AT&T's CEO Predicts That Millions More Will Cut the Cord (bloomberg.com) 30
TV cord-cutting is picking up steam, and AT&T's CEO predicts there's a long way to go before it stops. From a report: On an earnings call Thursday, AT&T Chief Executive Officer John Stankey said "we're probably going to see a little bit of a plateauing" when the number of homes subscribing to pay TV hits 55 million to 60 million. Most of those homes will include sports fans, he said. It's a stark outlook for an industry that's already suffered a long subscriber exodus. There were about 91 million pay-TV subscribers at the end of 2019, including some 8 million who signed up to online-TV bundles like Hulu and YouTube TV. About 3.5 million people cut the cord in the first half of the year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. While AT&T, Comcast, Charter and other TV providers are focusing their businesses on delivering internet service, owners of cable channels are especially vulnerable. That's because more cord-cutting means lower subscriber fees, a key revenue stream. Stankey added that AT&T is focusing on growing its new online streaming service, HBO Max, to prepare for the future. AT&T said Thursday that it shed another 590,000 TV subscribers last quarter. With customer losses mounting, AT&T has been looking to sell the majority of its satellite-TV business, DirecTV.
Wow (Score:2)
Who'd have ever guessed that had this guy and his team of consultants not sleuthed it out?
I'm cutting the cord w/AT&T, too (Score:4, Informative)
Sayin' buh-bye to AT& DSL. A local ISP is offering fiber to the house for less than ATT., whose prices have increaded with a decrease in quality and uptime.
Re:I'm cutting the cord w/AT&T, too (Score:4, Insightful)
The writing is on the wall, the floor, the etc. (Score:2)
The cable model is clearly obsolete. Sports are about the only thing keeping it afloat, as the major sports franchises are slow to web-ify. Once they convert, cable will fall quickly.
Re:The writing is on the wall, the floor, the etc. (Score:5, Insightful)
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What entertainment is not recycled ideas?
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I enjoy gambling; it's an entertainment expense. You don't, that's fine. But, you're wrong- and yes, I. know a great deal about game theory.
Poker is a game of skill, and as such, can be won.
Counting cards at Blackjack yields a positive expectation.
Typically in a given casino you can find at least one video poker terminal configured for positive expectation.
The rest, yes, are statistically negative expectation. However, played correctly and factoring in comps, that can be addressed. Indeed, part of wha
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I hate stats junkies and fantasy leagues. I do get that other people enjoy it. To each their own.
However, what I do really enjoy is the strategy of the game and the physical ability of the players. I can't name our quarterback, believe it or not, but I love sitting by the fire on a crisp Fall afternoon with my dog and a strong drink and watching two groups of muscleheads controlled by a master tactician destroying their bodies for my pleasure. Makes me feel like Caesar.
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The cable model is clearly obsolete.
I'm not seeing a massive amount of difference, in practice.
One still needs an ISP, and then if one wants to subscribe to Netflix and Hulu and HBO Max and Disney+ and Peacock and CBS All Access, each of those cost a pound of flesh per month. While it *can* be cheaper than regular cable if one picks one package or another, it's easy to end up with the same bill if you're all-in.
About the only difference I see between the traditional cable model and the ISP-plus-streaming-services model (e.g. "traditional cabl
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We could get giga speeds on broadband if we dropped cable television.
Many ISPs are doing this.
I agree that fiber is the future, but SO expensive to roll out in rural areas, even with subsidies.
Ya think? (Score:2)
Will wonders never cease... (Score:4, Funny)
AT&T's CEO Predicts That Millions More Will Cut the Cord
Alright, in light of new evidence I'm willing to admit to admit I was wrong. AT&T in fact DOES listen to their customers!
You think sports will save you? (Score:3)
Sports may have been the biggest hangup for some people, but apparently he isn't aware that ESPN+ is available from Disney for a nominal subscription fee. Nor that Fubo TV apparently offers over 50 different sports channels (including, coincidentally enough, AT&T SportsNet) in addition to the hundreds of others they already have. And you'll find similar from numerous other live TV streaming services like Sling, YouTube TV, Hulu, and Philo.
But hey, keep telling yourself that the bleeding will stop, AT&T.
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In fact, just this last week, my in-laws asked me about dropping cable. I pointed them in the direction of a few of those live TV services, and they followed up a few days later to thank me and let me know that they're now happy customers at Sling, paying a fraction of what they were before. Mind you, they're both in their 70s, so not exactly the typical demographic for a cord-cutter, but I didn't have to walk them through anything in terms of setup (though even if I had, it apparently would have only consi
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People who "cut the cord" for services like Sling, are not actually cutting the cord. They are just switching one pay TV provider for another. Sure they may save a tiny bit of money at first, but the prices will creep back up.
The real sea-change happening is in the Millenial and under crowd, who have *never* subscribed to classical pay TV in their lives, and *never* will. That generation has zero interest in a service like Sling.
Help cutting the cord (Score:2)
For those looking for OTA DVR solutions without paying for streaming, there is a decent deal at Best Buy through the end of the week. If you have a FireTv, FireTV cube, or the integrated TVs with Fire, the Recast is now $100 off at Best Buy. The 500GB 2-tuner is now $130 and the 1TB 4-tuner is $180. Yes you can Plex this setup (I do) but that requires a subscription in order to get the schedule. This device gives you the schedule without subscription and integrates with the FireTV OS as well as watching fro
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For those looking for OTA DVR solutions without paying for streaming, ...
Just thought I'd mention another option for folks that want a polished consumer style product (i.e. don't want to roll their own): Tablo (tablotv.com) I've been very satisfied using a quad tuner with 5TB external USB disk for the last 4-5 years. I also paid for the Lifetime subscription ($150) to get the advanced guide features. So my components are: Antenna, Tablo DVR, USB drive, wired network, Roku. Paid for itself in 1 year.
Ha ha "plateauing" (Score:2)
On an earnings call Thursday, AT&T Chief Executive Officer John Stankey said "we're probably going to see a little bit of a plateauing"
What you're going to see is a little bit of a "cratering".
But sure, the loss of millions of customers is "plateauing." Whatever.
I LIKE my cable TV (Score:1)
For several reasons
I watch a lot - two to three hours a day of sports, movies, and documentaries.
I refuse to wait on commercials; I haven't watched a commercial since I bought I VCR+ in 1992.
I am picky about what I watch; I won't just watch one of 9000 cheap crappy movies (e.g. Netflix).
My cable TV bill is +/- $5 of what internet and Hulu would cost, and I get all the Hulu channels, plus more.
Finally, I never suffer those annoying streaming bandwidth dropouts where your picture goes fuzzy.
In Other News (Score:1)
AT&T lost another 600,000 subscribers to it's DirectTV service while it tries to find a buyer for that sinking ship.
I guess nobody told AT&T when they bought DirectTV that "cord cutting" was becoming "a thing"? It was, and AT&T chose not to listen at that time either.
Cable product ? (Score:2)
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There was TV. It was controlled and had commercials. Cable TV promised no commercials and was for a bit....and they crept in....then the DVR was invented...
Long before the DVR arrived, the VCR upset the cart. The television industry fought the new (to consumer) technology tooth and nail. Some early consumer VCR manufacturers and distributors ended up in court, sued by the tv industry. The now all too familiar argument: copyright violation. The industry claimed selling a product that allowed a consumer to record a television broadcast broadcasts to watch later was a violation of copyright. Came down to a USA Supreme Court decision on Jan 17, 1984. In Sony Co
Waste of Money (Score:1)
I got rid of cable TV a little over a decade ago. Haven't missed it. Got tired of paying for mostly commercials. With the four on-demand commercial free services I subscribe to, along with the 31 channels I get free with my over the air antenna, and regular live podcasts I watch, I actually have way more than I currently have TIME to watch, but spending a total of less than $45/month.
So? (Score:2)
I think I speak for everyone involved when I say that good, cheap, competitive RF broadband can't come soon enough after spending years getting ass-pounded and treated like complete crap by cable companies.
It will happen, and when it does, I'm going to make a big bucket of popcorn with extra butter and laugh satanically as they go down the drain. Hopefully while making a lot of money from shorting their stock.
Direct TV is dying (Score:1)
dumping the dish this weekend (Score:2)
Dumped Comcast for DirecTV about five years back. AT&T pulled fiber through the neighborhood two years later after Google threatened to bring in *their* fiber service and I've been on a "triple-play" TV/Net/VOIP package since to get their uncapped gig internet service. Now they've uncapped all their fiber plans and we've signed up for Hulu Live and Philo (to get a handful of add'l channels we like). Half the cost. The satellite boxes are going back this weekend, and we're dropping the "landline" aft