Cable subscribers flee, but is Internet to blame?

[Hannah Bell]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cable companies have been losing TV subscribers at an ever faster rate in the last few months, and satellite TV isn't picking up the slack.

That could be a sign that Internet TV services such as Netflix and Hulu are finally starting to entice people to cancel cable, though company executives are pointing to the weak economy and housing market for now.

Third-quarter results reported Thursday by major cable TV companies show major losses, but don't settle the question of what's causing them.

If "cord-cutting" in favor of Internet video is finally taking hold, that has wide-ranging implications. Consumers who use the Internet to get their movies and TV shows bypass not just the cable companies, but the cable networks that produce the content. The move could have the same disruptive effect on the TV and movie industries as digital downloads have already had on music.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Cable-subscribers-flee-but-is-apf-3875814716.html?x=0

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Soooo... how do you get broadband without cable? The phone...

company can now sell you DSL and video, but it tends to be more expensive when you add up the package costs. (And those taxes and fees the phone company tacks on that cable doesn't.)

I suspect cable is being dropped simply for cost cutting as much as anything else.

[thunder rising]

3. Indeed cost. I like the $5 bin at Wally World. I buy anything in there that I can imagine would

replace a midnight movie on the tube.

[tsuki]

8. Over the air, I get CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, CW, MyNetwork, ThisTV, Weather and

4 PBS stations for free. I already had DSL, cable being unavailable since I am rural, so I get Netflix and Starz Channel for nine dollars, plus music, radio, Rachel Maddow, Keith Olberman, Amy Goodman, etc. any time I want.

That is way cheaper than the old BUD I had. They are turning off the BUD Dec. 24.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Over the air I get nuttin'-- maybe three channels on a good day now that...

it's digital and a strong signal is needed.

Cable ain't cheap-- 140 bucks for a decent package plus phone and internet and the digital DVR box, but it's still cheaper than the phone company for all that. And no contract. Satellites are out of the question for phone and internet.

[tsuki]

11. Over the air, we have always thought that we got nothing. I needed

a TV for Mom when she got ill. The BUD only supported one TV. A friend of my son's came over and told me to get an aerial with a signal booster on it, went on the internet, found it and wrote the number down. Husband put it up, and bang, we went from zero to all those free channels. It was great for mom. Because we only had one TV, I had bought a small HDTV for her (may have had something to do with it.)

Most of our stations are 50+ miles away, and while the aerial claims 100 mile radius, I doubt it.

It works out to 99 and change for the entire set up per month.

It works out for us because we are not TV watchers. I know when NCIS and Wheel of Fortune come on because they are Husband's fav programs. Other than that, I just flip until I find something.

[masmdu]

18. Cable for Boadband Only...No Programing

It's $35/month

I have a ROKU box http://www.roku.com

I can watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Cnn, NSNBC, CNBC, CNN international, News Shows from NBC CBS, Maddow, Obermann, Hardball, Current TV, Nasa, CNET,ESPN,FOX, C-span,NPR,PRI,BBC African TV, Indian TV, Listen to all the Music on my computer, Listen to radio from around the world, Pandora, RSS feeds to read on TV, New Media and Podcast from Mediafly, BlipTV, Revision3, SUNIMI, Internet Archives (public domain), News from France-Russian-AlJazera-etc, TED talks, HubbleCast, PodCastTV, Education (lectures and classes) from Harvard, Stanford, MIT and more with CDNTwo, NASA, SpaceTV, Google VoiceMail, Picasa, Flicker, Kidlet, ProMedTV, Flixter Movie Trailers, Vimeo, Kahn Academy, Shoutcast, JustinTV, Comedy Central (though Playon), HGTV

And those are just the channels that I have added to my ROKU there are many others available.

Cost: 80$ for the ROKU Player. Recurring Cost: $8.99 Netflix subscription

[Demstud]

20. DSL is cheaper for me

DSL is $25/month, Netflix is $10/month, and I spend $50/year on Xbox Live (my device for Netflix streaming video). It's not fast enough for streaming high def. all the time, but it's plenty good enough for the price, and I can still get a dvd when I feel like it. My news I can get from the web and network TV.

[dipsydoodle]

2. There are two other issues

Constant changing age demographics and also the crap they broadcast which I'm guessing is pretty much the same as the garbage we get in the UK on both cable and satellite.

I'd say the majority here get broadband on their telephone line.

[Joanne98]

4. Unemployment benefits are running out. "basic" cable is too expensive.

Expecially since it's trash anyway.

[BarbaRosa]

5. I wonder if the cable/satellite companies think anybody

watches 'Paid Programming'? I'm a lite sleeper, and am often up early in the morning and it frustrates me to no end to see blocks of PP on the guide. Damn were already paying more than it's worth to get the service only to see blocks of PP.

[cutlassmama]

6. cost cutting

[Occulus]

7. My cable froze on me more times than I can count tonight.

Thank His Noodly Appendage I have Netflix.

:evilgrin:

[Pab Sungenis]

10. A lot of people are rediscovering free over-the-air broadcasts,

Thanks to the conversion to digital television, and the government program that gave out millions of free converter boxes for older sets, people in metropolitan areas can now get their "local channels" in even better quality than with cable, and a number of new multiplex channels that make up for some of what they lose on the "premium" side.

For example, I can get two 24-hour local weather channels, a 24-hour news channel, a sports channel, "Live Well TV," and eight channels of PBS off an antenna. Starting in January I can also get a new classic TV channel that's rolling out. And I don't pay a penny for it; all I need is an antenna on my roof and a digital-ready TV or converter box.

Back in the days before HBO and Showtime were everywhere, and "cable-only" channels like CNN and Nickelodeon came along, the main reason to get cable was picture quality or poor reception. For a large chunk of cable subscribers those problems were fixed by the digital transition.

It gets more and more tempting to cut the cable, at least on the television side.

[tsuki]

13. I am rural and can get free over the air.

Check out this

http://www.roku.com

I bought one of these boxes, and now for nine dollars get Netflix and Starz. Plus lots of free stuff, including Amy Goodman.

[snappyturtle]

15. I just look at your link....WOW! Looks like a solution for my problem:

94 year old Mom who cannot adjust to change satelite programming package! I know, but...........I moved in to take care of her because she cannot be alone anymore but I so miss seeing a decent movie once in a while. Thanks again!

[BolivarianHero]

12. Fuck that.

Why would I want to pay twice as much as what I pay for Internet for TV?

[Lint Head]

14. This is something that the fascist corporate powers that be will use

to squeeze another dime out of us all.

[Le Taz Hot]

16. I'm getting rid of mine as of Dec. 1.

I can no longer afford, nor am I willing to pay over $90.00 a month for 99.9% shit, not to mention never-ending infomercials. I'm VERY happy with Netflix.

[blindpig]

17. I don't think so.

Cable is getting so expensive that many are abandoning it in favor of broadcast digital, there is huge demand for converter boxes around here.

It's the economy.

[BuelahWitch]

19. I shut mine off last month

The only thing I miss is TCM, but Amazon has more and more of the older films available for either download or streaming for much less than cable cost me.