Consumers Cutting Cable TV in Record Numbers
Not only are our TV's getting smarter, as consumers we are also wising up and realizing what a bad deal we have been getting from our cable and satellite TV providers
As the cable cutting trend continues to gain momentum, the number of people dumping cable TV and satellite has cable execs losing sleep at night.
People are fed up with ever increasing prices, endless commercials and a lack of innovation from a business that has had it far too good, for way too long.
Cable and Satellite TV had a long run, they made billions from their lack of competition. For most of us, a handful of large cable companies controlled what we watched and when we watched it.
Some cable TV providers became downright arrogant. Letting all this power go to their heads by belittling, berating and even outright lying to their customers. See - Comcast the Cable Scrooge Tries to Fix Its Image
The Shift Away From Cable TV
This shift away from cable television started some years ago as a trickle. Netflix a DVD by mail rental company began offering a large video library of movies and TV shows online for instant streaming from the internet. No more DVDs to send back and their content was all commercial free. Soon thereafter, Roku came out with a small media streamer that attached to your TV and let you watch Netflix, along with other streaming channels from Amazon, Hulu, Vudu plus many more. See - Amazon Vs Netflix Vs Hulu.
Since there was no monthly fee for owning a Roku box, and monthly fees for streaming TV channels are typically around $8 a month, it did not take long for this trend to catch on. Compared to an average $70 to $100 a month for a cable TV or satellite subscription, streaming television was a bargain. We finally had a viable alternative solution to big cable's empire.
Smart TVs also helped along the shift from conventional 24/7 live television to on demand TV. Many TV sets sold today come with Smart Technology. They include apps to let people subscribe to most all of the major streaming TV providers.
Roku which makes set top boxes, now even sells a line of televisions with their software built in making a separate streaming box unnecessary. See - Roku Powered Smart TVs.
Wood predicts "Cable TV's Days are Numbered"
The Lost Cable TV Subscribers from 2015 Alone are Staggering!
It's not just cable TV providers that are getting hammered. Traditional content providers for cable and satellite are getting hit hard as well. They are being forced to offer their content to streamers or risk huge revenue losses from advertisers as their viewers shrink.
Here are some of the year's biggest headlines:
ESPN, Down 7 Million Subscribers in 2 Years, Biggest Loser Among Disney Cable Channels. - Forbes
Cable consumers keep cutting the cord. Can anyone blame them? - Fortune
Cable Is Losing A Ton Of Subscribers. - CINEMABLEND
Cable Cord-Cutting Panic? Pay-TV Providers Lost Almost 200K Subscribers In Q3. - International Business Times
Cable TV Providers Now Fighting Back
It took big cable a while to get past their denial stage and finally realize this was actually happening to them. Here is what they have done so far to try and stem the tide.
1. Many if not most cable providers will let you watch cable channels on Roku if you have a basic cable TV or satellite TV account. This can save you considerable money on cable box rental fees alone if you have more than one TV in your home. See - Other Ways to Save Money on Your Cable TV Bill
Families can share the same login account and don't even need cable going to their home to take advantage of this. See - List of Roku Cable TV channels you can watch with a Cable Provider Login and Password.
Families can share the same login account and don't even need cable going to their home to take advantage of this. See - List of Roku Cable TV channels you can watch with a Cable Provider Login and Password.
2. Dish Network one of the two big Satellite TV providers has offered a low cost Streaming Sling TV package, and a DishWorld Foreign Channels Package available on Roku that do not require a Satellite.
3. Charter Cable came out with a low cost streaming only package in select market with more to follow. Their Spectrum TV Stream plan includes free Roku 3 player and is priced at $12.99 a month for Charter broadband-only subscribers.
4. Verizon launched a new Go90 mobile app that delivers ad-supported programming, news and videos for it's wireless subscribers’ data plans.
Not all is gloom an doom for big cable and they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Since Cable TV already has much of the cable infrastructure in place, they also control a large segment of the broadband market.
Broadband subscribers are increasing as more people turn to watching streaming TV especially at higher resolutions like 1080p and now 4K UHD. This means consumer will require faster download speeds without caps.
Unfortunately, some broadband providers like Comcast have already started imposing data caps in limited areas. This may backfire and have consumers running to the FCC or other providers in protest.
Now that the internet is classified the same as a utility and so intertwined in our society, more than likely we will see other large content providers like Google continue expanding their fiber network to offer more broadband choices.
They are huge companies with deep pockets and they all have high stakes in the game. If broadband providers jack up the prices of broadband too high and it effects their profits, you can bet Google, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Roku won't just sit idly by.
Unlike Cable TV, broadband companies now have some serious competition. For consumers, this is finally a good thing that has been long overdue.
4. Verizon launched a new Go90 mobile app that delivers ad-supported programming, news and videos for it's wireless subscribers’ data plans.
Silver Lining for the Cable Industry - Broadband Subscriptions Up
Not all is gloom an doom for big cable and they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Since Cable TV already has much of the cable infrastructure in place, they also control a large segment of the broadband market.
Broadband subscribers are increasing as more people turn to watching streaming TV especially at higher resolutions like 1080p and now 4K UHD. This means consumer will require faster download speeds without caps.
Unfortunately, some broadband providers like Comcast have already started imposing data caps in limited areas. This may backfire and have consumers running to the FCC or other providers in protest.
Now that the internet is classified the same as a utility and so intertwined in our society, more than likely we will see other large content providers like Google continue expanding their fiber network to offer more broadband choices.
They are huge companies with deep pockets and they all have high stakes in the game. If broadband providers jack up the prices of broadband too high and it effects their profits, you can bet Google, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Roku won't just sit idly by.
Unlike Cable TV, broadband companies now have some serious competition. For consumers, this is finally a good thing that has been long overdue.
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Use of third-party trademarks on this site is not intended to imply endorsement nor affiliation with respective trademark owners.
We are Not Affiliated with or Endorsed by Roku®, Apple, Google or Other Companies we may write about.
