Why Cable Subscriptions Really Declined For The First Time Ever

wow.
sobering…

clearly shows that the US really still hasn’t hit the bottom.

This is no surprise. Netflix streaming replaces all of that without the large fees, specific hardware requirements, can be streamed on almost anything, anywhere in your house. And for the people who can’t/won’t, they simply torrent.

The major difference between the US and AU broadcasting is that the major sporting events are broadcast on FTA by law in Australia. On the otherhand, in the US if you wanted to watch sports, you basically had to get subscription TV. If you look at the statistics of even the Australian subscription TV services, the programs with the most views year-in, year-out is the sports. The fact that there is legislation securing sports on FTA means that there’s a lot more people who are satisfied with just their FTA. If we got rid of that piece of legislation, I think it’s safe to say that a very high percentage of people that like the footy/cricket/tennis/golf/motorsports would be getting subscription tv. Were that the case, I don’t think the movies would be much of an issue.

With regards to the actual price though, I think it comes down to value for money. If your cable tv is able to entertain you enough so that you don’t go out, then it’s potentially saving you money. You could say the same for any subscription entertainment service really (and I can already hear a lot of MMO fans…)

With the advent of devices that stream media through one’s Internet connection, the handwriting has been on the wall for a while now. Roku for one does nothing but make devices that stream and is dedicated to adding channels to their offerings.

Many folks live within 20 miles of a metropolitan area and to get a digital signal is not very difficult at all.

The problem with cable/sat operators is that they have become complacent and the content providers that supply them have a monopoly. Don’t think so? Try to just order channels you want. You can’t! You have to get a $20 package. I had Direct TV and moved to Dish. Six months ago, I called to drop all basic and just have HBO. They told me I had to buy the equipment to do that and their equipment costs in the neighborhood of $200.

So I couldn’t get the 5 channels I mainly watched (mind you– half the shows are commercials anyway) and they wanted $200 for me to be able drop the basic. I politely told Dish they could have all their gear back that I was going to go local air and Roku since they would not budge. So they came up with deal (they always do) where I’d pay have of the $20 for 6 months and then go back to $20 after that. I said no thanks…charge me the $15 for the box and your gear will be on your doorstep.

I now use my Roku full-time and get about 40 channels off “free” air TV.

Funny thing is that folks are now just starting to realize that the price for this service/subscription is just ridiculous. The companies providing the service have been inflexible by either design or by their own hands being tied. Regardless of who’s to blame, both are going to be hemorrhaging revenue. All you need is an antenna for your “local” and an Internet connection and frankly for the past 4 weeks, I have not missed one thing about subscription based TV. I get what I want, when I want it, and it’s a-la-cart. I pay for what I get, and nothing more or less.