Have the floodgates opened?

[indyogb]

After yesterday's announcement that starting next year, you can buy access to HBO without a cable/satellite subscription, today CBS announced a similar plan. I'm not sure why anyone would pay for an over-the-air network, but for HBO (and other cable networks, should they jump on board), this could work. Perhaps cable will see the writing on the wall and finally start a-la-carte plans before they become irrelevant? Could some of the other cable networks (TNT, FSN, ESPN, etc.) maybe follow suit? I just read an article that claimed these actions kind of make Netflix "just another channel", which is true, in a sense .

Cable's death blow?

 

[BBG]

This has been in the making for a while now. As a long time cable cutter, it's long over due too.

Now, the plan by CBS is still a bit costly and you can't get NFL games (I think). But there are legal ways to watch games already on the web.

I think this is just the beginning. People are tired of paying a lot and getting very little. Like paying for 600 channels and using 15.

 

[GMM]

I certainly hope so

This could have a major impact on the culture and then politics if the television industry is subject to market forces.

 

[indyogb]

I cut the cable a few years ago, and I've been waiting for this for some time now. Honestly, I've learned to mostly just "do without", but it would be nice to get some of my sports back. I really don't miss much more than that - a few cable network shows, but I have a hard time "sticking" to most of them.

Other than Colts games, which I can always get over the air, I really don't miss much of the NFL. I do miss the smorgasbord of college football games that were available on Thursdays and Saturdays, though. The MLB package is pretty good, and I've used that the last couple of years, so I'd probably try an NFL version of that. The NBA package totally sucks due to their (even more stringent than MLB) blackout rules.

The last two days is certainly getting me excited.

 

[pastorjoeboggs]

Originally posted by BBG:
This has been in the making for a while now. As a long time cable cutter, it's long over due too.

Now, the plan by CBS is still a bit costly and you can't get NFL games (I think). But there are legal ways to watch games already on the web.

I think this is just the beginning. People are tired of paying a lot and getting very little. Like paying for 600 channels and using 15.

I still don't think CBS gets it. The app is nice in that you can watch some live broadcasts and the whole run of classic shows. But the current shows only have the current seasons. I don't understand why they wouldn't make previous seasons available in a pay app.

That said, it's a hell of a lot better than what CBS was doing before, which was next to nothing.

 

[atmafola]

Originally posted by pastorjoeboggs:

Originally posted by BBG:
This has been in the making for a while now. As a long time cable cutter, it's long over due too.

Now, the plan by CBS is still a bit costly and you can't get NFL games (I think). But there are legal ways to watch games already on the web.

I think this is just the beginning. People are tired of paying a lot and getting very little. Like paying for 600 channels and using 15.

I still don't think CBS gets it. The app is nice in that you can watch some live broadcasts and the whole run of classic shows. But the current shows only have the current seasons. I don't understand why they wouldn't make previous seasons available in a pay app.

That said, it's a hell of a lot better than what CBS was doing before, which was next to nothing.

Yeah and they think someone will pay $5/month to see their local CBS without including football games. hahahahaha. indoor antennas are cheaper by far.

 

[BBG]

Originally posted by atmafola:

Originally posted by pastorjoeboggs:

Originally posted by BBG:
This has been in the making for a while now. As a long time cable cutter, it's long over due too.

Now, the plan by CBS is still a bit costly and you can't get NFL games (I think). But there are legal ways to watch games already on the web.

I think this is just the beginning. People are tired of paying a lot and getting very little. Like paying for 600 channels and using 15.

I still don't think CBS gets it. The app is nice in that you can watch some live broadcasts and the whole run of classic shows. But the current shows only have the current seasons. I don't understand why they wouldn't make previous seasons available in a pay app.

That said, it's a hell of a lot better than what CBS was doing before, which was next to nothing.

Yeah and they think someone will pay $5/month to see their local CBS without including football games. hahahahaha. indoor antennas are cheaper by far.

Agree with both of you. And you can stream live stuff for free as it is so paying that sort of price isn't going to work. However, I think this is just the start. CBS will test the waters and see how well it works and adjust and I think others will hop on board next year as well.

All of this is thanks really to HBO. People have wanted to nuke bundles for a very long time and it appears that it is finally starting to happen.