen on the "TV Recommendations" thread, lots of good stuff to binge on any of these + network offerings.

 

[Happy Panther]

On 6/8/2021 at 11:42 AM, Brooklyn 3.0 said:

I wonder how many cord cutters pay more now with all their subscription services than they did with just cable, lol.

When I added ATT+ for a month to watch the NBA were paying more.

[dave-o]

Stuck with Time Warner (Spectrum) internet $70 bucks a month...  Was 50 but I have been a long time loyal customer so they were kind enough to bump it on up to 70 for me....  I have been using YoutubeTV for some time now..  $60 bucks a month I think....  It gives me all the sports I need and the Golf channel....  Streams nicely thru a Roku in both of my TV rooms...  So $130 a month is outrageous but still cheaper than what Time Warner would charge....