[opendtv] Mossberg: TV is changing, but not fast enough - The Verge

From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 07:58:00 -0500

Thanks to Monty for finding this gem!

Mossberg does a great job of identifying the core issues as they relate to the
slow progress we are experiencing unbundling TV entertainment. This slow
progress has once again resulted in my having to"bite the bullet" and sign up
for another year with Cox Cable - the ability to access the content I want via
the Internet still does not exist, a problem that Mossberg lays out at the
beginning of his article:

But a huge number of households in the US — over 90 million — are still
stubbornly sticking to buying big bundles of mostly unwatched networks, with
shows primarily presented in linear fashion and interrupted by interstitial
ads, even if they also use the newer devices and services. Their numbers are
declining, but not yet collapsing. For these viewers, it might as well be 20
years ago.

Exactly!

We are being offered a lot of choice with Internet based streaming TV services,
but NONE of these services offer what everyone really wants, which Mossberg
outlines as follows:

Before I talk about what I learned at Code Media, let me explain what I mean
by a “fundamental” reworking of traditional TV. I mean a total unbundling
down to the level of each TV show, not the network; the ability to watch
those individual shows in any combination I like, whenever or wherever I
want, immediately upon their release, on any device I like; and the option to
choose between paying a zero or modest fee to watch with ads or to pay a bit
more and never see ads.

We are making progress here with services like Netflix, but these new bundles
are missing the live content we still want to access. Meanwhile we are
tantalized with announcements of affordable VMVPD bundles like the Hulu live
service that will be here "soon." Unfortunately it is not here so I had to make
the trek to the Cox Cable office to see what kind of deal I could cut, after
the last deal expired and my TV bundle went up to $98/mo before taxes.

After taxes my cost for the extended basic bundle in HD, and their mid tier
broadband service increased to $180/mo. No add ons like HBO or Showtime. No
DVR, which I dropped a year ago to keep the monthly bill at $130/mo. Add to
this my AT&T POTS service that cost another $45/mo.

Turns out that not having these premium channels and a DVR worked in my favor -
kinda...

While looking at the latest bundles from Cox they have a nice triple play
package for NEW SUBSCRIBERS. For $109/mo they get the extended basic bundle
with Contour TV, their new STB/DVR with an advanced user interface and 1000
hour recording capacity AND HBO and Showtime; 250 Mbps broadband with a
terabyte data cap; and VOIP phone service with all the features and unlimited
long distance. As an existing subscribe I do not qualify.

But the Cox salesperson found the same bundle for existing subscribers who do
not have DVR service, HBO or Showtime. My cost is $149/mo before taxes; with
taxes it is $188/mo. This is comparable to what I was paying Cox and AT&T in
December, but I get both HBO and Showtime, and a much better STB/DVR.

Even better, there is no contract, but the rates will likely increase after the
first year. I asked what I could do when this happens; he replied: come back in
a year and get another deal."

This is how the game is being played. It is the primary reason progress is so
slow. The content owners are protecting the MVPD bundle, even as they move it
to the Internet and prepare to offer more choice at lower cost.

Mossberg also addressed the issue the FCC has been struggling with for two
decades - opening up the market for the STB:

As for the device we now call a TV or a cable box, I want it to be fast, with
a clean interface, and seamlessly upgradeable to the latest software. I want
it to be the primary source of all TV, not an ancillary device. I want the UI
to ditch the grid and be show-based and interactive. I want a healthy
competition among makers of these devices, which would be available at stores
and tied into the other tech ecosystems in your life.

Again, we are almost there, but the boxes we use to access Netflix, Hulu,
Amazon, et al cannot access most live TV content WITHOUT a MVPD subscription.

Mossberg cited three presentations at the Code Media conference. The session
with Apple's Eddie Cue addressed the main problem - the content owners learned
from the problems the music industry experienced and are refusing to license
key live content to Apple and others to create the kind of skinny bundle Hulu
says it will offer any day now. Cue provided a parable:

As a sort of parable, he told the audience that even record labels being
decimated by piracy rebuffed Apple's initial efforts to sell individual songs
through iTunes. And then, when talks resumed a year later, it took eight
months to complete the deals. My sources say the obstacles Apple has hit with
the TV studios are far worse, partly because the business and rights issues
are far more complex.

Mossberg then pointed to another session:

Thompson, publisher of the website Stratechery, gave a compelling 15-minute
talk about “the great unbundling” of various forms of media, and then their
re-aggregation on the internet. He called TV the “big white whale” of this
media unbundling and said that, while it will likely happen in some form, it
will be slow because the current cable bundle is still fairly strong and
profitable.

Bottom line, we keep waiting and paying. My "reward" for not cutting the cord
this year? Binging on HBO and Showtime...

Regards
Craig

[opendtv] Mossberg: TV is changing, but not fast enough - The Verge

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