ABC Kills Next-Day Streaming For Non-Subscribers 169
jfruh writes "ABC shows are available for free to anybody with antenna on the day and time they're first broadcast. But if you want them at any other time, it's getting harder to see them unless you pay someone. The network had previously made free ad-supported streamed versions of its shows available on its website the day after they aired, but now they're shifting that back to a week. Next-day streaming is still available if you have a cable or Hulu Plus subscription, showing the extent to which "broadcast" networks are dependent on subscriber fees."
Cable Cutters don't care (Score:5, Insightful)
The biggest commonality of cable cutters (including me) I know is that they don't watch or care about "live" TV. The difference between a day and a week is nothing to them. DVRs changed a lot of peoples watching habits and these people aren't paying the premium anymore.
Look at Redbox, does a 90 day DVD release delay help sales? Not likely, you just shift what I watch 90 days in the future.
Blocking customers from the cash register ... (Score:4, Insightful)
... will ensure they don't buy anything. Similarly, making it hard for people to watch will ensure they don't. If they do want to watch, more will look for torrents (amongst other things) than go back to the stone age days (before PVR's, etc). People nowadays will not bother being inconvenienced unless you have awesome stuff - although it's not my cup of tea, Apple is an example of where people will stand in line for hours and be inconvenienced.
I wouldn't say ABC shows are worth putting off tennis practice (or whatever hobby you have) for. This will not end well.
Re:They probably don't want to burn affiliates (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: Cable Cutters don't care (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Uggh... (Score:5, Insightful)
A watershed day is when HBO GO becomes available without a cable subscription.
Interesting indeed. I wonder if Netflix will become what HBO GO could have been sooner? They're starting to develop some stuff of their own and don't require cable at all.
Re:Cable Cutters don't care (Score:3, Insightful)
Time-shifting is no longer a "feature" (Score:5, Insightful)
I have not watched TV on a network schedule for a decade, and my children don't even have the concept of a "TV Schedule".
Fighting consumer demand is difficult, fighting consumer default expectations is suicide; especially in Entertainment media, where the whole world can turn on a dime, except you.
What is This "cable" Of Which You Speak? (Score:5, Insightful)
Although honestly I'd be happy to pay say $25-30 a month for some hybrid of the two - at least for news channels.
Of course the downside of not watching cable or network TV is that you really appreciate how horrible advertising is. Easily the most painful part of going out to a movie.
Re: dependent on subscriber fees? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Did anyone else read the post? (Score:4, Insightful)