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+--- Thread: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! (/showthread.php?tid=95776)
someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - NewtonMP2100 - 04-14-2010
....millions are 'cutting the cord' & getting rid of subscriptions to cable/satellite, etc.....and going back to over-the-air (OTA)....
Nearly 800,000 U.S. TV households 'cut the cord,' report says
.....Make no mistake: The big cable, satellite, and telco carriers are still sitting pretty with more than 100 million TV subscribers. Nevertheless, a new report claims that more and more viewers are "cutting the cord" in favor of watching their favorite shows via over-the-air antennas (remember those?), Netflix, or the Web.
TechCrunch has the scoop on a new report from the Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group, and though the figures may not be a "serious threat" to the big cable and satellite carriers yet, the trend might eventually spell trouble for the like of Cablevision, Comcast, DirecTV, and Time Warner Cable.
To wit: Nearly 800,000 households in the U.S. have "cut the cord," dumping their cable, satellite, or telco TV providers (such as AT&T U-verse or Verizon FiOS) and turning instead to Web-based videos (like Hulu), downloadable shows (iTunes), by-mail subscription services (Netflix), or even good ol' over-the-air antennas for their favorite shows, according to the report.
Now, as TechCrunch points out, the estimated 800,000 cord cutters represent less than 1 percent of the 100 million U.S. households (give or take) currently subscribing to a cable/satellite/telco TV carrier, so it's not like we're talking a mass exodus here. But by the end of 2011, the report guesstimates, the number of cord-cutting households in the U.S. will double to about 1.6 million, and if the trend continues, well...
Even more trouble for the big carriers is the report's assertion that U.S. TV watchers are getting a taste for online video, with an estimated 17 percent of the U.S. TV audience watching at least one or two shows online in a given week last year, up from just 12 percent in 2008, and set to rise to 21 percent this year.
Personally, I find the temptation to cut the cord pretty enticing, especially whenever I get a load of my monthly $130 cable bill (which includes unlimited broadband and HD but no premium channels). Why am I paying so much for all the hundreds of channels that I rarely ever watch, anyway? Wouldn't it be easier — not to mention a lot cheaper — just to ditch my DVR and watch my favorite shows on iTunes and Hulu, catch up on the news via CNN.com, and be done with it?
There's one important factor that's keeping me from pulling my scissors out: live sports, and particularly ESPN, my 24-hour sports companion. Sure, as a football fan, I could keep up with the Jets and the Giants via over-the-air TV (although I'm not sure my landlord would be all that ecstatic about my installing a TV antenna on the roof of our Brooklyn brownstone), but without cable, I'd be left high and dry when it comes to Monday Night Football......
CUT....it.....out.....????
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - decay - 04-14-2010
i have cable internet/phone/tv, so i'm wired for now.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - deckeda - 04-14-2010
Yep that's me.
At least until the Comcast/NBC merger thing goes through and eliminates/bastardizes/cripples/finds-a-way-to-charge-for one of the few stations I can cleanly receive.
Not that I'm expecting the worst or anything.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - Grateful11 - 04-14-2010
I'm not ready to cut the cord.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - Seacrest - 04-14-2010
Eight-hundred thousand does not sound like a hell of a lot.
But I have been pay-TV free since the mid 90's.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - BernDog - 04-14-2010
Did it a little over a year ago. Haven't looked back.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - Lew Zealand - 04-14-2010
I only paid for cable when sharing a house so the cost to me was minimal (~$15/mo). Since living as a single family, we've been OTA-only for 9 years which is easy here as we get good signal. I'd post how much $ is still in my pocket but that'd be lying as I just spend it elsewhere.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - michaelb - 04-14-2010
We have never had cable at the house. I do have an antenna in the attic. My cable company, from which we get internet and phone service, doesn't seem to understand why I don't want TV, when basic is essentially free. With the arrival of HD OTA, regular TV looks great too.
I do miss sports, since this means I can't really watch the NBA anymore, since even the playoffs for any team not the Lakers aren't even on the networks.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - OWC Jamie - 04-14-2010
cut the cord around-about 1992.
unplugged the TV for a while, too.
Now I have an outdoor antenna so I can get PBS.
Not the greatest substitute for what the Discovery and History channel used to be, but good enough.
I survive without Monday Night Football.
Re: someone to WATCH, over me?!....OTA.....all the way, baby....!!!! - decay - 04-14-2010
if it were just me in our home, and not 3 others who love LOVE LOVE!! their TV shows, i would do without.