(10-15-2014 09:45 PM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  That's where I got to the point of asking myself is saving $30 a month really worth constantly worrying about bandwidth overages, a lack of content, and inconsistent video quality? This is okay for college students and people on extreme budgets but as much as I hate to say it your better off just paying comcast $100 a month for everything.

It really sounds nice to be able to cut cable but to do so you need internet. And if cable companies start losing TV subscribers then standalone internet prices will soar up because there will be an increased demand on bandwidth.

That was sort of the point we were talking about on the other thread. When you add in everything you need to make cutting the cord work, it costs more than basic cable and internet. Only people who truly don't watch TV, or watch very little, can make cord cutting cost affective. Or if you only watch network TV (like my Mom, who only watches NBC, and nothing else). Other than that, by the time you upgrade your internet, pay the stand alone price, and the subscriptions to supplement TV, you've paid more than basic cable. Of course the problem is everyone compares the price of Netflix and Hulu, to the most expensive cable package, and says their saving money. You can't do it that way.

(10-16-2014 07:18 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  HBO and ESPN are different animals. HBO is a optional buy, ESPN is forced on most cable users even if they don't want it. And the $ #s are huge. I think ESPN 1 gets $8 per house hold. and 2 gets $5. They are in the Billions range before they sell a single commercial. ESPN knows where their toast is buttered. If they hurt the cable companies they are hurting themselves.

While they collect a lot of money, it's not that much. It's a bit over $5.00 per month for ESPN, and about $0.60 per month for ESPN, $.20 for ESPNU and ESPNNews, and $0.15 for ESPN Classic.

Finding a price point is going to be a hit or miss proposition in the early days of the cord-cutting revolution. WWE was lauded for their over-the-top model, but they've taken a bath with their $9.99 price point, because nowhere near enough people are signing up to make up for cannibalizing their $60 PPV market, and a lot of people who signed on for the first six months cut bait because they didn't watch it enough to justify the expense (including me).

I don't think HBO enters at $15. That's about what you pay for it on cable, right? I'll be shocked if it comes under $25. But wll that strike the right balance between profitability and accessibility? Guess we'll all find out together.

I think the price could be the same, because it doesn't hurt HBO for you to unsubscribe from the cable HBO and subscribe to the over the top. In fact, they may even get a little more because often cable companies get a percentage of their subscription fee. That is what makes HBO going this route so different than traditional cable channels, who would be giving up something to do so.

Then on top this this here is what the cable cutters are missing. Let's say we have a (normal) American family Father, Wife, son, and daughter.

Dads favorite channels - ESPN, ESPN 2, some random westerns channel, ESPN 3, FX, ABC, and the food channel.
Moms favorite channels - WE, E, VH1, BET, HBO, Fox, NBC,
Sons favorite channels Cartoon Network, MTV, ScFy,
Daughters favorite channels - Disney, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, ABC Family,

The family has a 1080 tv or a 4k tv. They also have a subcription to netflix. They also like to go to the movies or redbox from time to time. Internet cost $45 a month for 30megs with a 300gb data cap.

Your spending $50 before you even talk about channels..... Disney would just lump all it's networks together for like $20, then say you want ScFy, or Fx? Your bill will quickly escalate to near $150 to using limited internet capabilities.

Everyone could not watch TV at the same time.

(10-16-2014 04:54 PM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  Disney would just lump all it's networks together for like $20, then say you want ScFy, or Fx? Your bill will quickly escalate to near $150 to using limited internet capabilities.

Disney used to be a stand alone channel (like HBO) many moons ago and they charged $12 a month, back in the 80's. That is why Disney is mostly commercial free. There is NFW Disney would sell all of it's channels, for "only" $20 per month, not with Disney and the ESPN channels in their together. Consider the cost of HBO per month. Assume Disney alone will be at a minimum that much, if not more (Disney cost more than HBO back when it was a subscription channel). I am thinking closer to $40 - $50 per month for all. Seriously.

(10-16-2014 12:16 AM)chess Wrote:  Trying to work out a pricing model? AT&T is already testing a pricing model.

For $39/month you can get Amazon Prime, HBO, and internet (up to 45 mps). https://www.att.com/shop/tv/hbo-offers.h...pvVi21ul7z

Trust I have worked as a Network Engineer for AT&T THEY ARE FULL OF CRAP with this $39 and up to 45 megs advertisement. Here is the fine print.

$39 Bundle Offer: For new residential U-verse customers. Price for U-basic TV with HBO and Internet Max Plus (18MBps). Available online only at att.com. 12-month term required. An early termination fee of up to $180 may apply if U-verse TV service is disconnected before end of term. Must maintain qualifying services for continued receipt of credits. After 12 months, standard rates apply for all services unless canceled by customer. Installation fee of $99 applies. Offer ends December 13, 2014

For 39.99 plus tax your only getting slow internet up to 18mbps which really means 10 or lower if you use wireless. They lock you into a year contract so if you get frustrated with how slow your internet is your paying $180 if you look else where. And not many people could get by with only local channels.

So let's say you add Netflix. Your already back to $50 with slow internet and just Netflix/HBO, no real channels......Did they also mention that they are going to throttle HBO and Netflix once you hit a certain limit?

(10-16-2014 04:54 PM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  Then on top this this here is what the cable cutters are missing. Let's say we have a (normal) American family Father, Wife, son, and daughter.

Dads favorite channels - ESPN, ESPN 2, some random westerns channel, ESPN 3, FX, ABC, and the food channel.
Moms favorite channels - WE, E, VH1, BET, HBO, Fox, NBC,
Sons favorite channels Cartoon Network, MTV, ScFy,
Daughters favorite channels - Disney, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, ABC Family,

The family has a 1080 tv or a 4k tv. They also have a subcription to netflix. They also like to go to the movies or redbox from time to time. Internet cost $45 a month for 30megs with a 300gb data cap.

Your spending $50 before you even talk about channels..... Disney would just lump all it's networks together for like $20, then say you want ScFy, or Fx? Your bill will quickly escalate to near $150 to using limited internet capabilities.

Everyone could not watch TV at the same time.

You're logic is good but your price point comparison isn't for a lot of markets. Huntsville might have a standard cable package that people by for $40 dollars a month but in the expensive markets good luck finding that.

What you end up paying in more expensive markets for Comcast with DSL and a premium cable package is $200 dollars (non-promotional pricing). Its not about the cost of an internet package vs. cable package. You are already paying for an internet package either way. The cost comparison is then between that cable cost and the a la carte channels.

People are paying $100 on their cable portion of their bill to have a package with HBO and NFL Network. If both products cost $20 each why not pay just the $40 dollars and get everything else you need from a movie streaming service?

Then also there is an issue with cable companies promotional pricing. They will bring you in for triple play (phone, internet and cable) for $139 for 6 months but once you hit month 7 its like $219 dollars. Dealing with a Verizon or AT&T many not get you unlimited internet but they don't have the promotional pricing tactic. For $50 dollars you might be able to supply internet to your home, when you are on the road through a tablet so you can take it with you, then add a couple of subscriptions that are must watch and do it all for $70 instead of that $139-$219 price.

That is what people are looking at on this, some of it is cost driven but also portability and choice if you can get premium channels without having to buy a $100 premium TV package. Yes there are families that want such a broad array of programming that going with a basic package+ is the right move but its not suitable for every household.

(10-16-2014 05:07 PM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  

(10-16-2014 12:16 AM)chess Wrote:  Trying to work out a pricing model? AT&T is already testing a pricing model.

For $39/month you can get Amazon Prime, HBO, and internet (up to 45 mps). https://www.att.com/shop/tv/hbo-offers.h...pvVi21ul7z

Trust I have worked as a Network Engineer for AT&T THEY ARE FULL OF CRAP with this $39 and up to 45 megs advertisement. Here is the fine print.

$39 Bundle Offer: For new residential U-verse customers. Price for U-basic TV with HBO and Internet Max Plus (18MBps). Available online only at att.com. 12-month term required. An early termination fee of up to $180 may apply if U-verse TV service is disconnected before end of term. Must maintain qualifying services for continued receipt of credits. After 12 months, standard rates apply for all services unless canceled by customer. Installation fee of $99 applies. Offer ends December 13, 2014

For 39.99 plus tax your only getting slow internet up to 18mbps which really means 10 or lower if you use wireless. They lock you into a year contract so if you get frustrated with how slow your internet is your paying $180 if you look else where. And not many people could get by with only local channels.

I live in the Chicago area. It is more cost effective for me to have netflix and internet connection. I have had no problems with streaming (very, very minor buffering) netflix with the slowest ATT speed (6mbps)...I now have 12 mbps without even that minor buffering anymore. I was paying $19.99 for the 6 mb and now pay $25.50 for 12mb. Add netflix for $8 bucks and I'm good.

Most of the tv services offered by ATT & Comcast (and DirectV and dish) include HBO for some period of time. And when that period is up, you basically call and cancel HBO and they offer it on special for either free or less than $5/month for x number of months. That can be milked for a while and when its over you can switch to a different premium for similar deals. I've never paid $15 for HBO.

I'm the same as wleakr.

I've tried hulu and amazon, but the selection just wasn't good enough for me. We have had netflix for a long time though.

I would pay around $10/month for ESPN during football season.

I don't watch near enough tv to pay $100 or more per month. I watch most of my football games online, just hook the computer to the tv with an hdmi cord and its good to go.