Between Hulu+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, you can almost get all the premium TV programming for $25 combined. HBO GO and the like are available, too. Add antenna for local channels, and there may not be a reason to pay for Cable or Satellite for TV anymore. Granted, Satellite and Digital Cable are excellent quality, and you do get a few channels worth of programming you can't get with a combination of Internet broadcasts. Like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the business channels, etc. The thing is, we're ALMOST there. The Cable companies have to be scared. People would only pay them for Internet access.
This is the future and I've been watching for this also. Sports And channel surfing are the main reasons to keep cable now. Big communication companies are resisting this though, they want to sell you cable and Internet not just Internet. I've read some articles saying that Internet/tv providers are trying to add usage limits to internet like phone companies do to data now, this would be death to Netflix.
If you are paying attention, the big money maker for these companies are land phone lines, which is why you can't get any "bundle" now without a land line. But correct, the only reason to keep cable TV now is sports. And even then... pirating is your friend.
I don't think I'll ever get rid of cable, but I like the sound of people leaving cable and satellite and hopefully causing the prices to go down, in order to go after those lost customers. I'm way too much of a channel surfer to switch.
I think Internet TV (not Digital, most everything is digital now be it cable, over the air, sat or internet) is years away. Sure, tech savy but frugal younger folks will be drawn to the new options. Many of them watch relatively little TV and tend to follow a handful of favorite shows that they can focus on - and that can be enough. Sign up for Netflix for movies, Hulu for a couple of fav shows and if a sports fan of ONE sport, sign up for the internet feed for that sport and these folks are set. Especially works well for those living in small spaces with smaller screens or laptop/tablet viewing where the inferior picture quality (except for internet movies in PPV in HD like Vudu) is not nearly as noticable. Screen size is the most important factor in percieved picture quality. People that watch a lot of TV, families, retired folks, etc. just can't get what they want and need from the Internet. It is futzy, you have to manage loads of accounts and log-ins, the picture quality is subpar (matters for the new large flat-screens), the drop-outs and tech failures occur far more often than cable and sat and there is no one to call to "fix" your signal. Finding your programs is a pain. And, there are still a large number of programs and sports that are not available except cable and sat. The other issue is the near monopoly of the cable companies. As soon the internet TV starts to become a viable threat, they will throttle speed or charge for "excess" usage or whatever they need to do to slow down the cut the cable folks. Unless the govt forces them not to. Finally, I think that DVR technology is the most important advance in typical household's TV viewing. And the best, easiest to use implementation of this is through the sat and cable companies. Find your favorite teams and shows, click to record the season. Sit on couch watch TV and fast forward through commercials. Being a couch potato (which is what most people want when they sit down to relax and watch TV) and futzing with complicated tech are incompatible.
Apple TV is really close to making it all work seamlessly enough. You can signup, buy, and pay for Netflix and Hulu+ via iTunes and it's a button click in the Apple TV UI to log in. The glaring thing missing from Apple TV is an HDMI input port and the ability to have it pass thru to the TV. If they had it, you could choose "Netflix" or "NBA.tv" or "Hulu+" or "Pass Thru" from the top menu and watch whichever. Another thing missing from Apple TV is Amazon Prime ($79/year) which has a lot of awesome programming/content in its own right. I guess Amazon doesn't want to pay Apple some % of the take at this point. Pass Thru feature would allow you to buy basic Cable to get local channels and enough of a programming package to get your HGTV, TNT, TBS, CNN, etc., live channels, and select them through the Apple TV interface.
I have been using Netflix and Amazon Prime a lot lately... I don't watch a ton of "new" TV other than sports. I like HBO, though, and my understanding is that HBO is pretty closely tied to the cable providers/Comcasts of the world, so they can't really break out and make their content available a la cart over the Internet. Ed O.
Yeah, HBO Go though is VERY popular, which makes little sense. What do you really need it for if you get it on your TV? When I watch Game of Thrones (or whatever) I only want to watch on the big screen TV, so I never really use HBO Go. Though other household members use it sometimes on their phones/tablets. However, what if the popularity is boosted by Sat/Cable TV subscribers giving their account login to friends and family to use?
I use HBO Go on my TV (it's 51" or so, so it's not HUGE, but it's good-sized) and it looks pretty good. At my last place, my Comcast reception sucked because of interference and it actually looked way better on HBO Go because it would freeze and stuff watching HBO HD. Ed O.
Well like they say YMMV. Whenever we have moved we whine to the cable Co if the picture isn't high quality. Every time they end up dropping a brand new line. Fixed. As for internet feeds I am very picky about picture quality and the compression is heavier for internet feeds even under the best conditions except for some deluxe PPV and only if your internet speed is fast enough. You can really see the difference in dark scenes and fast motion.
