Apple is going to launch a TV service this fall that could kill cable

Business Insider ^ | 03/17/2015 | Bryan Logan

[TomGuy]

Consumers want content that is accessed and consumed on demand whenever and however they want

Cox Cable On Demand is terrible, but sometimes I prefer it, because I can stop and start as necessary. Sometimes I even DVR a program to watch later and fast-forward through the commercials. I typically watch more Netflix per week than networks.

Subscriptions are the only viable model going forward,

Netflix sort of started that. The problem is that too many separate entities (networks/corporate heads) will try to start their own. The idea will then be splattered over dozens of websites. Many of those websites will not be updated regularly, etc. Content sites could easily get lost among the billion websites.

CBS and HBO are already experimenting with Internet subscriptions that bypass the cable/satellite companies. I have not checked CBS, but if they are, like Hulu, embedding commercials and charging a subscription, they might not find success.

[Syntyr]

Lets get past the idea of channels. I dont want to pay for content that I dont watch. So offer me programs. If I want to watch Castle or Vikings or The Amazing Race then let me pay a price and subscribe to that content. It can be automatically delivered to my DVR when its available. When there is nothing I want to watch then nothing has to be coming down the pipe. Save the bandwidth. I might watch more TV that way.

[Ray54]

Dish network already offers this. Sling TV. Bundled streaming. ESPN, ESPN2, History, TNT, TBS, Lifetime,CNN, and others for 20 bucks a month. Launched last month.

[camle]

if you can pick out your 25 channels, plus get the locals, it might be a winner. what’s the point in getting 200 channels if they’re all junk?

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this article.

There are some excellent replies and discussions after weeding of the Apple Cult and Apple hate posts.

High cable costs for scads of channels which so many of us don’t need nor want are creating markets for indoor and outdoor basic TV channels.

What we need are not expensive bundles of channels we seldom or never watch.

Charge us a fee for the programs we watch and at the time we want to watch them.

We only watch Fox cable and the local Fox news channel, a handful of show, mainly on CBS.

We are Giant feans probably former miner fans.

We only speak English and have zero need for dozens of Spanish programs and dozens of other shows.

We have HBO and Showtime as part of our package, and we haven’t watched anything from them in two years.

When we can’t negotiate a semi affordable rate with Comcast, we will stop TV and phone service and negotiate a wireless plan for internet use.