Cutting The Cord -- How to leave cable companies?

[cybercoma]

Not yet. It will be.

[cybercoma]

Netflix has a bunch of outdated content. If you want up-to-the-minute content, you'll be charged for it a la carte.

[Boges]

Netflix has a bunch of outdated content. If you want up-to-the-minute content, you'll be charged for it a la carte.

I believe Hulu Plus (Not available in Canada) has up-to-date material.

I think you may end up seeing Amazon or iTunes move to subscription models for the programming they offer too similar to how they deal with music.

You can get unlimited access to music currently for $10/month through Google Play Music.

[Mighty AC]

I believe Hulu Plus (Not available in Canada) has up-to-date material.

Hulu does carry up-to-date content for ABC, Disney, Fox, NBC with a sprinkling of other material. Netflix has a much larger selection of back seasons and movies, plus exclusive original content. I love House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black.

I use both services and find the experience far superior to traditional cable/sat programming. I like the pure 'on demand' subscription based, streaming model. The content I want is available on any device, wherever I happen to be and whenever I want to watch it; all for a ridiculously low price.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Mighty AC

[GostHacked]

All traditional media has gone through massive changes with the widespread use of the Internet. The music industry, music label were the first to feel it. They could not adjust to the MP3 mentality. They had to change their model and way of doing business. The movie industry was also affected by the Internet. The big hint there is the absolute disappearance of video stores like Blockbuster. Even Rogers closed all their video stores. Cable TV channels and operators are now going through it as well. They will have to change to stay relevant in some ways.

Adapt or die. We see more dieing than adapting.

[Mighty AC]

Adapt or die. We see more dieing than adapting.

Rogers and Shaw are teaming up to offer a Canadian based Netflix competitor. Though I expect they will screw it up by offering too little content or by requiring a Rogers/Shaw cable subscription. Edited September 11, 2014 by Mighty AC

[overthere]

Hulu does carry up-to-date content for ABC, Disney, Fox, NBC with a sprinkling of other material. Netflix has a much larger selection of back seasons and movies, plus exclusive original content. I love House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black.

I use both services and find the experience far superior to traditional cable/sat programming. I like the pure 'on demand' subscription based, streaming model. The content I want is available on any device, wherever I happen to be and whenever I want to watch it; all for a ridiculously low price.

Unfortunately neither of those services provide what our household watches: Current HBO/Showcase/AMC/Bravo/History/ National Geographic etc stuff to be recorded and watched commercial free, and live sports mostly on Canadian speciality sports watched live. I also have Netflix, but it does not have much in the way of current series programming and we watch so many movies in theaters their selection is too old and too mainstream for the most part.

It looks like the CRTC will be favouring CBC if they unbundle some of the cable company offerings. CBC will likely be one of the few channels left in the basic mandatory package. Lucky thing for them too, if Canadian TV was truly a la carte they'd be toast. Little revenue from cable carriers goes hand in hand with little revenue from advertisers.

[Boges]

It's been said if less popular channels die due to an a la carte method, the price of channels people do want to watch will go up. They'll get you one way or the other.

[cybercoma]

Rogers and Shaw are teaming up to offer a Canadian based Netflix competitor. Though I expect they will screw it up by offering too little content or by requiring a Rogers/Shaw cable subscription.

They'll put ads in it like Crackle, yet still charge people knowing those idiots.

[cybercoma]

It's been said if less popular channels die due to an a la carte method, the price of channels people do want to watch will go up. They'll get you one way or the other.

Eastlink already offers per channel subscriptions out here, so Bell and Rogers also offer it as well. It's around $10 for a bundle of 5-6 channels and it's about $5 per channel unbundled.

So yeah. The CRTC is going to make things a lot more expensive for people with this hearing.

[Bryan]

The only thing is that I agree with having CBC as a national network for exclusively Canadian art and content, paid for through tax funding and not a subscription model, available freely in multiple formats (e.g., streaming, cable, satellite, radio). If people don't want to watch, don't. However, I think it's important for our artists to have a venue for their work.

If people don't want it, they shouldn't have to pay for it either. CBC should be exclusively funded by those who choose to subscribe to it.

[cybercoma]

If people don't want it, they shouldn't have to pay for it either. CBC should be exclusively funded by those who choose to subscribe to it.

I disagree with that sentiment as much as I disagree with the idea that you get to pick and choose where your taxes go. You elect a representative in your constituency to vote where you money goes on your behalf. That's the way politics works. If there is a net benefit to our society to have a protected venue for Canadian arts and culture, and I think there is, then you don't get to opt out of that. You pay into it like everyone else pays into having a military or pays into funding research at universities or pays into running a court system or building ice breakers or having postal service. You get to pick who's going to vote on your behalf but you don't get to pick specifically where your taxes go.

[Bryan]

If CBC was the only source of Canadian programming, you might have a point. There are many other options. One could just as easily argue that sports are the very fabric of Canadian culture, therefor everyone should be forced to pay for TSN and/or Sportsnet. I disagree with that for the same reason: I want those channels, and I'm willing to pay for them, but no one who doesn't want them should have to put in a dime.

Besides that, television isn't an essential public service. If culture has to be protected, then it's not real culture, it's fake. Real culture is what happens when things are left to be what they are, not dictated to the people through the use of tax dollars.

[GostHacked]

I disagree with that sentiment as much as I disagree with the idea that you get to pick and choose where your taxes go. You elect a representative in your constituency to vote where you money goes on your behalf. That's the way politics works. If there is a net benefit to our society to have a protected venue for Canadian arts and culture, and I think there is, then you don't get to opt out of that. You pay into it like everyone else pays into having a military or pays into funding research at universities or pays into running a court system or building ice breakers or having postal service. You get to pick who's going to vote on your behalf but you don't get to pick specifically where your taxes go.

Infrastructure different from delivered entertainment content. I don't have an option to not pay taxes. I have the option to not pay for cable.

[overthere]

I disagree with that sentiment as much as I disagree with the idea that you get to pick and choose where your taxes go. You elect a representative in your constituency to vote where you money goes on your behalf. That's the way politics works. If there is a net benefit to our society to have a protected venue for Canadian arts and culture, and I think there is, then you don't get to opt out of that. You pay into it like everyone else pays into having a military or pays into funding research at universities or pays into running a court system or building ice breakers or having postal service. You get to pick who's going to vote on your behalf but you don't get to pick specifically where your taxes go.

I agree with the idea that govts set spending priorities, but also acknowledge that we are talking about entertainment here. There is absolutely no need for our government to be involved in subsidizing a TV network today, a situation which is reinforced by the extremely poor job they make of it. There was a need for CBC radio 80 years ago as a new and exciting technology, there was a need for CBC TV in the early 50s. They did have a mandate to unite the country and did accomplish that for some time. But they have both been overtaken by events beyond their control. Time to move on instead of continuing to provide CPR to the dinosaurs.

The govt also has many other ventures that do a better job of promoting our culture and arts, including the incubator FACTOR, the Canada Arts Council, the heritage side of Parks Canada and many others.

It's a dumb argument anyway, from either side. Traditional network TV is dying. You can fight to the bitter end, or accept that technology has matured, and that Canadians aren't interested in Don Messers Jubilee anymore.

[cybercoma]

This Globe editorial sums up my thoughts really well.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/the-crtc-needs-to-start-thinking-outside-the-idiot-box/article20812593/#dashboard/follows/

[overthere]

If Canadian culture is represented by what CBC TV provides in their content, then it is not worth saving.

Their hallmark is poorly written, poorly presented and amateur rubbish that nobody watches.

[cybercoma]

I like the idea from the article that we fund Canadian production that is then distributed online or sold to the private networks. Funding should be focused on content not delivery.

This is a change from my previous opinion that content should have a protected venue. The problem is that the CRTC and government is so out to lunch on the way people consume media that a protected venue is outdated. The internet is vast and open, and mostly free from regulations and control. That venue isn't going anywhere. So the protected venue exists. It's time to focus on content like the BBC has.

Edited September 27, 2014 by cybercoma

[Boges]

Good News Cheapskates!

http://www.cnet.com/news/cord-cutters-hbo-to-start-online-only-subscriptions-in-2015/

[cybercoma]

HBO sees the writing on the wall. The cable industry is dying.

[Mighty AC]

Exactly. Why not profit off those of us that have already left antiquated cable systems behind?

[Boges]

I wonder what Price Point people deem an Online only subscription to be worth. $10/month? Or the same price and you're just get to avoid having to have digital cable.

I certainly see a future where content is exclusively available online. But because the Telcoms own the internet lines it'll be difficult to avoid them without some inconvenient improvisation.

At this point, I'd imagine getting the content I consume through a cable box and DVR solely through online sources (legally) would actually cost more.

This is because of sports and basic cable programming that isn't widely available affordably online. . . yet.

[cybercoma]

Believe me. When you cut the cord you find a million other more fulfilling things to do with your time. I used to watch a lot of different TV shows that I realized later that I couldn't possibly care less about watching. You figure that out when you get rid of cable and have to pay for shows individually.

What also becomes jarring is the absurd number of advertisement you're bombarded with on television, television that you pay to have. It's ridiculous and annoying, but you become so accustomed to it when you're watching TV all the time that you don't even notice it anymore.

Everyone's consumption patterns are going to be different, but what I'm saying here has been my experience. I don't miss cable a bit.

[Boges]

You don't have to experience much advertising with a DVR.

[bush_cheney2004]

I like the advertising...some of it is better than the programs they sponsor. Also it is very easy to multitask while watching the telly. That's why I have one in the garage, den (viewable from my computer workstations), kitchen, and basement. The DVRs have a commercial skip feature, but I rarely use it.

Some of the GEICO ads are priceless !