Cord Cutting Fears Caused $60 Billion to Simply Evaporate → Still just a drop in the bucket

556,000 subs sounds like a lot, but considering its only .7% of the total amount of pay TV subscribers, its still just a drop in the bucket. In order for cord cutting to really gain traction and become mainstream, a lot of things have to change.

1. All content needs to be accessible via some medium on the internet. So far, just a little content is available. Sports is huge and right now, even if you have a viewing package online for your favorite sports league, blackouts exist. Sure, there are ways around that, but that leads to my next point.

2. It has to be legal. Yea, torrents are out there, but many people don't know how to mess around with it and don't want to learn. The cable box is easier. They want to spend less time messing around with illegal streams and more time watching TV. That leads to the next point.

3. It has to be in high quality. Ever watch sports on a crappy free illegal stream? They suck. Pay services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, NHL Gamecenter, and so on are not free but they are high quality streaming services.

4. Finally, it has to be easy to use. With Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV, there are easy to use set top boxes out there. Not all boxes deliver all content.

Please note I didn't say free, because if given the choice, people will pay for the content that they want. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and others have shown that people are willing to pay for good content. Right now, we just need good content providers to provide things we can't get right now.

a little over exaggeration.

had very little to do about cord cutting

I disagree completely that "all content needs to be accessible on the internet". It's not content alone that people are looking at; they're looking at VALUE. They're looking at the entire picture of content, DRM, price, convenience, etc.

That's a fragile stool. Add in the fact that there are a fixed number of hours per day and plenty of ways to fill those hours, the choice of "what and how many hours do I assign to the TV thing" comes into play. At some point "I guess TV doesn't fit into the schedule, oh well" happens--even if it's available via the internet. Because why should I pay for something I barely have time to pay attention to?

No, it's a mixed bag that creates the value. What the content owners want to do is sit back like Jabba the Hutt and have money come in with zero effort. Now they're being forced to compete for the public's entertainment dollars and time--and they're not equipped to do that. Hence the panic.

It's corporate media. There is no value.

More and more people flock to torrents to get entertainment. Why could this possibly be?

First off it's easy. Almost any Android or other box and smart TV's will run Plex. Once fetched it is added to the Plex library. Simple, Easy and Fast. Watch what you want, when you want. try doing that with any other "Legal" service. Let's take a look.

OnDemand

A friend used to use OnDemand to watch TV shows when he has the time. The nice "Feature" called No Commercial Skip on many CableCo's OnDemand Service actually cause him to lose valuable time. Without wanting to pay the $15+ extra for a DVR, he just switched out to torrents where these limitations do not apply.

Hulu

Well another friend of mine tried Hulu. How nice to pay for the same ad over and over without being able to skip, and no complete series, wow another person who would have paid, but poof off to torrents.

Apple and Amazon

Okay, Okay but what about the 2 biggies. Another friend of mine had a AppleTV (original with the HD inside) He paid for entire seasons that he wanted to have. His AppleTV died, his daughter got him a new Smart TV just a bit before. He tried to play that content on the Smart TV oops nope. He asked me why does it not work? I said Apple has DRM that will only work on a Apple Device. So you have to get a new AppleTV. What if I want to watch it in another room he asked? Get another AppleTV. Frustrated with all the headache a person who had spent several hundred dollars on series stopped and moved to torrents. The same goes for Amazon. I could go on with stories for days on these two.

Paid for and Gone! What!

There has been many articles on eBooks vanishing from peoples libraries with no chance of a refund. This also happens with video as well. Search and see. And then comes the "License" excuse, to add insult to injury. The quickest way to get people to move off of these services is to make what they buy vanish.

I can give these examples all day long, people who want to pay, but *don't* want the hassles. This is not including the people who think all these prices are way too high. A great example is look at where you live and look at where the Studio execs, Producers, Directors and Actors live. Even better look at where the crews live, I bet you don't see too many hairdressers, gaffers, grips, stunt doubles, set builders or the like in Beverly Hills. They have gotten fat off exclusive deals, release windows and artificially inflated prices. They get money from Cities, States and countries to cover a chunk of the costs of filming, Get local police to play babysitters when they film all at our expense. When it comes time to pay taxes they play games with the books to pay little to no taxes. When the economy went sideways and people lost their homes, jobs, and futures did Hollywood come to help? Nope, just complained over and over about how they were losing money. So they *must* be all pirates now! Did the fact that people could not even afford to pay for food enter into anything? Are we really crying for people who do things like this? Are we really trying to make sure that they have all they money they ever dreamed of lying at the foot of their beds?

Just something to think about.

These numbers are only the beginning and expected to accelerate going further. I wouldn't be surprised if these numbers were in the the millions by the next summer or fall.

You are correct in that value is a key as well. People are paying for that value right now. I have a subscription to Netflix and Amazon Prime. I also have a subscription for hockey. Those provide good value to me for what they have.

At the same time though, the rest of the factors are laid out. DRM is not as important as you think. The common consumer doesn't give a shit about DRM. Convenience is a much higher priority.

The content providers like Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu are going to be scrambling as well down the road if more content providers launch their own services. We already have seen HBO Go launch for $15 a month. I predict we will have a lot of these content providers in the next 2-3 years popping up. Eventually, people are going to get the a la carte they have been asking for.

Until more content providers get on board, the mass exodus is going to be less than 1% a year which is just going to be a small drop in the bucket.

Don't have cable, satellite TV or TV period. I don't have Fire TV,chromcast or Apple TV. No set top boxes. Only Netfix,OTA ,and Slingboxes.. Don't care about sports. Don't do torrents. I read books ,go outdoors,travel work,etc.. Don't even have the weight gain like most.
All under $15/mo..
You must be talking about people who sit and consume a lot of tv and can't let go of it. Wife and kids won't allow some to cut the cord. All caught up in the rental boxes and such. The sports. They will be paying premium,rental fees,commercials, and paid programmin for a long time.
I'm banking on it.

With cordcutters its more of a personal thing within the home. At least with people I know.We are saving money and doing other things.
We are already there. Don't care about traction or mainstream.
I know I don't care.

Ah, I love the labels that are thrown around a lot here.

The people who pay for TV are considered to be overweight and consume a lot of TV? Really?

The people who are not cutting the cord are people who are spending their entertainment dollar the way that they want. They love sports. They love the convenience of just flipping on the TV and their DVR for recorded shows. They love having all the programming at their fingertips when they want to watch the big game.

Remember, everyone spends their entertainment dollar the way they want. This is the great thing about America. Just because someone pays for TV doesn't make them stupid or delusional. Everyone has their vices, and while you aren't paying for TV, I am sure that many here would look at what you spend money on and be critical of it. It could be booze, cigs, going out to eat excessively, etc.

In my situation, I have no reason to go from $100 a month after taxes for my internet and TV to just internet at $65 and lose all my programming options. Now, if I lost my job, TV would be one of the first things to go. Its a luxury recreational item and I will treat it as such. Its my hope that more content providers go up on the internet so I can eventually ditch pay TV, but it all depends on the cost, quality, content, etc.

I have watched those streams there are good quality ones for some teams. But now I use the new antenna my landlord put up. The old didn't work for some tv's dunno why.

said by Nightfall:

---

DRM is not as important as you think. The common consumer doesn't give a shit about DRM. Convenience is a much higher priority.

---

DRM and convenience are oxymorons, and ARE IMPORTANT, when they prevent you from playing your media conveniently.

said by Nightfall:

---

In my situation, I have no reason to go from $100 a month after taxes for my internet and TV to just internet at $65 and lose all my programming options. Its my hope that more content providers go up on the internet so I can eventually ditch pay TV, but it all depends on the cost, quality, content, etc.

---

How do you figure that MORE HBOGo and other services offering their service direct is going to be CHEAPER???

You pay $100/mo for HSI and video....

Drop it for just HSI and its $65 so add $9 for nextcrap, $8.25 for amazon, $15 for HBO, we are alsmost back to your $100 and LESS CHOICES... and if you wnat sports its finally been bandied around that ESPN will $30/month in most cases if they ever go this route, so that along practically sucks up most of the reduction.

I've said before that TRUE al a carte will never be the prices a lot here seem to think. What the MSO's pay is NOT wah Y-O-U will pay. Not even close.. THINK B-U-F-F-E-T $20/mo for 25 to pick from these 100 channels, add sportscrap $20000000/mo, etc..

The reason people purchase Netflix is also due to the total lack of commercial content. People are tired of paying to watch ads with television. Maybe the new people aren't aware, but the tv you watch today used to be free because the ads supported the broadcast, and some brainiac figured people should pay more on top of that.

They don't just have to compete on price to combat cutting, they need to deal with the reality that no one is worth a 7 figure salary for anything they do. Even if it DOES include saving lives.

Paying to watch ads has been around for years. TV hasn't been commercial free for years. The people who are watching the latest episodes of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Big Bang Theory, and so on are going to have to either deal with the ads or get a commercial skip product like the Hopper if they want to watch things legally.

The ads aren't the problem. As you mentioned, its the cost. The people who can live without this material will do so and just go with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Go, and so on. They can watch Breaking Bad a season behind or can use torrents to catch up if they want to go the illegal route.

Torrents aren't easy to the non-technical. The closest this comes to being easy is using popcorn time if you attach your computer to a TV. Many common consumers aren't attaching their PC to a TV because they don't have one that is located next to the TV, its not easy to remotely control it, and the torrents on top of that are another level of difficulty.

Remember, just because you are technical and the people here on DSLR are as well doesn't mean the masses at home are going to just get it. This knowledge isn't passed down through osmosis. Maybe in another 20-30 years we will have more techies in the population, but right now there isn't a glut of them.So just because someone said it happened means that it happens all the time? I have purchased countless music and movies online and never had an issue. Same goes for all my friends and family. Just because someone claims it happened doesn't mean it is common place or means we should turn to illegal means.You are right, people won't want the hassles. This is one of the main points I am trying to make. You want to know why cord cutting isn't more mainstream? Its because of the hassle it is to torrent and find quality streams of sports and other content and get them to the TV easily.

TV is going to become a luxury item, if it hasn't become one already. The cost of cable and satellite TV is going up. If someone loses their job, people will drop pay TV. When they get a new job, they will pay for it again.

At least until something easier comes along.

Never thought of weight gain as a label.It is what it is. Part of a type of life style I guess sitting watching a lot of tv has to be part of it. 95% of the people I see every day are overweight. My doctor made a comment about it the other day during annual exam. She asked what I do when not working and got on the subject about TV watching.
I don't think people are consuming broiled chicken and and water watching tv shows and sports for hours and I'm sure the TV isn't attatched to a treadmill or elliptical.

I know that everyone spends their entertainment dollar the way they want.Never said they were stupid or delusional. All I said that I'm banking on it in dividends from telecoms,healthcare, oil,NG,to power companies.