The End of TV and the Death of the Cable Bundle

[cali]

By Derek Thompson

Jul 12 2012, 1:54 PM ET 241



Two small pieces of news yesterday could make for a big headache for TV.

First, Viacom yanked its 19 channels -- including Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central -- from DirecTV after the two companies failed to agree on subscriber fees. Second a federal judge cleared the way for Aereo, an exciting new startup that could bring local TV (NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS) to any device you wish, from a smart phone to an actual TV.

Big deal, you might say, so DirecTV people can't watch "South Park" and techies can get a crappy stream of "The View" on their iPad. That's not a wrong interpretation of the news, but it's too narrow. The bigger story here is the death of the bundle.

Every year, 100 million homes pay for a bundle of cable channels. Like any bundle, it's hard to see exactly what they are paying for. That is somewhat the point of bundling -- to disguise the true cost of the constituent items. If you watch ESPN and 17 other channels regularly for four hours a day, you are probably getting a good deal. And that means that millions of other people are getting a "bad deal" on their cable and are subsidizing your TV experience. For these millions of households -- who don't watch live sports; or only want HBO; or only need their Law & Order, ANTM, and Daily Show fix; etc -- an à la carte option for television would almost certainly be cheaper.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/the-end-of-tv-and-the-death-of-the-cable-bundle/259753/?google_editors_picks=true

[Blanks]

1. The beginning of the end for Fox News.

We had it in our dish bundle. I kind of miss TNT & USA, but I have no regrets for going to my Roku device.

[lovemydog]

2. The Justice Department should investigate

whether to sue Comcast for violating antitrust law.

In my area I can't get good internet without Comcast, then they bundle it with cable to the point where they're telling me it's almost more money for me to drop cable tv.

The film studios were forced by Justice (and the Supreme Court) to stop their monopoly on theater chains. They could own both the distribution and the production sides of movies, because it didn't allow anyone else to enter the business of distribution or to compete on a level playing field. Because the studios were forced to divest of theater chains, they could no longer both finance and distribute movies. That gave rise to the great independently financed movies of the 1970's.

A similar thing is in order with Comcast. It's the only high speed internet where I live. They should be forced to divest of either the internet business or the cable tv business. That would allow others to enter the field, and compete, and drive prices down. $120 a month is too damn much!

[KharmaTrain]

4. The DOJ Has Been In Corporate Media's Pocket For Decades...

It goes back the Raygun and took real root, unfortunately, thanks to Telcom '96 under Clinton. All that you complain about is very legal...with the rules of the game written by the lobbyists of the cable industry and their big money suppliers (major networks, film studios et al). If the DOJ or SEC launches an investigation into any financial manipulation or possible violation of rules the lobbyists and lawyers gear up and any hint of investigation is either stamped out or "papered over" with boxes and boxes of documents that take months and years to go through.

Many areas do have competition now...AT&T is in many areas where Comcrap is and there are several alternatives to them as cable with more on the way. The same applies for Internet....I never bundled and have friends and business acquaintences who have also unbundled in recent years as Comcast's prices have gone up and their customer services has gone into the dumpers. I prefer working with local IP and internet service providers...and it may cost a little more but the service is highly reliable and when there's a problem I have a name to call, not sitting in hold hell.

Technology is still outpacing the corporates ability to control it...

[lovemydog]

6. great points

and thanks for the tip on using a local isp. I'm going to search around and check with friends.

Comcrap's prices are becoming prohibitively high.

[woofless]

12. Comcast used to be that way in our area as well.

A couple years or so ago they changed their policy. We now are set-up with high speed internet via cable and they have nothing to do with our other services. I'm satisfied. Were they to change back I would probably dump 'em.

[brewens]

3. I got rid of my cable company as soon as I got the chance. DISH is

still kind of the same deal but better. I'd still prefer an a la carte arrangement. Our local cable company changed hands several times but was always about the same. Same manager and monopoly. it went from Teleprompter to TCI and is now Cableone.

During the TCI years we were screwed. Everyone around my town of about 50,000 had better service. I was pretty certain that manager got his bonuses by maximizing Turner network stations. When FOX came out we didn't get it for a couple of years. Everyone I knew was requesting it. That manager did a newspaper interview and had the nerve to claim there was not that much demand. We are 100 miles from Spokane, WA and their FOX chanel was trying to get on the air down here. Their manager said they were offering it to TCI here for free in the same newspaper story. That TCI manager was busted for flat out lying but we still didn't get it until TCI had a contact with FOX. We could however get it over the air if we had a good enough antenna.

[brewens]

5. And another thing! We were the laughingstock of the entire nation because we

didn't get the 1979 Superbowl! That was an AP story in papers all over the country. The story that eventually leaked out was that the guy on call was not a sports fan and didn't get around to fixing whatever blew out until after the game. good going there cable guy!

[SoCalDem]

11. Hahaha.. I have Fox blocked and would pay to get rid of it

[brewens]

13. I don't mean FOX "News". The original FOX was really good. It had Star Trek The Next Generation,

The Simpsons and regional sports people wanted to see. That was years before FOX "News" became the right-wing propoganda network.

[SoCalDem]

7. It also means the "death" of many niche channels..like FSTV & Link

These channels are part of bundles, but standing alone, their fans are not in sufficient numbers for those channels to exist very long.

[shcrane71]

9. Have you looked at their budgets? I was under the impression that

their listener support keeps them up and running.

[SoCalDem]

10. They still have to be broadcast on tv.

As part of a cable/satellite bundle, they are seen, but as a stand alone buying their own airtime, or as a pay-per on cellphone/laptop, how will they flourish?

[shcrane71]

14. Community Radio, Public Radio, and Public Television have flourished.

DemocracyNow even made a comeback after a hostile take-over of Pacifica in Dubya's first term. Listener-sponsored broadcasts work.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. I can get FSTV streamed via my Roku

and I can get Al Jazeera English, Rachel Maddow, and other news sources streamed on my iPad.

If Comcast weren't my Internet provider, I'd dump cable completely.

[a kennedy]

8. We have Ace Communications for all our needs....TV, internet, land line phone....and we get $$ back!

They're just a small midwest company, serve Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan. Tell me what other communications company do you get money back from for being a member?? Unheard of now days. http://www.acegroup.cc/ we're pretty satisfied with them, and I do love getting that check back around Christmas time.

[lovemydog]

15. Approximately what's their monthly fee for basic cable?

And if they are also an isp, approximately what's their monthly fee for high speed internet service?

[a kennedy]

16. Here, I'll give you the skinny on my bill.....

sorry, the paperwork on our bill has been trashed because we just paid the bill, but usually it's like $49.90 for HD TV and DVR, $35 for Internet service, $17.00 for land line phone plus the calls we make....so last month our whole bill was $175.00 oh yah, forgot, we added two movies at $4.99 per movie.....so..... $175.00 for the whole ball of wax. I'd say that was pretty reasonable..... AND we get a check around Christmas time to boot. It's a cooperative.....and we love it.