"What's holding us back from an Internet-based TV revolution?"

An Internet-based TV "revolution" is not necessarily in the best interests of ordinary people -- an internet free-for-all with higher numbers of content providers each charging subscriptions for individually-licensed films/TV productions could make viewership much more expensive and disenfranchising.

Revolutions shouldn't be taken for granted as a positive outcome.

No, but I do have time to poke at a friend or two once in a while. OK? Abgemacht?

Satellite TV & Online. Which is already ridiculous - the monthly cost of Sky, BT Sport, Netflix and Amazon Prime probably adds up to about £140 (though the Sky package does provide my landline and my internet as well).

Yeah, we also have subscriptions for Sky, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, as well as the TV License.

Adding more individual content providers to that would not be a positive revolution in my eyes.

Big Z should be working harder for us, if he has all this time to watch TV

Ah yes, the TV licence on top. make it ~£150.

Satellite is primary source, most of the rest is by internet (mostly using a VPN). We have cable as part of phone & internet package but hardly use it.

If I weren't living at home yet, I wouldn't have cable TV. Why?

Netflix: $12/month (less if I just pay my dad to use his)
Hulu Plus: $12/month (access to most new shows with no ads)

Anything else: either watch it on the network's site, or find a stream online. Sports are the tough one. Haven't looked into it, but I'd want to be able to see my Eagles games every Sunday.

Sports is a sticking point for me. Until I can affordably and reliably stream NBA and BPL games, I'm stuck with Comcast.

Comcast is expensive, but still the best and most reliable service

I've never had a problem with reliability but I think their platform is slow and a pain to use. They also don't have a clock on their cable box, which is my biggest gripe.

I have a clock on my cable boxes

HD antenna and rainiertamayo.com.

I swapped to Direct TV and its awesome. Their menus kind of suck but I hated Comcast. I hated dealing with their bundles and the yearly haggling over the price. They have a set pricing structure and thats it.

I have had no issues with reliability...maybe once a year in a big snow storm...and I live in New Hampshire. I do have a really clear view to the southeast so maybe that helps.

Me : "I want to cut my phone out of my plan"
Comcast "No problem...your bill went up my $2"
Me : "How is that possible?"
Comcast "You had a triple bundle...now you have a double bundle. Now if you want we can do a double bundle with HBO for 3 months and you bill will go down by $5 but then it will go up by $25 after 3 months"
Me : "sigh"

If the quality is good, no-one cares how the signal reaches them; which is why the owners of the distribution network (including satellite) are so interested in content, because that is what they really sell to you.

What I think is game-changing is the move by Amazon and Netflix to create their own content. They want it to be available through every distribution platform and consumers will want that too.

My expectation is that we will see an increasing separation between content providers (where the money is) and distributors (where it isn't). Companies like Sky in the UK, which is content creator and distributor, will be under pressure to split.

For once, I am very pleased with my cable. Through Time Warner I have 300+ channels, HBO, 70 mbps Internet and phone for like $85 a month

People still watch TV?

I used to have indoor antenna, but after I moved the reception was too poor so I went with cable. However a quarter of my TV viewing is DVD for the commentary, extra features, and the ability to schedule when I want which is when there isn't anything good at the moment. One summer I went through 30 TV show seasons.

How else do we watch sports?

I haven't paid for cable in about 4 years. We pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and recently HBO. My fiancee and I don't really care about any show enough to watch it right when it comes out, so this is fine for us. The only exceptions are Downton Abbey, which we watch OTA on PBS.

You ask about the Internet TV revolution, but I would say it's already here.

Ok, even abge doesn't seem to remember/know that I am making fun of him.

http://webdiplomacy.net/forum.php?viewthread=962574#962574

Internet TV is no joke, zultar.

Why are you joking about it zultar? Cord cutting is very real. I watch 90%+ of my shows/movies on the internet. The only thing I watch on TV regularly is football.

Zultar had that thread bookmarked for three years for a lame joke.

If only kestas had deleted more of the database!

When Netflix and Amazon take up the sports rights then I shall abandon TV

MLB and NHL can both be streamed. Probably won't be long for NFL and NBA

But isn't it cheaper and more convenient to have them on cable?

It depends on your use case. I never watch sports so it's cheaper for me not to pay for them. Also I think NHL is free.

I just have to thank the big Z for bringing attention back to this thread....

http://webdiplomacy.net/forum.php?viewthread=962514#962514

How Bo has changed....

Big Z?!? There's a PRETENDER to my throne? Who is this "Big Z" being talked about?

Sincerely, Big ZZ

I very rarely watch TV directly. I v occasionally watch something of recorded on my PANA HDD/DVD box; sometimes (as with Constantine) a series on Amazon Prime; even rarer a DVD. Most often it's a UBend video; normally it's gameplay, like Abge/Valis' series, or games I physically can't play atm. Most TV is rubbish, if you have a serious mind - radio works better for me esp. BBC World Service.