Cord Cutters

[bigoranget]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02...ushpmg00000067

[TVViewer]

[QUOTE=bigoranget;68043]

Because they don't sell portable subscriptions, my money is going to US providers that are willing to sell me their product; Netflix, Hulu Plus. I am satisfied with what I have for Internet streaming.

Which is fine. With all due respect they don't need you as a customer if you are only willing to purchase a $4 dollar or $9 dollar streaming service from them when the vast majority are willing to purchase a cable and internet subscription. It's like expecting a successful restaurant to care that you wont go to their establishment because there is nothing on their menu in your price range. It doesn't matter to them if you instead choose a $9 dollar lunch at McDonalds when they have more than enough customers willing to enjoy a $100 dollar lunch on their existing menu. The reason these streaming services are so cheap to begin with is because they are made to be combined with your cable and/or internet subscription. Your issue with shomi is even more unreasonable since all they require is that you be a Rogers/Shaw cable OR internet customer. If you don't want cable fine, you can watch shomi on your computer and all you have to do is sign up for Rogers or Shaw internet which may not be the cheapest but is priced in a way the vast majority of consumers are okay with. If you don't want Bell or Rogers or Shaw cable they are willing to make CraveTV and shomi available to customers of other cable/satellite providers as long as these BDU's make a commercial agreement to provide their customers with this value added service (which is more than reasonable from a business point of view since the very existence of CraveTV and shomi is possible because Shaw, Rogers, and Bell made commercial agreements to acquire this programming)

Just food for thought, approx 30-40% of Netflix customers are accessing a Non-Canadian library. That trend is likely going to continue to rise.

This is an international problem and is more of a concern for the U.S. companies who sell content to Netflix (they don't want to devalue the rights for international markets). Netflix has the ability to reduce this from happening if pressured from their content providers (there are many articles on this)

Cord cutters may seem irrelevant right now but it's going to become a significant problem for many BDU's in the next 5 years.

The facts are they are irrelevant now and nobody knows if they will ever become relevant in the future. Are a large number of Canadians suddenly going to lose interest in all the sports and unscripted programming available only on cable? There is no evidence supporting that theory. Cable used to be the only choice to watch TV, now there are alternatives, but the alternatives are still missing a lot of what a huge number of people value from their cable subscription. Specialty television alone continues to be extremely popular with Canadians. But even if your prediction that cord cutters will become a significant problem for cable in the future comes true, there a better ways for these companies to try and get them back as a cable customer instead of just giving up and only reaching them with a streaming service. If that time comes they can deal with it then, right now they have absolutely no reason to worry about excluding cord cutters. BDU penetration is still extremely high, it could drop by 20% and still be extremely high. The amount of people who watch television each week among 18-34 is still extremely high and although traditional television viewing is going to decline in favor of viewing on other platforms, this doesn't mean that it will replace television viewing entirely, and a lot of the viewing on these online platforms can still require a cable subscription. Netflix and Hulu Plus don't, but lots of channels in both the U.S. and Canada offer cable subscriber authenticated online live streaming and on demand viewing options. More and more channels are going to be doing this over the next few years, and all of them are going to require you subscribe to a cable company to access it (the #1 ranked specialty channels from Bell (TSN), Shaw (HISTORY), and Rogers (SportsNet) all already do this, and it is possible for all 3 of those specialty channels to have top 30 most watched shows for the week in large PPM markets)

It's also not just a BDU issue, it's also an issue for their media distribution arms (Shaw Media, Bell Media). The younger generation is very resourceful with accessing the content they want and if media dinosaurs like Bell, Rogers and Shaw don't offer services that they are looking for, they will easily find it somewhere else, which is bad for Canadian broadcasting and bad for the Canadian economy.

It's bad for the Canadian economy, cable companies, media companies, and Canadian broadcasting if Rogers/Shaw/Bell are reaching a large number of Canadians with just a streaming service. Even if we ignore the fact that cable/internet subscriptions are the most profitable parts of the business and just look at the media arm, all the profits in the media arm come from specialty channels, which relies on a cable subscription. It's not good for Bell Media, Shaw Media, and Rogers Media if a large number of people only subscribe to their streaming service instead of subscribing to their specialty channels. Even if they were standalone media companies, they would be interested in making commercial agreements with other BDU's to offer the service and ensuring consumers continue to subscribe to their specialty channels. If they were offered to everyone it would be because they see zero threat of cord cutting increasing, not because there are so many cord cutters they need them for the service to work.

[Donovan's Monkey]

This is exactly why Canadian companies like Rogers, Bell and Shaw need to offer their streaming services to anyone willing to pay them money. I think Rogers/Shaw will let Internet only customers subscribe but it has to be Rogers Internet or Shaw Internet. With CraveTV, you have to subscribe to a Bell TV package or Bell Fibe TV package.

Yeah, that's a little like saying "we're only going to let our newspaper or magazine subscribers read articles on our website" -- a very short sighted way of needlessly limiting their business, in a futile attempt to prop up the side of it that is outdated and slowly dying. Why not also just allow non-TV subscribers to join at a higher cost?

... The younger generation is very resourceful with accessing the content they want and if media dinosaurs like Bell, Rogers and Shaw don't offer services that they are looking for, they will easily find it somewhere else...

The internet is great for anyone of any age who wants to see just about anything from anywhere. I'm old enough to appreciate that if I want to, I can now watch some relatively obscure auto race live from the other side of the world, and there's no longer some small number of TV executives standing in the way deciding what everyone else in the country should and shouldn't be able to see, as they've done for decades as long as TV has been around.

[bigoranget]

TVViewer, I should be clear that neither Bell Fibe, Rogers Cable or Shaw Cable are options for me in the first place. I am a Source Cable customer so I probably will be a Rogers customer eventually. Bell Fibe while technically available where I live it's subpar at best because I am further away from the Central Office meaning I can't get the fast reliable Internet that I have with my current provider.

[Donovan's Monkey]

Even in Canada, digital advertising revenue (which continues on an upward trend) has already overtaken TV advertising revenue (which continues on a downward trend).
http://iabcanada.com/digital-overtak...end-in-canada/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle20638694/

[TVViewer]

Since we are posting random quotes from articles about the growth and decline of viewing and advertising.......

Shaw Announces First Quarter Financial and Operating Results

January 14 2015

Global News continues to retain the number one position in the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton markets, while Global National and the all news channel BC-1 grew audience in the quarter. Shaw Media's specialty portfolio continues to demonstrate strength in the channel rankings with 4 of the Top 10 analog channels and 6 of the Top 10 digital channels, including ranking 5 in the Top 5 digital channels. Shaw Media also holds 5 of the Top 10 specialty programs for the season

Viewing of 24/7 local news specialty channel is up, viewing of Global National is up. Sounds great for the upcoming 24/7 news specialty channel featuring a hybrid of local news & Global National which will require a cable subscription

[PokerFace]

Yes, I'm still alive. Months have passed since my last post, but as Crave and Shomi are now going all out to gobble up the rights to content that many Canadians were previously going without, I'm still inundated with free streaming site options -- the best ones being pirate sites, of course.

If there were more pirate sites that were closer to the way Crave and Shomi are setup, it would be easier for Internet rookies (not familiar with adblock, VPN/DNS services etc.) to navigate through the various pirated content without being annoyed by the various advertising popups.

Canflix.net (No, it's probably NOT related to the former Canadian DVD online rental service- Canflix.ca) is a pirate streaming website that has a simple, user-friendly interface, featuring high quality streams for several movies and some TV content (though much of the limited TV content -- Scorpion for example, is not yet available for streaming -- even though they have a Scorpion page setup).

I find it odd that Canflix.net is rather limited in its offerings (compared to other much better pirate sites), but since it's not yet necessary to signup or log in to view the free, pirated content, I assume it's a relatively new site that is currently testing the waters and getting its sea legs, before becoming more restrictive and annoying.

Still, if you're an Internet rookie and would like to see what a user-friendly pirate website looks like, Canflix.net might be worth taking a look at (unless the high-quality streams are too good for your slow Internet service -- thus, some buffering might occur for some of the streams). Streaming from pirate sites is a grey area that many Canadians love to take advantage of, even though they might feel a little guilty while doing so.

[TVViewer]

Yes, I'm still alive

Happy to hear that. Hope you are doing well.

[PokerFace]

What kind of shopper are you? Do you try to save money by buying things that are on sale, even if you would prefer to buy the much more expensive products that you can still afford, in the same category?

The Internet simply has too many offers that I can't seem to refuse ... especially because the content is free, or sometimes because the content is extremely rare.

So, if you live near many stores, or a few good ones, you can usually fill your shopping cart with all sorts of reliable, quality goods, some unknown ones, and some that are priced low enough to make them appealing enough to sample, or at least tolerate.

If you are starving when you go shopping, you might be tempted to put things in your cart that you normally wouldn't.

So here's the problem. In the 80's and 90's (and even for much of the 2000's) I was starved for content, and it wasn't easy to get (so I used cable and satellite to get most of what I craved). I still haven't gotten around to watching what I saved, but that's because there's always something newer, fresher, or even more dazzling in the right light, or moment in time. That's when the issue of time rears its ugly head. You have to make choices. Two of the things that I use to help me make my choices are the price and rarity of an item.

It doesn't matter how much I like something, because if I watch or use something long enough, I will eventually find enough flaws to discourage me from pursuing it. That's why when something is cheaper in a grocery store, or free online (and it must be free, not just cheap), or very rare, that's when I make my move to obtain whatever that something is. I'll still often pay for more expensive food, but if I find it cheaper elsewhere, I tend to wait until I'm at those other stores until I buy those items ... even if that means waiting many months in between purchases.

If nothing online was free, well then, suddenly, something like Netflix, or a Toronto Star online subscription magically has more added value, at least for me. However, if something isn't free online, well then, I'm too late. I've missed the value-added window of opportunity and I go off on another treasure hunt.

When I'm online, I'm hunting. I'm looking for a consistent high and then I can sit back and enjoy my conquest. The Internet gives me that high ... until it suddenly becomes the norm. Then there's the "buy three channels, get two free" sales pitch. What do you mean buy 3? Just give them to me and let me decide if they're worthy of my time. Why should I pay you to waste my time. I can find plenty of quality content that is thrown away or shared with others.

Anything that can be found online is in jeopardy of losing its value. And although bundling channels together so that it gives the appearance of greater choice at a lower price, is a clever ruse to get people to spend money ... it just doesn't seem as appealing, now that the Internet has truly arrived and spoiled people like me, much more than ever before.

When I spend my time watching content, I'm already paying for it (even if I'm using free Internet at the Library). That's because I'm spending my time watching/reading things, so if you also want me to pay with cash that I can also use for other more important things, I don't want to do it. Luckily, most people don't think that way, so it's still possible to make a living selling content that I can get for free.

When nothing is free, or the price is the same everywhere, the game ends, the hunt is over. Then it's just a business transaction for me. How much does that cereal cost? Really? It's $1 cheaper down the street. Those vitamins are how much? What are you guys smoking? Oh, that guy just bought 3 bottles. And that's why you can make money selling virtually anything at almost any price, as long as the masses stay uninformed, or use morality to guide them; you've then got a better chance to move product.

Why this similar rant, now? Because as more and more free online products are suddenly moving to a pay-me-now-or-get-lost business model, I'm still not biting.The hook is no longer as deep as it once was. The self-entitlement factor is far too strong for me to break, or reason my way out of. I'm stuck. I'm an old dog, no longer willing to learn any new tricks ... unless those tricks help me in my quest for mass consumption in an unreasonable way.

Instead of paying for something that I enjoy (and thus possibly helping to keep it alive), I'd rather use my hunting-and-gathering skills to find some buried treasure that I'll enjoy even more, or at least learn from.

That's why I'm still a cord cutter. I see how other people are flocking to the Internet using official products, but I'd rather use a bow and arrow for my hunting. The online hunting grounds are filled with easy prey that I must kill. Oh look, there's a tiger! Oh, they want $3 to shoot it. No thanks, I see an elephant that has no price tag and I can always use another elephant in my room.

The Internet is already beginning to resemble the ugly side of traditional cable/satellite TV. It probably won't be too long before I can't tell the difference. When that happens, I'll have to start hunting different prey.

[InMontreal]

Nice editorial. Until half of the document (when you mentioned the library), I was wondering if it was a copy & paste from an actual news site or blog.

I'm also constantly hunting for better deals.
When my sister was on pregnancy leave, she was into couponing, so trying and buying new and usual brands and products with coupons, buying them when they're on sale at the shopping mart with the lowest prices, that's even better. President's Choice (Max, Loblaw, Provigo) points card system leading to free groceries and the nearby Maxi price-matching, only better. It's now a norm, I restrict myself on impulsive purchases, can't help but to look around on the internet if I can get that product at a better price.

Next thing in line, credit cards without annual fees (what's the point of paying fees?) with some type of reward. Mine is, for now, a points system where 1% of Paypass and service provider payments of the total, or 0.5% for all other transactions. When it reaches 25 points (meaning when I buy between $2500 and $5000 of purchases on CC, cumulative over many months/years), I get 25$ off my next CC bill. Other interesting cards was the Best Buy CC (under Chase) under a similar system, but you had to spend that 25$ or 75$ at the BB store... As for my bank account, I transfered everything to Tangerine. With regular banks, paying 1$ for every transaction or monthly fees to cover a small amount of transactions (pay a fee to pay your bills? pay a fee to transfer money to your savings account?) was increasingly ridiculous. Saving accounts with interests, just like in the 80's, that no logner exists with regular banks.

The internet... Newspapers decided to go online, noticed their "print" version sales were down, but hey, it's okay, less paper is ecologic, fewer employees at the printing factory and the delivery crew, so they erected a paywall on their websites to absorb the digital costs. They got many subscriptions in the first few months, but staled thereafter, so they are now shifting to a "10 free courtesy articles" system. Those who stop by their favorite coffee shop in the morning and sit there can read the newspaper on site, for free...

Television. When you find the actual ratings numbers from the 80's and early 90's, it's like, wow ! An american show was considered low-rated and cancelled when it reached 8 million viewers. Nowadays, 2 million viewers on The CW is still good, less than 1 million is not (or renewed then thrown in the friday night death slot). Multiplication of specialty channels, combined with PVR which holds more hours than a VCR can, binge-watching and DVD/BD releases, or catching up online... And today, there's a forum bully on this forum telling me that it's wrong to go back to basics and watch *local* TV stations for free using an antenna, calling me a freeloader. Unbelieveable.

[PokerFace]

Nope, not a cut and paste from a blog or news site (although clearly I am influenced by all that I read about cord cutting). I just mentioned the library because when I first jumped on the free bandwagon that the Internet provided, I used the library computers, since I only had dial-up at home.

[PokerFace]

Banks are often more annoying than BDUs. I was even annoyed back when there was only 7% interest for daily interest savings accounts.

And the fact that so many things can now be found for free online, might also soon limit the attractiveness of it all.

Hypothetical situations: Oh look, Global will let me stream Season 1 of Elementary without having to log-in. But CBS will also give me a free year of its live CBS channel and VOD content if I sign-in and stream every episode without using adblock. I guess it all depends on how desperate these companies are for viewers and advertising dollars.

[InMontreal]

Networks upfronts in may means canadian broadcasters are shopping for content. This year, Bell and Shaw/Rogers are looking for more exclusive shows they can sign for their CraveTV/Shomi scrap exclusive to their respective BDU subscribers, they can take away from the canadian Netflix. Guess CTV got pissed over shows like OUAT or Gotham being exclusive to Netflix, they'll take anything, even if it gets cancelled after 2 weeks, and divide canadians in search for content.

https://cartt.ca/article/la-screenin...-online-rights

Interesting, I PVR'ed iZombie last tuesday but had an antenna problem so it recorded pixels. Legal canadian way to catch up on that show is with Shomi, but I don't know any Rogers or Shaw subscriber as they do no business here whatsoever. I have no choice but to illegally download the episode I missed.

I hate those idealist corporate losers who do not think any further than Toronto and Vancouver.

[lostjon]

Networks upfronts in may means canadian broadcasters are shopping for content. This year, Bell and Shaw/Rogers are looking for more exclusive shows they can sign for their CraveTV/Shomi scrap exclusive to their respective BDU subscribers, they can take away from the canadian Netflix. Guess CTV got pissed over shows like OUAT or Gotham being exclusive to Netflix, they'll take anything, even if it gets cancelled after 2 weeks, and divide canadians in search for content.

https://cartt.ca/article/la-screenin...-online-rights

Interesting, I PVR'ed iZombie last tuesday but had an antenna problem so it recorded pixels. Legal canadian way to catch up on that show is with Shomi, but I don't know any Rogers or Shaw subscriber as they do no business here whatsoever. I have no choice but to illegally download the episode I missed.

I hate those idealist corporate losers who do not think any further than Toronto and Vancouver.

I figure since The CW only has three new shows for next season, the only one that I think will be picked up most certainly by Bell Media and for broadcast is DC's Legends of Tomorrow - given its ties with both Arrow and The Flash.

I can see Crazy Ex-Girlfriend being exclusive to CraveTV given that it was originally produced for Showtime, with Containment more likely to end up with Shomi.

[PokerFace]

If we didn't have CraveTV/Shomi, I assume that Netflix would have perhaps picked up iZombie, however, as great as Netflix is, some people would prefer to avoid the Internet (for various reasons), and simply stay with cable/satellite as their exclusive source of content. I assume that the number of people avoiding the Internet altogether is a very small number, but if the "Internet haters" happen to be "lucky" enough to have access to CraveTV/Shomi (through their set-top boxes), they will be happy that Netflix failed to secure, yet another show that they might want to watch.

The Internet is a Superstore that happens to give away or sell almost every product out there; it's outrageous to think that Canadians won't shop there. If some departments of the Superstore are exclusive to Americans, the rest of the world is then expected to shop at other stores that are inferior. Good luck with that. Cross-border shopping is now easier than ever, thanks to the Internet.

As more CraveTV and Shomi "stores" open for business in more Canadian cities, you can then decide if you want to shop there or not. That doesn't mean you can't also shop at the Internet Superstore (or also watch content on American channels, like The CW for iZombie), but CraveTV and Shomi are hoping that you shop there less often.

Attention Canadian shoppers ... Shomi is now the exclusive provider of iZombie .. The Internet Superstore has rats in its aisles; please don't shop there.

[PokerFace]

I used to be able to stream episodes from The CW website (with VPN, etc.), but now that the full episodes are limited to the free CW app, I can no longer do so. That's because the CW app uses Windows 8.1, which I don't have. I also don't have an android or IOS device to make use of the free CW app.

I also wonder if the latest CW episodes now require a TV subscription to watch them using the CW app (forcing you to wait 8 days until you can watch as a cord cutter), just like if you use Hulu for CW content. I believe that even if you use Hulu Plus for CW content, you still have to be a cable/satellite subscriber to watch the latest CW episodes. Fox and ABC also require a TV subscription to stream the latest episode, although ABC apparently also lets you stream the latest episode if you subscribe to Hulu Plus.

In 2012, The CW decided to make the most recent episode available for streaming on its own website within 8 hours, instead of 3 days. This was done to fight piracy. Nowadays, companies must also fight cord cutting, which means that cord cutters are going to be continually tempted to embrace piracy as the best solution to a complicated problem.

EDIT: I was able to stream fresh content from The CW website today (with VPN, of course), so the use of the free App isn't always necessary. I don't know what changed, or if there are any limitations to streaming from the website, but at least it seems to be working like it used to.

http://variety.com/2012/digital/news...cy-1118051427/
[March 13, 2012- CW shortens Web streaming delay to battle piracy]

http://www.seattletimes.com/business...what-it-costs/
[American streaming options]

[PokerFace]

Nothing really new in this YouTube video (about cord cutting in Canada) that we haven't heard before, but I like the no-nonsense style and F-Bombs scattered throughout:

The Tech Lane - Episode 10: Cutting the Cord [Note: Shomi is only $8.99/month ... NOT $12]

[PokerFace]

I enjoyed reading the article linked below, but apparently for the last 2 years, Canada hasn't had to put up with MLB.com blackouts, because Rogers owns the team and decided to lift the blackout restriction. I suppose that "subject to blackouts" and actually being blacked out are two different things.



http://montrealgazette.com/business/...willing-to-pay
[Steve Faguy - Watching Sports Online]

“Cable TV revenue is the biggest driver in the broadcast system right now,” explained Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL properties for Rogers. And limiting online streaming of sports and other TV rights to cable subscribers is “a way of keeping people in a cable TV system.”

There are online streaming packages sold directly by the major leagues that can be bought without a cable or satellite TV subscription. But services like NHL GameCentre Live ($200/season), NFL Game Pass ($100/season) and MLB.TV ($110/season) are all subject to blackouts (in both Canada and the United States) where games are available on TV. Montrealers buying GameCentre Live can watch less than half of Montreal Canadiens games unless they have a Sportsnet subscription.

[Mayhem]

I enjoyed reading the article linked below, but apparently for the last 2 years, Canada hasn't had to put up with MLB.com blackouts, because Rogers owns the team and decided to lift the blackout restriction. I suppose that "subject to blackouts" and actually being blacked out are two different things.



http://montrealgazette.com/business/...willing-to-pay
[Steve Faguy - Watching Sports Online]

I think the we're seeing the gloves finally coming off and the big three admitting they want everyone back on a BDU subscription, no exceptions.

[InMontreal]

I think the we're seeing the gloves finally coming off and the big three admitting they want everyone back on a BDU subscription, no exceptions.

They're in panic mode : Bell and Rogers successfully imposed carriage of TSN/RDS and Sportsnet into the most popular package if not basic service on all the different service providers in the country, that guarantees them the 75% subscription revenues they make. Coming march 1st with the introduction of CRTC-imposed skinny basic, both companies are aware they charge too much for service, but to keep their sports channel afloat, they won't promote skinny basic, hiding it on their respective website, offering it only as last resort to anyone who calls to cut the cord.

In another article written by Fagstein, Rogers' Moore admits there will be less Canadiens games on Citytv. Last fall, Toronto on CBC, Montreal on City, and some Canadiens regional games aired tuesdays or thursdays on Citytv. Cordcutters didn't need RDS or TVA Sports to watch the games. Now they do.