Posted on 06/15/2011 1:05:37 PM PDT by abb
Ask Netflix about cord cutting, and it’ll tell you: “It’s not happening, it’s not anything we are causing, cable and Netflix are complementary.” Then take a look at the actions of service operators, cable networks, consumers and even Netflix itself, and you’re going to see a decidedly different picture: Cable and Netflix are competing for the same eyeballs, the same money and the same TV real estate, and the fight is getting tougher by the day.
Not convinced yet? Then consider this evidence:
Consumers are ready to jump ship. Netflix users that stream the company’s videos to connected devices are twice as likely to at least downgrade, if not outright cancel their cable TV subscription than they were just a year ago, according to a new study from The Diffusion Group (TDG). Thirty-two percent of these Netflix users are thinking about calling their cable company. “Despite its rhetorical positioning, both Netflix and Pay TV operators have long been aware that there will come a point at which its services are not only dilutive to regular TV viewing, but antithetical to Pay TV subscription levels,” said TDG’s Michael Greeson. In other words: In the long run, Netflix will inevitably lead to cord cutting.
Content licensing is getting more competitive. Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos revealed recently that Netflix is now at the table for pretty much any TV licensing deal. So why aren’t Netflix customers buying more content? Because some of the networks simply don’t like to share. Netflix would prefer cheaper, non-exclusive licensing deals, which would make it possible to get more bang for its buck. However, HBO and increasingly Showtime are insisting on exclusive content to prevent subscribers from jumping ship.
Many observers thought Netflix wanted in on this game when the company bought the rights to its first-ever exclusive show House of Cards this spring. Sarandos, however, said that it was exactly the other way around: Netflix was getting concerned that it would get shut out of too many deals for attractive serialized content, which is increasingly going exclusively to programmers like HBO, so it saw itself forced to act.
Cable companies castrate their TiVos. A number of cable companies now offer their customers TiVo-branded DVRs that offer access to all kinds of additional online content. But TiVo users who buy their devices at retail will be able to watch videos from Netflix and Hulu Plus with these machines, while customers who rent the same DVR from their cable company won’t have access to these two services. The logic? Netflix could get people to ditch their premium channels and ignore cable VOD.
Netflix is dominating every screen. Network operators are trying to bring TV everywhere, but they often must feel like the hare racing the porcupine: Wherever they look, Netflix is already there. The company’s service is now available on more than 250 devices, and Netflix is getting more aggressive about dominating every single screen. The latest ploy is a dedicated Netflix button on your remote control, which puts it in direct competition with your cable guide. That raises the question: Do you want to browse through thousands of channels, or simply access Netflix?
Incumbents are putting a cap on it. If you’re a network operator, how do you keep your customers from canceling premium pay TV services to watch everything online? Canadian ISPs seem to think that bandwidth caps are the answer, and they’ve been enforcing strict data diets for years. ISPs that charge consumers up to $2.50 per GB once they exceed caps as little as 2 GB per month have been a real problem for Netflix north of the border, forcing the company to default to SD-quality streaming for all Canadian customers.
There’s been some movement with regards to bandwidth pricing in Canada in recent months, but the conditions are telling: Shaw recently introduced generous 1TB caps and even unlimited data plans, but those are reserved for customers who have a pay TV subscription as well. Bandwidth caps in the U.S. are generally higher, but not really that generous either, especially if you’re a heavy Netflix user.
When they say “universal”, what I hear is “progressivism”. Socialism.
You will! Or else.
HBO is a premium channel that requires a subscription. If you don't like it, then by all means don't subscribe.
Netflix shows a lot of Christian and family friendly stuff that I didn't know existed. I have often wondered what TV would look like if people could pick what shows they get, and Netflix is showing us that. I predict that eventually this will be driving more family friendly movies and other programming since HBO and Comcast aren't making the decisions anymore.
The irony and misinformation here is incredible. Netflix has movies that HBO et al would never show uncut. Stuff that is truly X rated, not the soft core fare found on HBO.
In reality, premium channels such as HBO function a lot like Netflix these days. I pull up HBO HD on a menu, and I can watch any show that HBO is offering.
Not just that, but the committees also served a news function.
The king controlled the on/off ramps during those days, and the founders knew full well what that meant.
That’s why they avoided it and worked to thwart it.
Exactly. Ecclesiastes 1:9. "The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
Gotcha. I have this tendency to think of FIOS as cable, even thought FIOS regularly reminds me that it’s not. All I know is that I could never go back. I really noticed the difference at work where we had DSL. It would take forever to download large PDF files from manufacturers. Where at home, I can download entire movies or CD collections in a fraction of the time. I don’t think it took ten whole minutes for the Itunes to completely deliver the entire Beatles catalog, and most of that time was consumed with file housekeeping on my computer’s end.
Fiber is cheap, but it's extremely expensive to install, so usually far more than is needed is installed while the ditches are open, creating a huge overcapacity. Dark fiber mainly refers to the overcapacity in addition to individual lines not being used. There was a fiber laying frenzy during the dotcom boom, so there's a lot of extra fiber cable around. In addition, newer technologies have vastly increased the amount of data that can be transmitted on the same fiber, essentially creating more dark fiber. I don't know about 90%, but it is significant for sure.
Anyway, I know Google's been buying up a lot of dark fiber to use within their own network. Level 3 Communications, which carries the Netflix traffic, has been buying an obscene amount of it.
Net neutrality laws are already unnecessary. Having the government decide what’s “fair” always ends badly.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=152404
Digital Drives Media Futures, Hitting $555B In 2015
http://www.amazon.com/Deal-Hell-Plundered-American-Newspapers/dp/1586487914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308167527&sr=8-1
The Deal from Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers
I agree with the sh**ty new UI. I will not cancel because of it but they will definitely here from me about it. It is extremely difficult to search for movies now.
Now this is the best darn thread I’ve see in some time. I simply LOVE to read about so many who are cutting the cable. I have been off cable for 12+ years and I don’t miss it a bit. I love the comments here about being in control of the content on the screen without the constant stream of totally offensive commercials.
I have been using Netflix since it first appeared. I first got DVDs in the mail and was happy to see the on demand content arrive and expand. I agree it’s lacking in some popular content vrs cable, but they have a great selection of documentaries and educational content. I have been watching the 12 part series called “America: The Story of US and it’s wonderful. The major factor for me is; WE get to choose the content and it’s free of commercials. I connect my iPad to a DVI cable plugged into the TV, tap the Netflix App and ZOOM, full HD. The App needs a bit of work as pausing is difficult to recover from without killing and restarting the App, but it’s acceptable.
When I think of the monthly $$ we have collectively spent on cable/satellite over the past 12 years, and the massive advertising revenue that is generated for the liberals trying to destroy this country simply because OUR eyes are staring at the screen and it makes me ill.
When I see there is a trend that indicates more are turning in their boxes for the peace it brings to their home and I am delighted. I only wish we conservatives who are still paying that monthly cable bill would stand up in mass and say, take your cable and MSNBC and commercials and shove it all, making a massive statement to the liberal establishment. If I could read one thread like this per day, I might start to believe the average citizen of this country is awaking from their long slumber.
Thanks for all the great posts. (please note tag line)
If a customer gets to watch all the HBO he wants for a flat rate per month, then the same deal should apply to Netflix.
Okay, but HBO doesn't rely on the networks of a 3rd party to deliver that to you.
These statements always amaze me. When has this happened? Why WOULD this happen? Why would bringing in a corrupt to the core entity such as the government make this problem any better? You'll sell out the freedom of the internet in order to 'save' it. What a plan.
I think what you probably will see are bandwidth caps and plan changes. Our plans that we have now won't change in price, just the level of service. What we all pay now for access will be the cheapest plan. And then the cost of Netflix will stop being shifted and if you want it, you'll need to pay for a huge data plan to have it.
Frankly, I'd rather see it done the non-neutral way and have Netflix sit down with the ISPs and work out a deal that would save both of their business models. But that wouldn't give us the ole warm-n-fuzzies with Daddy Government saving the day, would it?
Bingo!
Exactly. I had Netflix for a year. There wasn’t enough content to interest me.
We're in total agreement on the above...
Heck no, I don’t work in the cable television industry. I work in IT, but I don’t rely on overcharged services and that’s not what gets my caps key aflutter. It’s the sheer idiocy of the literal MORONS who want to bring in government regulators to solve a problem that doesn’t even really exist yet. How idiotic can one be to even suggest such a thing? Yet, they’ve got this great sales pitch and are even here on conservative sites telling us how ‘necessary’ it is and now wonderful this ‘net neutral world’ is. Barf.
If you want to see what I’m talking about, find out the specs of your internet connection and then call up your cable company and ask them for a business connection with the same specs. You’ll probably be in shock for a couple of days after hearing the price.
When they sell you a business connection, they expect you to use the connection to its full capacity, so you are charged accordingly. This is not the case with a residential connection. With a residential connection, they bank on making money by you not using your full capacity. The idea is that so few actually will that it all balances out in the end.
Then, Netflix comes along and all of a sudden the users are using a lot more of their capacity and they’re increasing every day. Something has to give somewhere. Either you’re going to have to pay more for Netflix to allow for the service to operate on your ISP, OR the entire way you pay for residential broadband access will have to change. Either way, Netflix is going to cost a lot more.
And either way, the government has ZERO place in getting involved in regulating the content of the internet. Especially in the name of ‘fairness’ or ‘neutrality’ or whatever, because the government has never in history used words like that for the force of good and sure as hell aren’t likely to start now.
Business always gets hosed, but it is the cost of doing business so they pay. I don’t use cable for my internet connection I use a small local company, I started with the home user plan and upgraded to the business plan to get higher speed, it was only $20/mo more and much faster.
Your reply: The irony and misinformation here is incredible. Netflix has movies that HBO et al would never show uncut. Stuff that is truly X rated, not the soft core fare found on HBO.
I guess it is apparent what comes up on your Netflix "Suggestions for You" tab.
I bought a WD Live Plus media player about a month ago(along with a cheap usb wifi adapter for it)...put a movie in queue(on the PC), clicked on Netflix on the WD Live unit, entered account info....was watching the movie in less than a minute...no stutters and such off the wifi...good quality(HD)...only wish I had a decent sound system for my TV.
Pretty cool stuff...
Really getting tired of all the garbage on cable...
I also put up an antenna in the attic recently(good enough to get local news channels off the airways).
It may be time that my cable TV goes the way of my land-line phone....AKA...adios.
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