Hearst Television contract up for renewal on Time Warner

[techguy1975]

The Future:  all delivery Via IP....just like netflix and others these groups will start selling streaming subscriptions to their channel packages and there will be no middle man to mark it up.  This will be the beginning of ala carte programming delivered by the Producers of the product.

As more and more Internet connected TV's are produced and the applications are refined this will become the dominant method of delivery.

Maybe not tomorrow but sooner than you think

I agree.  Really, all I need right now is a Internet connection, a Roku box, and Netflix and Hulu Plus subscription and I'd be good.  Probably a antenna to watch the local news and stuff.. If I didn't have roomates who are DVR junkies I'd probably cut the cable

[Jack 1000]

The thing is,

I know that going mobile is the thing, but I love watching on a big 40" 60" HD TV.  The monitors are too small and it hurts my back and eyes sitting at a computer screen for several hours watching a movie.  Unrealistic to have a 50" HD monitor for a PC/TV situation.  It's pricey and you would have to have a King Kong sized desk.

I don't think mobile is all that great.  I've tried watching movies on my PC and don't like it.

It's just not the same as a huge HD screen and a recliner or couch.

Jack

[techguy1975]

The thing is,

I know that going mobile is the thing, but I love watching on a big 40" 60" HD TV.  The monitors are too small and it hurts my back and eyes sitting at a computer screen for several hours watching a movie.  Unrealistic to have a 50" HD monitor for a PC/TV situation.  It's pricey and you would have to have a King Kong sized desk.

I don't think mobile is all that great.  I've tried watching movies on my PC and don't like it.

It's just not the same as a huge HD screen and a recliner or couch.

Jack

Thats very easily done Jack.  You can connect a computer to a TV, or get something like  a Rouko box, or any of those varients.  A lot of DVDs and even TVs are Internet ready and able to access apps such as Netflix.  You don't need a computer.

[Jack 1000]

Thats very easily done Jack.  You can connect a computer to a TV, or get something like  a Rouko box, or any of those varients.  A lot of DVDs and even TVs are Internet ready and able to access apps such as Netflix.  You don't need a computer.

Yea,

Now I remember those options are out there.  No computer needed.  TV+High Speed Internet+Tivo+Netfix.  I think commercial networks are under-estimating the other ways  that people can get their shows.  Holding customers hostage is just stupid.  Consumers will turn to other options.

Jack

[Talos4]

And don't forget game consoles. I use my XBOX to connect to Netflix, HULU, youtube etc as well as my PC network through my now ancient 7" gun RPTV.

My XBOX is hardwired to my router and all of my PC's including two desktops are wireless.  Much better connection for streaming.  

My newer LCD is not internet ready but, I plug one of my external HD's into it and use the built in media player to watch HD programming/movies I've burned to it.

Tech savvy consumers are already ahead of the curve. Even those not so tech savvy are starting to discover the numerous options available.

[PONIES]

The Future:  all delivery Via IP....just like netflix and others these groups will start selling streaming subscriptions to their channel packages and there will be no middle man to mark it up.  This will be the beginning of ala carte programming delivered by the Producers of the product.

Bypass the middle man... by subscribing to the middle man for Internet service?

You realize there's a reason why all the ISPs are pushing bandwidth caps lately right? The minute Internet video starts becoming a serious threat they will either kill it with ridiculous bandwidth caps and overage fees, or keep unlimited Internet service but double its price to what you're currently paying for Internet+TV service from them.

As long as the United States has such a corrupt regulatory environment, you don't stand a chance of these duopolies just sitting back and letting you keep paying $50 a month for unlimited standalone Internet service and then subscribe to a TV service via the Internet.

[ArgMeMatey]

The minute Internet video starts becoming a serious threat they will either kill it with ridiculous bandwidth caps and overage fees, or keep unlimited Internet service but double its price to what you're currently paying for Internet+TV service from them.

As long as the United States has such a corrupt regulatory environment, you don't stand a chance of these duopolies just sitting back and letting you keep paying $50 a month for unlimited standalone Internet service and then subscribe to a TV service via the Internet.

For example as long as they're getting $70 per sub for TV service, they're willing to give me internet at the promo rate of $30 a month.  So they get $100 a month.  Now if I drop TV, they are down $70 a month in revenue.  Granted, some of that goes to programming costs that they will subsequently not incur on my behalf.  

But when enough people have done that, Time Warner, AT&T, Comcast, etc. are all in BIG trouble with stockholders for not meeting revenue targets.  So what do they do?  Of course they raise rates all around and really stick it to the broadband subscribers, because they can actually measure that consumption.  

Talk all you want about how broadband should be capless ... I'm not disagreeing.  But it's a threat.  When they serve up TV, once they've built out the area, their incremental costs per sub are approaching zero.  (They're not billing you based on the number of hours of TV that you watch, because there's no advantage for them or content providers to bill that way.) Not so with internet service, where it is much harder to predict traffic levels, local nodes have to be added to further segment traffic, and backbones have to be scaled to gargantuan levels.  

This is going to happen, folks, and the pressure on big cable is only going to increase.  Old folks don't get the fact that the HDMI output on the computer plugs right into the HDMI on the 60" plasma or LCD.  But when the next generation becomes the target demographic, they're going to say the equivalent of, "Forget this stuff ... why would I pay those chiselers $70 a month for their crappy locked-down box when I can do a lot better, cheaper, using my computer as the DVR & media server?"

AT&T wants to push IP TV, but using a proprietary model that requires their box and subscription.  They're getting away with it now because all they do is emulate what cable does with FDM.  But they better have some pretty good tech and marketing folks figuring out how they're going to produce a product that's superior to the open-source model of using a run-of-the-mill computer.  Kids these days are not afraid of cables and menus.  On the other hand, many old folks would be happy to have a kid around just to get up and change the channel every so often.  But they keep paying that cable bill.

So, drop your cable subscription.  You'll help hasten the transition, and you won't care about negotiations between publicly-held companies doing what they think they need to do, to enrich management and stockholders.  But don't count on saving money, at least in the short term!