Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Prime2]

Mike, what are you doing for mobile data?

My cell service is with Sprint, added the $20 p/m additional data usage, but the GB-age allotment is woefully inadequate and no F'ing rollover. Primarily laptop/tablet email and modest surfing.

Also, DirecTV offered Sat-Go for a few years but it has all but vanished, no longer even offered by them. Anyone find a comparable unit or package via any of the major players? I will be traveling extensively this fall but want to watch every Michigan game IMMEDIATELY, regardless of where I 'm at. Hotel or Buffalo Wild Wings have worked in the past but suck.

I currently have a KVH system for my boat but it is ridiculously expensive and just silly.

[Mike]

Mike -

Are you back in San Diego?

Nope. I'm in Michigan and bought a house so I'll likely be here til I die.

[Mike]

Prime, I use Verizon but I don't stream video on my phone without wifi. I get by with 2GB/month. I like their coverage better than Sprint , tho.

Another thing I like with this Smart TV/Roku setup is streaming Youtube videos from your phone or laptop to the TV. You just pair your TV to your phone/tablet/computer (similar to how you would pair a Bluetooth device). After you're synched up, an icon appears in the video frame called YoutubeTV. Click it and the video transfers to your TV. Then your phone becomes a remote control. It's especially great if something is in HD. Of course, this is of no use for live TV but it is a cool feature.

[Prime2]

Yeah, I've been with Sprint for 15 years, kinda stuck with them. Verizon & AT&T are superior.

Roku is far superior to Chromecast or AmzonPrime but I though Google was best for Youtube?

I have used my TV for web browsing for years Mike, initially setup a laptop and wireless keyboard/mouse, as an external monitor.

[Mike]

Enlightening article from SI a couple months ago regarding the role of sports in this new era of cable-cutting. Hint: it is significant.

http://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/12/17/future-cable-sports-tv

I predict that when the dust settles in several years we'll be back to paying what we were before we cut the cord in the first place. They have to make up the revenue somewhere. ESPN is trying to get out ahead of it by putting their content on Sling TV for $20. I don't even watch ESPN unless they are broadcasting a Michigan game of importance (which hasn't happened since Lavert got injured). For me, I'd like to see the regional sports networks go to a streaming model like BTN has. I'd pay, say, $10.99/month for FSD streamed to my Smart TV and Roku. My worry is that everybody partners up and forms these mini-packages like Sling TV and you end up right back where you started. $20 for the ESPN package, $20 for the Fox Sports package, $15 for BTN, etc. Then there will be the unavoidable burden on broadband capability once enough people make the switch to streaming.

Again, kicking myself for not doing it sooner and reaping the benefits for several years. For now I'm just trying to beat the sheriff to the county line.

[WM Wolverine]

There are tons of people in my generation (and younger) that don't subscribe to cable and are only using the streaming services. Cable and satellite are getting dropped by more-and-more as the prices skyrocket while the streaming services are improving their services but aren't near as polished as cable/satellite...

Eventually the cable, satellite providers will need to compete with the streaming services that offer most of the same content but far cheaper.

[Mike]

That's why live sports is the trump card. The major players that control sports content will hold onto it like grim death.

The article I linked mentions that ESPN receives $6.00/month from the 100 million cable subscribers in the country that have ESPN on their package. That's over $7 billion annually just from subscriber fees, not counting ad revenue. My mom, for example, has no use for ESPN but is paying $6 a month for it. If people could choose to pay only for what they watch, it is estimated that ESPN would have to charge direct subscribers $30/month to maintain their current level of revenue from subscription fees. I don't think that's a reasonable number to expect people to pay but I'm sure a lot of people would pony up.

It'll be very interesting to see how this all plays out. It's certainly the biggest sea change in media and broadcasting in my lifetime, probably ever. This is like TV taking over radio and the internet crushing print media all at the same time and on a bigger scale.

[Mike]

Eventually the cable, satellite providers will need to compete with the streaming services that offer most of the same content but far cheaper.

And this is why you see the former middlemen creating their own content. Netflix producing House of Cards, for example, and Comcast buying NBC. They know they need to have their own original content to make themselves viable in the long term. Otherwise, they're just a middle man who is taking a cut for not really doing anything. Given the option, people would prefer to buy directly from the source.

[lineygoblue]

On Dish, I have about 150 channels available, of which about 140 at any given time, are showing paid programming for penis pumps, and/or the newest push-up bra.

I'd give up the "buy this crap" channels in a heartbeat.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Mike, I think you are spot on regarding entertainment access trends.

Right now, my cable and internet bill is $233/month. Only $68 of that is for high speed internet. The biggest rip-offs, IMO, are the $10/month fee for HD set top boxes (I have three of them adding $30/mo. to my bill), $2/additional outlet that have CATV running to them, I have three of those, add another $6, and another $6/month for HD technology fee. I have the sports pac ($10/mo.). Comcast lists a Broadcast fee of $1.50 ad a franchise fee of $8. That's $51 in unjustifiable fees, not including the $10 for the Sports Pac that I never use, EXCEPT TO GET THE BIG TEN NETWORK and from my local broadcast hub, its not HD!

At best, I could try telling a CSR in Comcast's retention department that I'm dropping everything but my Internet service unless they chop about $70 off my cable bill, bringing it to around $95 and my total bill around $163. They might bite although I'm in no mood for up-side negotiation just to save access to the SD Big Ten Network. I'm pretty much done with Comcast. I can live without the Big Ten Network. I'll just go to the games live.

By contrast, I can have HD OTA local network broadcasts plus a pretty hefty dose of other stuff right off the antenna, all free, plus Roku video streaming. If I want ESPN (which I don't) I can add Sling TV ($20/mo), Hulu Plus - good TV episode and movie access - ($8/mo.) and/or Amazon Instant Access - duplicates Hulu Plus with the addition of episodes from HGTV and DIY Network (not the current ones, which Sling TV does have streaming live rights) and must have for Ann ($99 annual fee for unlimited access, some of it, although very limited, is free).

All toll, I can have pretty much all the entertainment access I want for about $36/month for TV plus around $80 for unbundled high speed internet access or$116/mo w/o access to the Big 10 Network. With Comcast the equivalent entertainment with access to the Big 10 Network = $95 for CATV (maybe) + $10 for the Sports Pac + $68 for internet or $173/mo. That's a $57/month delta or $684/y. While the math shows the annual savings is not all that huge, it is nonetheless substantial ........ but ........

Like Mike says, the "free ride" for streaming and OTA TV isn't going to last long. The gap will close with both sides closing it. CATV guys will come down and the streaming guys will go up. The middle looks like it will be around $150/month for decent HD sports and entertainment access...... and you better believe the cable guys are going to bleed their current advantage with sports to the hilt. I'm with Mike here too. I bet we'll see this sooner rather than later. But, hey, I'm going to grab the $60 bucks a month savings while I can.

[Optimus Prime]

GOOGLE Fiber can't come fast enough.

Over the last the last 5 months, I watched the Michigan/OSU game and HBO Boardwalk, final season On Demand via AT&T. My monthly bill is nothing less than criminal and high-speed connectivity provides all that I need.

https://fiber.google.com/about/

[hack]

Agreed. Time to step up in the telcom field.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Google Fiber is long way from universal availability on a scale that will mean something. Right now, availability sucks. It is in Atlanta but only in select zip codes.

We've been in this house over 4 years with Comcast the only available CATV. ATT Uverse, just installed fiber optic in our neighborhood after talking about its availability well, for 4 years. ANd that product sucks as bad as Comcast re pricing. They Partner with Dish. If I want broad entertainment access from ATT, I'll pay as much, if not more, than for Comcast bundled CATV/Internet service, with shitty DSL internet speeds to boot. I don't expect to see Google Fiber out here in Lawrenceville, a NE suburb of Atlanta, in my life time.

The pisser is that there aren't many options. The consumer is getting absolutely screwed over entertainment access in what amounts to a wild, wild west free for all. About the same goes for phone service. Only in America do we have the shittiest telecom and TV broadcasting capability compared to most of Asia and Europe where both of those services are tightly regulated. Those two continents along with India in SWA possess the most technologically advanced TV and Telecom systems in the world. Ours is laughable in comparison and I hear plenty of laughs from people from those countries that I know personally. But, no, we want free enterprise here. Never mind we the consumers get substandard technology and sky prices. We get hosed.

[entropy]

Hoss has google fiber...

[hack]

Google Fiber is long way from universal availability on a scale that will mean something. Right now, availability sucks. It is in Atlanta but only in select zip codes.

We've been in this house over 4 years with Comcast the only available CATV. ATT Uverse, just installed fiber optic in our neighborhood after talking about its availability well, for 4 years. ANd that product sucks as bad as Comcast re pricing. They Partner with Dish. If I want broad entertainment access from ATT, I'll pay as much, if not more, than for Comcast bundled CATV/Internet service, with shitty DSL internet speeds to boot. I don't expect to see Google Fiber out here in Lawrenceville, a NE suburb of Atlanta, in my life time.

The pisser is that there aren't many options. The consumer is getting absolutely screwed over entertainment access in what amounts to a wild, wild west free for all. About the same goes for phone service. Only in America do we have the shittiest telecom and TV broadcasting capability compared to most of Asia and Europe where both of those services are tightly regulated. Those two continents along with India in SWA possess the most technologically advanced TV and Telecom systems in the world. Ours is laughable in comparison and I hear plenty of laughs from people from those countries that I know personally. But, no, we want free enterprise here. Never mind we the consumers get substandard technology and sky prices. We get hosed.

Spot-on. My office is five minutes away from a metro stop in DC and Verizon can't figure out reception. I often make calls using Skype. Thanks to the nature of the frequency spectrum this isn't something you CAN'T regulate. So might as well do it right, but...