It's interesting to watch as cable subscriptions drop and cable companies digging in its' heels more and more. Consumers are getting to the point where there are quite a few options for content through the like of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime that it's becoming easier to cut the cord. There's still some sticky points to cable (sports, channel surfing to find random shows, access to all networks), but consumers want an al la carte option. Bundles and packages are frustrating when users are forced to subscribe for an additional 20 channels when all they want is ESPN. Cable companies have made extra money having users pay for content they don't want and are trying to hold onto that model as long as they can. Just like the music industry fought access to selling content online, as users flea to other methods, networks will come around, we just need one major network to start and open the floodgates.
Why would you need DVR in an Internet age? It makes no sense. Who are these idiots?
"DVR-like" is not DVR. Some of Tivo's time warping patents expire next year. Service providers like Hulu will then be able to offer pause, reverse and skip functionality with "live" streaming program material, without having to pay a licensing fee.
I use a DVR to record free OTA broadcasts for later viewing--mostly "news".
With Tivo just having just been acquired by Rovi (approval pending) who is a pretty aggressive IP monetizer, ISP's or other providers will want to tread carefully or just take a license. That would probably be the smarter thing to do anyway, avoiding a bunch of lawyer stuff.
Come on dude. Were you expecting Apple to have 100 million Apple music subscribers in 6 months?
Apple has 13 million paid subscribers in about 6 months. It took Spotify/Pandora FOUR OR FIVE YEARS to reach 13 million.
Plus streaming music paid subscriptions is still a very small but growing industry. Even the market leader has less than 20 million paid subscribers. The total market is less than 100 million subscribers. So Apple grabbing about 20% of the market in 6 months is amazing.
Again power of defaults, not because Apple is doing something in this space that nobody else is doing. Harder to do with TV.
Uh, no. Spotify had all of the press and was a media darling with their free tier and first to market advantage (well one of the first). What Apple has done is remarkable in such a short time. The app may be there, but you still have to sign up. Plus there is no free tier after the trial period so what you have left are people who want the service and are willing to pay for it. Don't really care if Apple has or doesn't have a cable package if there are going to be ads.
HBO going standalong meant nobody had to buy any cable package or even have cable TV to get HBO programming. That is the game changer. When suddenly the premium option is available direct and can be had without having to add it to basic cable, that suddenly diminishes the value of every basic cable channel that were previously only subscribed to by people that wanted to watch Game of Thrones and were too lazy to use bit torrent. It will only take a handful of other networks to do the same and suddenly cable TV has real competition. Cord cutters may still be a minority, but they are growing and the much larger group that scares cable providers the most are the hybrids. The ones that still subscribe to cable tv programming but get most of their programing on demand from a set top box or mobile device.
I agree it was a game changer, but looking ahead now, it really hasn't done much for the crowd who wants a la carte programming. Yes, I think HBO paved the way for more providers offering a paid standalone option. The issue with that is if you purchase all the standalone options that are out there, you are paying more than a cable/satellite subscription. The whole point is to buy what you watch so its cheaper than being forced to buy all these channels you don't watch. For people who watch a lot of sports like me, cord cutting is impossible. I watch a lot of soccer and there are no viable streaming options. DirecTV has a ton of free stuff that I watch like all the Champions League games and Europa League games.
HBO Now was very significant symbolically, but it hasn't had a significant impact on the industry yet. The only figures I found stated that HBO Now had 800K subscribers by Feb - 10 months after introduction. Compared with about 49M total HBO & Cinemax subscriptions through their cable/sat/telco partners.
I am always on the lookout to see if I can get the content that my family wants by cutting the cord (I am in Canada fyi), but it is challenging. With 4 persons in the house, there are a variety of tastes, and while I am not a sports fanatic, I do like to watch hockey, and a smattering of the other sports at different times. No set of services can provide that yet. If it was just me, outside of sports, I would be better off with Netflix + Crave & buying what is missing on iTunes.
But in the meantime, I just call up my service provider each year & indicate I will cancel, at which point they will renew the special deals. Currently getting TV (all HD with 2 STBs with whole home DVR, HBO/Showtime, all sports, east & west channels & most cable channels), Internet and home phone, for about $150 CAD. Going a la carte and just getting services is likely to reduce it a little when those are available, but not as much as people think.
Once Netflix sells bundles, it'll be all but over for cable.
It's hard to say. AT&T's purchase of DirecTV was a smart move. Right now, AT&T is offering pretty good bundled deals with their 1gb fiber internet with satellite programming. Some of the deals being offered are way cheaper than the bundled deals are out there right now. Just say if Netflix offered bundled deals, the price of those bundles plus your internet plan won't be that much cheaper (assuming they are priced at current rates). At this point, there is just no way I would get rid of DirecTV. Now if someone offered an affordable deal where I could pick the Discovery channel networks, Nat Geo Channel, HBO, and Starz, sign me up. If NBC offered a standalone option to stream Premier League matches, that would be awesome.
Again power of defaults, not because Apple is doing something in this space that nobody else is doing. Harder to do with TV.
So whats your point? So should Apple NOT take advantage of their ecosystem? You don't think they will try to do the same thing with a live TV service? Of course they will. They will probably have a Live TV App built into every iPhone/iPad/Mac.
Who knows if its harder to do with TV? You? How do you know? I have no idea why you are on a non-stop rant of minimizing Apple's success and future success of their services business.
It's harder because Hulu is a consortium of ABC, NBC, and Fox, and allowing their own programming to go live on the Hulu app is a quite simple thing to do. Why would they then allow Apple to offer the very same programming? Hulu is cross platform, and Apple's version will not. There's just simply more money to be made their way, a bigger pool of subscribers plus not having to give Apple a cut.
I agree it was a game changer, but looking ahead now, it really hasn't done much for the crowd who wants a la carte programming. Yes, I think HBO paved the way for more providers offering a paid standalone option. The issue with that is if you purchase all the standalone options that are out there, you are paying more than a cable/satellite subscription. The whole point is to buy what you watch so its cheaper than being forced to buy all these channels you don't watch. For people who watch a lot of sports like me, cord cutting is impossible. I watch a lot of soccer and there are no viable streaming options. DirecTV has a ton of free stuff that I watch like all the Champions League games and Europa League games.
HBO Now was very significant symbolically, but it hasn't had a significant impact on the industry yet. The only figures I found stated that HBO Now had 800K subscribers by Feb - 10 months after introduction. Compared with about 49M total HBO & Cinemax subscriptions through their cable/sat/telco partners.
I am always on the lookout to see if I can get the content that my family wants by cutting the cord (I am in Canada fyi), but it is challenging. With 4 persons in the house, there are a variety of tastes, and while I am not a sports fanatic, I do like to watch hockey, and a smattering of the other sports at different times. No set of services can provide that yet. If it was just me, outside of sports, I would be better off with Netflix + Crave & buying what is missing on iTunes.
But in the meantime, I just call up my service provider each year & indicate I will cancel, at which point they will renew the special deals. Currently getting TV (all HD with 2 STBs with whole home DVR, HBO/Showtime, all sports, east & west channels & most cable channels), Internet and home phone, for about $150 CAD. Going a la carte and just getting services is likely to reduce it a little when those are available, but not as much as people think.
I actually thought HBO Now would be in the millions. 800k is a lot lower than I had imagined. I'm always looking as well. I looked into Futbo TV, but they only have a few teams I like to watch. I'm sure most people subscribe to see Barcelona and Real Madrid. I'm more into the Premier League. Funny you do that. I do that with DirecTV every year so I end up getting NFL Sunday Ticket for free. $150 CAD is not bad at all for what you are getting. DirecTV has been trying to get me to bundle internet, but the reason I haven't at this point is the data cap on AT&T. I don't have a data cap with my current isp. I'm probably using 700 gigs a month in data. I download a lot of 4K content.
"DVR-like" is not DVR. Some of Tivo's time warping patents expire next year. Service providers like Hulu will then be able to offer pause, reverse and skip functionality with "live" streaming program material, without having to pay a licensing fee.
I use a DVR to record free OTA broadcasts for later viewing--mostly "news".
With Tivo just having just been acquired by Rovi (approval pending) who is a pretty aggressive IP monetizer, ISP's or other providers will want to tread carefully or just take a license. That would probably be the smarter thing to do anyway, avoiding a bunch of lawyer stuff.
An expired patent is worthless. I was off by a year on the time warp expiration date, though. It's mid-2018.
"DVR-like" is not DVR. Some of Tivo's time warping patents expire next year. Service providers like Hulu will then be able to offer pause, reverse and skip functionality with "live" streaming program material, without having to pay a licensing fee.
I use a DVR to record free OTA broadcasts for later viewing--mostly "news".
With Tivo just having just been acquired by Rovi (approval pending) who is a pretty aggressive IP monetizer, ISP's or other providers will want to tread carefully or just take a license. That would probably be the smarter thing to do anyway, avoiding a bunch of lawyer stuff.
An expired patent is worthless. I was off by a year on the time warp expiration date, though. It's mid-2018.
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But in the meantime, I just call up my service provider each year & indicate I will cancel, at which point they will renew the special deals. Currently getting TV (all HD with 2 STBs with whole home DVR, HBO/Showtime, all sports, east & west channels & most cable channels), Internet and home phone, for about $150 CAD. Going a la carte and just getting services is likely to reduce it a little when those are available, but not as much as people think.
I actually thought HBO Now would be in the millions. 800k is a lot lower than I had imagined. I'm always looking as well. I looked into Futbo TV, but they only have a few teams I like to watch. I'm sure most people subscribe to see Barcelona and Real Madrid. I'm more into the Premier League. Funny you do that. I do that with DirecTV every year so I end up getting NFL Sunday Ticket for free. $150 CAD is not bad at all for what you are getting. DirecTV has been trying to get me to bundle internet, but the reason I haven't at this point is the data cap on AT&T. I don't have a data cap with my current isp. I'm probably using 700 gigs a month in data. I download a lot of 4K content.
http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/tivo-sues-samsung/393571