If it wasn’t for my wife, I would drop cable like a rock. It’s amazing that you can scan through hundreds of channels and see nothing but garbage.
It seems like every time I scan through my cable, more than half of the programs are advertisements. I always wonder who in their right mind watches a ½ hour or hour commercial.
Cable companies brought this on themselves. For years, subscribers (subs in cable speak) asked to have an a la carte menu of programs to pick and choose. This request was snubbed for a long, long time.
When Netflix came along, someone equated them to worrying about the “Albanian army”. Now, Netflix is “eating their lunch”! The same thing was said about many companies and innovations. Remember when Microsoft was a flea compared to IBM. This is not uncommon in business. When Standard Oil started up, no one thought they would become the powerhouse they later became. Amazon rose from similar meager beginnings. “What the heck. Why should I be afraid of an on-line book seller?”
Cable is now becoming a “me-too” emulator, but is it too late? Netflix has already deeply engrained themselves in the market. How many consumers are going to subscribe to multiple streaming services?
Cable’s last vestige will be it owns the “pipelines” to homes. It has in essence become a public utility. Cable doesn’t want to be regulated like the public utility they are, but that tune will change once they can’t make any margin. They will be crying for a “fair rate of return”! It will be interesting because the consumer’s cry for a “fair rate of return” was ignored repeatedly while cable companies raised fees relentlessly.
It will not be long before the hard “pipeline” will be antiquated. Technology cycles are getting shorter and shorter. Cellular companies are struggling with the commoditization of their services. Over-the-air internet will continue to grow and evolve the already rapidly expanding tech industry. You can be assured that the cellular companies are looking at this now and licking their chops.
To all this I say - you reap what you sow. Something that could initially appear mundane and inconsequential could unravel an entire industry.
