At least, that's what one study says.
I'm one of those viewers. Cut the cord last summer and really haven't missed the hundreds of channels I had to pay for but never watched. Cable companies have steadfastly refused to consider ala carte programming, but money talks, and if they keep losing it they'll have to reconsider the way they do business.
Anyone else stream movies and shows rather than pay for cable or satellite?
I stream sometimes, but I canceled my Netflix account recently. Just like cable, it's filled with massive amounts of worthless junk, and there's not nearly enough new programming to subscribe for more than a month at a time before letting it lapse for 6 months.
|
I would probably cut the cord if the Gf didn't love HBO/Showtime so much. I told her if we keep it she has to pay the up-charge. So far she has.
Netflix is ok but sometimes I want to watch a show as its being aired. Netflix doesn't always allow for this. Sometimes you have to wait over a year to catch up. They don't get premium cable shows either and that's a bummer. I dont want to pay extra for mail DVDs I'm done with that.
Movie selection is still in the crapper. Sounds like HBO and others signed some deal to keep Netflix locked out of some newer movies on streaming. Total bummer. Netflix is great but its not good enough yet.
Hulu plus and Netflix for 2 years now. And if they do t have it I can usually get it on Amazon Instant if I really want it.
I have a very, very hard time believing this. I am a Netflix subscriber, and frankly their selection sucks roxx. Remember, they have been on a steady decline in subscribership since a couple years back when they lost the rights to stream basically everything good they had on there.
Getting online with them is like sniffing desperation from a bottle. Yes, I am glad to have it. I like to catch up on old shows I missed (or that I miss seeing), and it's nice not to have to pay a lot to see all these crappy b-horror movies (maybe the largest selection of crappy psychiatric-hospital-based cinema verite b-movie horror flicks in one place). Occasionally you find some art house gem, and the foreign selection is decent. They picked up some Cartoon Network stuff recently, though only one season of each show.
But, though I reduced my cable subscription to just the most basic available, I still get my best viewing from there. Comcast - probably the very worst large media conglomerate in America, and a company I dearly HATE WITH THE WHITE-HOT FURY OF A THOUSAND SUNS, but is the only game in my town, allows you to stream most of the best shows from A&E, Sundance, and others, for free, the day after the episode premiers. They also have various older shows and movies on there, and are constantly expanding. Some you pay for, some you don't. During various holidays, they put up whole menus of shows and movies relative to the holiday, again, some you pay for, but usually not a lot (a couple bucks).
In any case, tell me some other streaming service is catching up to, or surpassing cable and... I still won't really believe it yet, and will need more details and I suspect it still will not be as black and white as is being implied. But not Netflix.
And just like newspapers, cable companies that refuse to offer what their customers want will die a slow and painful death. I'll bring the popcorn!
Newspaper sales stabilized this year, and their outcome is looking good for the time-being. Yes, they have a much smaller market share now. But they are through a very hard time and things are looking up.
It was ON ALL THE INTERNET AND CABLE NEWS OUTLETS.
Irony, that.
I'll just leave this here...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I cancelled cable in favor of Netflix years ago, and never regret the decision. People gripe that there are so few titles available on streaming -- which is true -- but a 1 or 2 DVD addition to your subscription solves that issue. The next gripe is that the price on DVD + streaming went up a few years ago; in response, I point out that it's still cheaper than most cable packages.
I bought my father a trial Netflix subscription for Christmas; after about a week he told me he'd cancelled cable: "And good riddance!"
The only type of person that Netflix can't replace cable for is someone like my wife's aunt, who watches sports 24/7 -- she gets approximately 8,000 different sports-only channels (ESPN "The Ocho" has nothing on some of these!), with a different game showing on a big-screen TV in every room of the house. These TVs are never turned off. A mega-sports bar complex has nothing on her home; every square inch not taken up by sofas and TVs is covered in memorabilia and other assorted sports bric-a-brac, most of it signed by obscure coaches from like 1971. Her husband walks around the house with a headset that enables him to get the play-by-play audio 5 seconds before the TVs, so there are always slightly out-of-synch cheers erupting from different rooms.
Mrs Gersen mentioned Netflix to her and she said, "unless it's got even more real-time sports, it's a total waste of money!" For her, I'm sure it would be.
Sports does indeed seem to be the thing to keep the cable hooked up. That's what broke several friends of mine, they just couldn't go without being able to watch their favorite teams play.
Yeah I also switched. I hated $100+ cable bills. I get almost all the TV I ever had with cable at a fraction of the cost. I hear the web providers are trying to remove the last obstacle to complete elimination of the cable/satellite providers: Live Sports and Local News. Bye bye cable TV.
|
Add me to the list of people who have cut the cable cord. Going on 3 years plus without cable. Just Netflix through my xbox. I am still finding plenty of old programming on netflix that I am catching up on. For a while I missed live sports but that interest has waned as well. Ironically, I won my fantasy football championship for the second time and never watched a football game.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In Canada, Netflix blows (compared to the US). Old and s~~#ty content. Basically nothing I want to watch.
I'd love to have a cheaper alternative (been thinking about a digital antenna), but I love my Walking Dead, and hockey games too much. Plus my daughter is addicted to Dora. So yeah, not going to happen unless things get bad.
From what I understand, Netflix cannot continue to provide content at this pricepoint in the near future. I watch stocks, that's how I know. Now whether they will have a basic and a premium price, who knows?
In Canada, Netflix blows (compared to the US). Old and s%+@ty content. Basically nothing I want to watch.
I don't understand this -- Netflix streams from their servers to your computer over the WWW. In theory it shouldn't matter whether your computer is in the U.S., Canada, or Kathmandu.
I watch so little these days; between books, games, and work, there's really no time to sit down and just stare at a TV. I need interaction and TV/movies just aren't cutting it. To top things off, most networks are run by card-carrying sociopaths more concerned with their investors than their viewers.
Unfortunately, this will only mean that distributors now have a reason to take their b++!+&%$ to the DVD/digital marketplace. I've had to re-author every motherf*$@ing Downton Abbey disc thanks to advertising. Avertising...on a dvd. Couple this with every other awful conglomerate-owned media group's (Vivendi, Time Warner, Disney) ridiculous decisions and you've got a great way to alienate your customers.
I watch so little these days; between books, games, and work, there's really no time to sit down and just stare at a TV. I need interaction and TV/movies just aren't cutting it. To top things off, most networks are run by card-carrying sociopaths more concerned with their investors than their viewers.
Unfortunately, this will only mean that distributors now have a reason to take their b!@+$#+~ to the DVD/digital marketplace. I've had to re-author every motherf*%*ing Downton Abbey disc thanks to advertising. Avertising...on a dvd. Couple this with every other awful conglomerate-owned media group's (Vivendi, Time Warner, Disney) ridiculous decisions and you've got a great way to alienate your customers.
Reminds me of a certain graphic on this page. When you treat your customers as nothing more than target consumers, they often tend to get irritated.
I don't understand this -- Netflix streams from their servers to your computer over the WWW. In theory it shouldn't matter whether your computer is in the U.S., Canada, or Kathmandu.
As it turns out, it does matter. The US Netflix won't stream to Canada. You must use Netflix Canada, which has different content. See for yourself.
But... you can fool it by having a VPN and having it pretend that your IP is really coming from the US. Then you can do it. But for me it's not worth it either way.
Note that while Netflix may have more subscribers than Cable, that does not exclude someone from having both cable AND Netflix, and nor does it include people who use satellite as far as I can tell.
Netflix isn't really a content creator. It's just a wharehouse full of other peoples shows.
Even cable TV itself is populated by re-runs of Network sit coms. Take a look how often Big Bang theory re-runs air on cable on TBS or other networks.
People talk about the death of Broadcast TV but in reality the big three networks are responsible for a lot of content.
I think we are going through a huge transistion in the way we consume media and the companies that offer that media are having trouble adjusting to the technological innovations that allow us to consume as we please, which is a very hard business model to get money out of when compared to the old TV viewer/ratings/ad sales revenue model that drove the media industry pretty much all of last century.
As it turns out, it does matter. The US Netflix won't stream to Canada. You must use Netflix Canada, which has different content. See for yourself.
I believe you; I just find it bizarre. Then again, I'm not Canadian...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Google Fiber just picked up HBO and Cinemax. Now if they actually provided service in more than one city...
I know what Jack means about the channels he stopped watching. When exactly did "Ice Road Truckers" become history? Why suddenly did everything else have to be related to the Bible and/or aliens?
I cut my cable tv service last month after about a year and a half of me using it less and less. Lately, I mostly watch network tv which is available over the old-fashioned air. And I'm lucky enough to be close enough to the transmission towers that a simple indoor antenna gets me HD quality picture over the air.
That being said I have an AppleTV for recording shows, and my TV is internet ready so I use that for watching Netflix/Amazon Instant Video. Comcast still gets their five pounds of flesh out of me for internet service though.
I didn't go cable-less for any other reason than I was paying for a service that I rarely utilized. So I decided to close up the waste gap. I may get cable again in the future, but for the time being I'm pretty happy with the set up as it relates to my current living conditions & creature comfort desires.
:-( We dont get Netflix in Australia.
Sales Imp
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The only thing I miss since dropping cable is the Daily Show.
They put the previous night's shows up on http://www.thedailyshow.com. :)
:-( We dont get Netflix in Australia.
Do they have the same sorts of package deals down under? What kind of prices do you pay for cable/satellite TV?
Package deals for Cable, Foxtel is the only cable channel. I have TBox which where I can get rent some movies & TV shows and the price is better than iTunes. TBox is owned by Foxtel so they limit stuff to make Cable more attractive.
I can also get the Goverment owned tv stations SBS (Non English speaking programs) and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Austalias BBC) on demand for free...
When Netflix said they had no plans to come to Australia in the foreseeable future, the whole country was disappointed as TV is s$@# here.
Australia has one of the highest rates per head of population for pirating TV shows.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In Canada, Netflix blows (compared to the US). Old and s%+@ty content. Basically nothing I want to watch.I don't understand this -- Netflix streams from their servers to your computer over the WWW. In theory it shouldn't matter whether your computer is in the U.S., Canada, or Kathmandu.
Welcome to the Internet anno 2013. Content varies, a lot, from location to location. Netflix is hardly the first to do this, Steam has been doing it for years. It's all about international licensing and distribution.
We don't like it, but ever since the money-grubbers noticed the internet, it's been a steady decline. :p
(to quote that guy in Neverwinter Nights: "I'M NOT BITTER")
I dropped cable three years ago. I use Netflix and Hulu, both of which are on someone else's account so I don't even pay for them. I offered to pay for my part but they both said not to worry about it.
As far as Netflix and Hulu go I almost NEVER watch them, either. Last fall I gave up television almost completely, even though there were shows I really, really enjoyed. I have pretty extreme general anxiety disorder and I began to stress over trying to keep up to speed on about 8 different shows. Some people can't wrap their heads around that, but that's their problem, not mine. I also find that even just watching anything on those services causes me to get anxious and I can't always finish them. It's not that I can't sit still long enough but I'm not interacting with anyone. I spend a great deal of my day on Facebook and this forum, where I can talk with people or post my thoughts on things, keeping my mind somewhat occupied.
Well, that was a longer than I meant for it to be. Sorry about that.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
We will forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again or it is off to the salt mines for you, DMC!
We will forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again or it is off to the salt mines for you, DMC!
Thank you, your benevolence! LOL
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cut the cord a few years back. Reconnected the cord a year later, but the new cord was a basic cord. :)
Netflix: used to be awesome, but post-Defender and Punisher it's been a little boring if you ask me.
House of Cards is gone, etc. I think Netflix has put out too many Netflix Originals that turned out to be crap, and dropped the ball on the good stuff.
They need to grab that cash and start hiring big shot actors (and close the tap for Adam Sandler... enough of him already)
Netflix has THE WITCHER TV show coming down the pipe and they have a number of quirky, interesting small-scaled shows (GLOW, AMERICAN VANDAL etc) but yeah, some of the bigger shows have been big swings and misses recently. I think the Marvel Netflixverse is getting played out (still haven't watched JESSICA JONES S2 yet) and ALTERED CARBON, although solid, wasn't a patch on the book.
Amazon has been a lot bolder with the shows it's picked up and has in production recently.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I hate Netflix, but I hate cable even more, so good for Netflix!
Captain Yesterday fun fact: I've had cable for a total of four months out of nearly 42 years.
We watch more Netflix than Cable in our house and dropped down to basic cable over a year ago. We enjoy a lot of their original programing stuff and as a family we are good with subtitles so we are also watching a lot of forgine stuff. The Korean Dramas can be really addictive
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have never in my adult life while living alone had cable TV. I stream and watch broadcast television.* Weirdly I have Cable Internet but not TV. I get a basic Internet subscription that is technically more expensive than some of the tv-Internet packages, but also doesn't come with riders and disclaimers like specific contract periods with price hikes that hit after a year or two.
* Also, get off my lawn.
I am enjoying Netflix increasingly (though I'm sharing with a friend). But I like more than the Marvel shows.... I also like some of their comedies (LOVE Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and was enjoying Grace and Frankie though found the most recent season super depressing) and I watch a lot of their documentary/gentle reality stuff like the Great British Baking Show. I also like the historic stuff (the Crown was very good). It definitely does cycle as to what's on it that I like (it is weird sometimes it is hard to find something I want to watch on Netflix even with all that it has), but generally there's something I'll enjoy. I also like that it has all the CW shows so if I missed an episode or want to rewatch something from Legends of Tomorrow or Jane the Virgin that's easy enough to do.
I only rarely regret not having cable... like, I'd love to see the new version of Howard's End on Starz. But there's no way I'd subscribe to cable just for one show, and the new Howard's End will be out on DVD or streaming eventually.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I really enjoyed THE TOYS THAT MADE US, a Netflix documentary about different toylines. I was really interested in the toys that I was into as a kid, so the TRANSFORMERS episode was key, but what was unexpectedly interesting was the BARBIE episode, because of the insane level of backstabbing and corporate chicanery going on in the background. It was like GAME OF THRONES, but the prize was controlling Mattel.
I have cable, but mostly only because I get it for free via my apartment. Bizarrely, my apartment came bundled with cable but not internet, so I still have to fork over money each month for that.
There are a small number of shows I like watching on TV, as they air, but increasingly I could pretty much just use streaming services. Especially since my Christmas present was a Roku stick, which is absolutely amazing for watching stuff on a normal tv, rather huddling over my crappy laptop.
Unfortunately, I do think streaming services are sort of going downhill as the environment becomes ever more balkanized. I definitely have had a drop off in Netflix viewing, and mostly retain the service because they put out just enough shows that I am interested in to not make it worthwhile to cut my subscription. As they invest in more and more original program, the movies that I originally subscribed for start becoming ever more reduced. Which causes me to subscribe to more and more streaming services.
For instance, right now I also have Hulu, Amazon Prime, Shudder, and HBO. Individually these are not expensive, but together they add up to a pretty impressive monthly expenditure, even if I tend to cycle out of some channels once I watch what I am interested in (looking at you Hulu and HBO). I think this is only going to worsen, especially as Warner Brothers and Disney develop there own streaming services.
|
|
Our cord remains intact for now. We really considered it for awhile, but netflix and hulu are real hit and miss. We also prefer premium cable HBO/Showtime/Starz over them. Our cable package lets us rotate out any premium service. The biggest hold back is we are fantasy football nuts and cant live without Red Zone (which we can also swap out for a premium channel). So for now we are corded up.
So we axed Hulu and probably wont ever go back. I cant stand network television and the idea of paying for commercially interrupted network TV, doesnt sit well with me. I know I can cough up more dough for ad free, but thats twice as insulting to me. The originals and movies barely make it tolerable.
Netflix is on the chopping block. The originals are very hit and miss. At this point we are only hanging on for Stranger things and some random docs. Marvel was a draw but its quality is noticeably dropping. Netflix days are numbered for us.
Still going strong on Netflix. I'm really enjoying their Marvel offerings (aside from Iron Fist) and the first season of Lost in Space was enough for me to await a second season. I also enjoy rewatching stuff I haven't seen in years, like the various Star Trek series. Most missing shows I can catch up with for free on Hulu.
I tried Shudder for a while on their free trial, then an extended free trial they offered when I decided to cancel. I'm a horror fan, but I wasn't really impressed. Their selection ranged from good indy stuff to complete schlock that would gather dust on a Blockbuster shelf if the company still existed.
Cable services are really shooting themselves in the foot by not directly competing with one another. That would be incentive to vary their offerings, maybe try an ala carte, pay by the channel, system.
I've been considering a Roku or perhaps an Amazon Fire TV stick, but I'm still weighing the pros and cons.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lost in Space is indeed an unexpected gem... thoroughly enjoying this show. So good...
Still going strong on Netflix. I'm really enjoying their Marvel offerings (aside from Iron Fist) and the first season of Lost in Space was enough for me to await a second season. I also enjoy rewatching stuff I haven't seen in years, like the various Star Trek series. Most missing shows I can catch up with for free on Hulu.
I tried Shudder for a while on their free trial, then an extended free trial they offered when I decided to cancel. I'm a horror fan, but I wasn't really impressed. Their selection ranged from good indy stuff to complete schlock that would gather dust on a Blockbuster shelf if the company still existed.
Cable services are really shooting themselves in the foot by not directly competing with one another. That would be incentive to vary their offerings, maybe try an ala carte, pay by the channel, system.
I've been considering a Roku or perhaps an Amazon Fire TV stick, but I'm still weighing the pros and cons.
The Roku really doesn't come prepackaged with any of the major streaming services...it just lets you easily watch them on the TV. If you are prone to stream a lot of stuff (including watching stuff on Youtube) or rent movies on Amazon, it's a good deal. I had a firestick but had trouble getting a good enough wifi signal, but that might have been due to my poor internet at my last place I rented.
as far as cable channels offering ala cart, that is kind of what we are getting now with streaming services, and frankly I think it sucks. You can easily tally up 5 or 6 subscriptions just to watch the content you want.
|
|
as far as cable channels offering ala cart, that is kind of what we are getting now with streaming services, and frankly I think it sucks. You can easily tally up 5 or 6 subscriptions just to watch the content you want.
what is hilarious about it is folks assumed that ala cart meant big savings, when in actuality, you often spend just as much as a cable package.