6 Years after "Cutting The Cord" from cable and satellite. (opinion)

[Backstep]

Good to hear OM1 .

So my wife is a huge fan of Brit Telly and so am I .
Can you give me a run through on how you are watching British shows please . ?
I'm not quite sure how to do that .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv

 

[Overmind One]

Good to hear OM1 .

So my wife is a huge fan of Brit Telly and so am I .
Can you give me a run through on how you are watching British shows please . ?
I'm not quite sure how to do that .

Choose the London server in Secure Line and connect. Then go here http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/ and select the BBC channels in this box:

You can test the VPN by trying to view BBC without being connected and it will deny you from viewing. But connect to the London server and voila!
--- merged: Feb 7, 2014 6:33 PM ---

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv

Beat me to it. BBC blows US television away by a huge margin. It has lots of intelligent TV to watch and no damned commercials!

 

[Backstep]

Beat me to it. BBC blows US television away by a huge margin. It has lots of intelligent TV to watch and no damned commercials!

The BBC has a tv license fee, so no commercials.

 

[Overmind One]

The BBC has a tv license fee, so no commercials.

How do they track viewers like me then? I did not have to pay any fee.

 

[Backstep]

How do they track viewers like me then? I did not have to pay any fee.

You picked the geolock and are skirting the rules. In America you must provide your cable or satt provider and account to view even over the air content on site such as nbc, abc and fox.

You're viewing BBC sites such as people outside of America can use a vpn to see hulu etc...

 

[shavedape]

nazi bunker kiddie porn eh?

Swedish Socialist reindeer porn, duh!

 

[Overmind One]

http://www.businessinsider.com/cable-tv-cord-cutters-and-net-subscription-losses-2013-11

Excerpt:

The cable TV business just had its worst year ever, according to Wall Street media analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson. Providers of TV, broadband and phone communications lost 687,000 subscribers during Q3, they wrote in a recent note to investors. They gained 574,000 new ones, for a net loss of 113,000, according to the LA Times:


"The pay-TV industry has reported its worst 12-month stretch ever," Moffett and Nathanson wrote.

The TV and broadband business is stuck in a suicidal business model, the pair suggests. Although the cable and broadband business is losing customers, its total revenues are rising. The remaining customers are paying higher prices for ever-more costly bundles of premium TV channels and high-speed internet access.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Do you ever worry that when pay TV fails, they will turn their profit machine on your internet costs?

 

[Overmind One]

Do you ever worry that when pay TV fails, they will turn their profit machine on your internet costs?

They already have. Time Warner Cable internet is creeping up there. I currently pay about $60.00/mo for their "Extreme" service which is here:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/residential-home/internet/internet-service-plans.html

I used to pay $49.00 for the standard package. This still beats the cable entry level package of $89.00, and it is way faster than DSL. Pay TV and cable companies do not control all access to the internet. They do not get to dictate costs. What will happen eventually is that high speed internet will become a wireless service, completely eliminating the cable company's hard wired infrastructure. Prices will come DOWN, not climb.

 

[Gatefan1976]

They already have. Time Warner Cable internet is creeping up there. I currently pay about $60.00/mo for their "Extreme" service which is here:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/residential-home/internet/internet-service-plans.html

I used to pay $49.00 for the standard package. This still beats the cable entry level package of $89.00, and it is way faster than DSL. Pay TV and cable companies do not control all access to the internet. They do not get to dictate costs. What will happen eventually is that high speed internet will become a wireless service, completely eliminating the cable company's hard wired infrastructure. Prices will come DOWN, not climb.

You miss my point bro.
No matter who provides the service, no matter how much you keep up, you are STILL gonna want net access..
Can you cut *that* cord, or will you pay for access?

 

[Overmind One]

You miss my point bro.
No matter who provides the service, no matter how much you keep up, you are STILL gonna want net access..
Can you cut *that* cord, or will you pay for access?

That is the cord I want to keep. Actually, all I want is ACCESS at an acceptable speed. For me, that means more than the standard connection, but not T1 or ridiculously excessive bandwidth I will never use. MY point is that cord cutters are dumping TV, not internet. A "cord cutter" refers to somebody who is cutting out cable, satellite and other TV services, not literally cutting all connections to the infrastructure.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Sigh
You still miss my point.

If *everything* comes down one pipeline, your TV, your news, your fun, what will you pay to keep it when it's the *only* option?
A product with a single supply pipeline, does that sound like anything to you?

 

[Overmind One]

Sigh
You still miss my point.

If *everything* comes down one pipeline, your TV, your news, your fun, what will you pay to keep it when it's the *only* option?
A product with a single supply pipeline, does that sound like anything to you?

Ah, I see....well, that scenario is actually not possible in the US. In fact, it is illegal...its called a monopoly. All I need is internet. With access to the internet, I get all the news, TV and whatever else I want without ever having to pay for it directly. If you eat out, dont you just pay for your meals and not an entrance fee to get into the restaurant? The very foundation of the cable industry (with regard to selling TV) is an obsolete model. The people who still have it are those who have had iut a while. New growth is non-existent. The existing subscriber base is shrinking.

Do you think this is a bad thing?

 

[Gatefan1976]

A monopoly is illegal??
Dude, have you LOOKED at your healthcare laws??
Obamacare was a step in the right direction, but even it was sabotaged by your drug and medical corporations.


Gerrymandering
A congress with a 19% approval rating *that keeps getting voted into power??
Monopoly on religion
Monopoly on race

Seriously, Don't say monopolies are illegal in the US.

"All you need is access to the internet"
True.
What if the cheapest provider is 200 bucks a month? 2000?
What happens to the people who do not pay??
Your very freedom to information is being destroyed, it is the same as it was in the middle ages where the church controlled all higher learning, and then it "claimed" to bring in knowledge and *to this day* claims that science would not exist without the church.

Do I think this is a "bad thing"
YES, oh gods YES, because If I take your electricity, and if I take your net access, you cannot research, I can take your learning away, not from you, but from your children, and their children.

What could a child learn if they walked into your house with no power??

This is not some kind of "bullshit survivalist" crap, I own no guns, I hoard no food, but I *DO* have books that have stories, and philosophy, and English, Math, Science and chemistry. I don't fear a "zombie apocalypse" or WW3, I fear a loss of knowledge, and what that could do to us as a species.

Can you see this?

 

[Overmind One]

A monopoly is illegal??
Dude, have you LOOKED at your healthcare laws??
Obamacare was a step in the right direction, but even it was sabotaged by your drug and medical corporations.

This is an entirely different subject. But yes, monopolies are illegal in the US. That is the law. One's perception of what constitutes a monopoly is something else entirely.

Gerrymandering
A congress with a 19% approval rating *that keeps getting voted into power??
Monopoly on religion
Monopoly on race

Seriously, Don't say monopolies are illegal in the US.

Monopolies are illegal in the United States. The Congress is not a monopoly, no religion is a monopoly in America, and "race" does not even belong on that list. Again, a different subject altogether.

"All you need is access to the internet"
True.
What if the cheapest provider is 200 bucks a month? 2000?
What happens to the people who do not pay??
Your very freedom to information is being destroyed, it is the same as it was in the middle ages where the church controlled all higher learning, and then it "claimed" to bring in knowledge and *to this day* claims that science would not exist without the church.

The bolded falls in the same category as imagining Sarah Palin as president or thinking that somehow the Tea Party could take over the government. Its just not going to happen. Internet is not getting more expensive, it's getting cheaper. Some cities offer it for free (like San Diego and Denver). People who do not pay still have Starbucks, McDonalds and thousands of places they can go for free access. For those fortunate enough to be able to pick up a free signal from a business nearby, their internet costs are zero.

Do I think this is a "bad thing"
YES, oh gods YES, because If I take your electricity, and if I take your net access, you cannot research, I can take your learning away, not from you, but from your children, and their children.

??? Not following you here.

What could a child learn if they walked into your house with no power??

This is not some kind of "bullshit survivalist" crap, I own no guns, I hoard no food, but I *DO* have books that have stories, and philosophy, and English, Math, Science and chemistry. I don't fear a "zombie apocalypse" or WW3, I fear a loss of knowledge, and what that could do to us as a species.

Can you see this?

Bolded: a whole lot, actually. How to play chess, how to build things and make candles and work with tools. Perhaps a little indoor gardening...AND of course I have my books. But I am not counting on the internet going away any more than I am thinking the plumbing infrastructure, sewage infrastructure or electrical infrastructure is going to go away. I will not prepare for such a scenario. If something like that does happen, it wont matter much what preparations I make OTHER than stockpiling food and water, which I already have 2 weeks stored for that already. I have a 4-man tent, all the camp stuff like the stove and propane cartridges, I even have an emergency water filtration system:

http://www.amazon.com/LifeStraw-Fam...door-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1392005422&sr=1-3

Also, there is the great outdoors of which I am no stranger to at all...but again, this is not the topic.

Cord Cutting = FREEDOM = Hard times for cable companies = CHANGE.

 

[Bluce Ree]

You picked the geolock and are skirting the rules. In America you must provide your cable or satt provider and account to view even over the air content on site such as nbc, abc and fox.

No you don't. Where did you get that information?

Browse over to CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, Syfy, USA or Comedy Central and watch all the episodes you want. Or, go to Hulu and get all that aggregated on one site.

The only sites that require your cable account are premium networks like HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax and that's because they're subscriber-only and have exclusive licensing rights with cable providers.

You're viewing BBC sites such as people outside of America can use a vpn to see hulu etc...

 

[Overmind One]

This is still working out quite nicely. The offerings on broadcast digital television is getting worse. It is hard to believe that over the air TV was once trouble free and easy to access. I am a bit curious as to why smartphones are not being given FM and TV receivers? Is it a technological/size limitation or is it strategic?

I estimate I have saved $11,520+ over the past 6.5 years.

$160.00/mo for 12 months for 6 years = $11,520.00

 

[Jim of WVa]

One time I tried to view a Graceland episode on the USA network web page and was asked for my cable TV subscriber information.

 

[Overmind One]

One time I tried to view a Graceland episode on the USA network web page and was asked for my cable TV subscriber information.

I have run into that as well. AS IF! I never give that information. Also, sometimes Google asks for my location. HUH? Im in hell, okay?