Media stocks getting hammered as pay-TV subscribers cut the cord

[dixiegrrrrl]

Media companies’ stocks were getting hammered on Thursday, after earnings reports made clear that many are suffering a major exodus as pay-TV subscribers cut the cord, raising concerns about the long-term outlook for the entire sector.
The selloff extends a 7.5% slide on Wednesday, and brings the stock’s three-month loss to 41%.
In contrast, the S&P 500 has gained 0.3% the last three months, and rival video-streaming service provider Netflix Inc.’s NFLX, -0.15% stock has soared 56%

.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/media-companies-take-a-beating-as-pay-tv-subscriber-numbers-decline-2015-08-06


I would not have cut the cord if:

there was decent programming
cable and satellite providers were honest and respected their customers instead of trying to gouge them for every penny

Sucks to be you, Comcast..

[bvf]

1. I reached the point about three weeks ago

at which I could no longer justify $100+/month simply for MSNBC, Comedy Central, and the occasional "must-see" TCM offering.

With Colbert and Stewart leaving, and MSNBC showing Ed the door (and likely short-leashing the rest of the evening line-up eventually), the decision was pretty easy.

I don't need a landline phone, and my cell carrier provides most of what I do need in the way of internet services (except that Virgin Mobile throttles my bandwidth once I've reached a couple of gigs on my "unlimited" data plan).

Sucks to be Wide Open West as well, I hope.

[irisblue]

2. I have them

I'll be cutting the cord soon, Hulu or Netflix, here I come.

[Kelvin Mace]

3. My objection to Hulu

is that even when I paid for it they had commercials and lots of them.

I don't know if this changed, but I will never go back unless it does.

[Old Codger]

12. Anothter major consideration

When deciding which ones to subscribe to(for me at least) I do not have a mile wide pipeline running here I am lucky to get .80 speeds, I can stream netflix pretty much all the time sometimes even have 2 Roku units running 2 streams, but with Hulu could barely even ge one stream to run without constant buffering , maybe get 2 or 3 mins then have to wait another 2 mins or so .. netflix streams way better..

On edit..... I dropped sat. tv about a year ago, missed some of it at first but would never go back to it now unless they made some pretty drastic changes....

[Politicalboi]

28. I have that same problem with Hulu

Also don't like the commercials while watching TV shows. Been threatening to cancel for over a year. I have Netflix too, and it has less problems than Hulu.

[whatthehey]

25. So does cable. Far more than Hulu, and yet tens of millions pay for it.

[Kelvin Mace]

39. Not me, I thought it was going to be like Netflix

and I would pay the subscription and get commercial free TV. When I didn't I cancelled.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. We dropped tv, got 70.00 savings

dropped AT&T smart phone contract, saved another 70.00

So now we have one cell we buy minutes for every 90 days at a cost of 30.00, and one landline.dsl combo for 65.00.

When you are not commuting/working, a home desk top meets almost every need.

Cutting the cord, we ended up with much much more free or nearly free stuff to read and watch than we every did before.

[Seeker.]

20. Cutting the cord was one of the smartest things I have ever done.

I dropped paid TV about 12 years ago, when I realized my DVD collection had more up to date movies than all the premium channels combined. It will soon be 2 years that I ditched the cell phone. One single land line with voice mail, is all I need. I, like you, am saving money, and not missing them one bit.

[ruffburr]

29. There ya go! -

Two years ago I cut my phone and tv Dish and went to Tracphone /Roku, Before: phone 100.00/ Dish 89.00 now phone 10.00 per month tv now 20.00, per month.

[shanti]

33. i'll bet

that feels real good, and you can find plenty of other things to spend that money on!

[Go Vols]

5. I cut the cord awhile back

I can get more on my Rokus and mag254 boxes than I could on cable at a fraction of the price.

Edit: Watching the idiots debate on Fox now.

[Rex]

6. Good! It is well past time the M$M die off. They obviously don't care about their audience or truth.

Haven't cared in decades. I hope Comcast dies off or has to sell off to someone with deep liberal pockets!

[romanic]

7. People can't afford cable anymore

or at the very least, they cant just watch on Netflix, Hulu, or whatever on the computer. I know I have basic cable and internet which is enough for me. Plus I have a wide range of DVD and BluRay collections of shows I watch so I'm not missing much either way.

[msongs]

8. "the rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor" - Leonard Cohen nt

[Go Vols]

9. K&R

[Xithras]

10. I would but...baseball.

There's no way to watch all of the Giants games live without cable. Bastards

[FlatBaroque]

11. mlb.com is the best way to watch

for hardcore fans. I just got an email offer for the rest of the season for 25 bucks. Not a bad deal for every game live.

[bvf]

13. It took 50 years for my complete

disinterest in sports to pay off!

But I know where you're coming from.

[Katashi_itto]

18. Baseball....What is this...Baseball, you speak of?

[yuiyoshida]

19. ACTUALLy you can...

you can sign up at mlb.com. I would have done that, but chose to listen to Jon Miller on KNBR while tweeting with fans on Twitter. Btw, I don't have a tv and haven't had it in forever, and never needed to deal with any cable companies. AT&T offered it to me, but I said no thanks. I can watch what ever I want on the internet.

[Paladin]

14. I'm watching Free Speech TV online (www.freespeech.org),

getting my morning dose of Stephanie Miller. Still hanging on to cable TV, but will be looking for some discounts, given market conditions.......

[PasadenaTrudy]

15. We cut the cord 2 yrs ago.

We watch stuff on iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, and HBO Now.

[hunter]

16. I cut the cord with extreme prejudice...

... no cable, no satellite, no broadcast.

My local internet provider is just fast enough to serve YouTube videos here on DU.

[Skittles]

17. can't stand Hulu but Neflix and antenna TV works for me

[Stardust]

21. The second I can watch msnbc on demand, that cord is toast!

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. You know that msnbc runs its programming on its web site, eight?

There is just a couple hours delay from their tv schedule.
Been watching Rachel for free for years.
Same with the Daily Show and Colbert and........they are on the web after the show airs on tv.

[Stardust]

24. No, I didn't know that! I'll check it out-- you may have just saved me a bunch o' money. Thanks

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. The internet provides a lot of topical shows

if you can wait till the next day, mostly.
Try checking out a network's schedule to see if there are viewings...even HBO...
and also YouTube carries bunches of shows.

[Triana]

23. I'm over a decade ahead of 'em.

Cut the cord in the late 90s or so.

[jwirr]

26. What about the contract that still has to run out? I have about 6 months left.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. You will have to pay it now or wait 6 months till it is gone.

As usual, WE get stuck by the contract, but THEY can and do change rates anytime they want.
You iwll have 6 months to plan out your next moves, so that may be a good thing.

[jwirr]

31. Thank you. I have patiently paying off my bills lately so I guess I can look at this as paying off

one more bill.

[shanti]

34. i have direct

and am in a 1 year contract. asked the rep what it would cost if i ended it early and he said about $15 per month (not used). YMMV

[jwirr]

35. Thanks for the info.

[shanti]

32. hah

i have directtv and the bill had gotten to 115 a month, and i'm not even top tier, no addons. so....i called them and told them it was totally unacceptable. they dropped my bill by $50 and only with a 1 year contract (that was ok with me, i'm not going anywhere). i would have cancelled it totally, but i have a lot of recorded stuff i haven't watched yet. they REALLY wanted to keep me!

after a year, i will cut the cord for good.

[jwirr]

36. One of my big reasons for keeping it would be great grandchildren who visit and want to watch.

[shanti]

37. yeah, there's that

i have a 7 year old grandson, but when he visits, he only wants to play games on his tablet. he really shows little interest in the teevee.

[jwirr]

38. Mine are getting to that. I only live 2 blocks from the library so we often walk their - they have a

great kids rooms with computer games and all.

[bemildred]

40. Good, I hope they all go bankrupt. nt

[Yavin4]

41. Forcing people to pay for something that they won't ever use is a bad business model

The cable model was doomed from the start. Forcing people to pay for 100s of channels of unwatchable TV just does not work in an online world.

[sendero]

42. Exactly..

.... when satellite offers A LA CARTE channel selection I might consider going back. As it is, I use a Roku and with Hulu and Amazon Prime and I get all the video I want for about $16 month as opposed to the $70 I was paying DirecTV to buy a bunch of pointless religious and shopping and other garbage channels.