Cutting the Cord in 2017 - My take on the current state of the market
In recent years the term "cutting the cord" has become popularized by folks attempting to replace cable or satellite television services with internet based services. The goal is typically to reduce cost and provide the ability to stream content easily to mobile devices.
Starting with NetFlix, then Hulu and Amazon - internet based options allowed you in my opinion to augment your Live television options. Or like Apple TV would allow you to view purchased content from their store.
Now every major broadcaster (i.e. ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox) along with many of the cable content providers (i.e. ESPN, HBO, etc.) offer some sort of streaming option. But in many cases, these options require that you already have a subscription with a cable or satellite provider. Some do provide a stand-alone option (like HBO Now) but then you are paying a separate subscription.
Most recently ATT/DirecTV came up with DirecTV Now. A pure streaming option with up to 100 channels (on sale for a limited time for $35/month). You can even add premium content like HBO for just $5 / month.
Additional options include SlingTV and Playstation Vue from Sony.
With all of these streaming options, the big advantage is portability. All come with iOS or Android apps - so you can watch on your phone or tablet and most if not all also have apps for AppleTV, Roku, or Amazon Fire. And as we have seen several of the providers now developed have their own content - from House of Cards and Orange is the new Black, to most recently the Grand Tour reboot of BBCs popular TopGear.
But the big question is - can you really replace cable or satellite with streaming?
So the answer is - it depends... On A) what content is important to you, B) what tools you have to stream and/or record content, C) what you're willing to pay and D) what limitations you're willing to live with.
For example the new DirectTV Now offering from ATT actually sounds pretty good on paper - 100 channels, low HBO add-on along with the ability to stream to mobile devices. But you need to read the fine print. For example there is No DVR capability and you may not get your local channels, plus you can only stream to 2 devices at a time. If you can live with that - cool you may be able to cut the cord and your costs. If you can't....then its a pretty limited offering.
You also have to consider the impact on your internet connection and home WiFi Network. Now if you have a good reliable 40Mbps or greater internet connection - then yawn - your should be able to stream just about anything to multiple locations and not have to deal with the dreaded buffering. If you don't, then you need to consider the added costs. Same with WiFi - if you have 802.11n or higher - you should be fine. If you have 802.11b/g you could experience issues and may have to upgrade.
Next you need to figure out how you want to stream. So a dedicated device like Apple TV or Roku or via a browser like Chrome and display redirection like Chromecast or MiraCast. You have apps for phones and tablets - but like any other device will need a good consistent connection for a reasonable experience.
And finally there is cost.
So let's use a scenario.
A household with 4 TVs, 4 phones along with 4 PCs and 2 tablets. Current service is DirecTV Premier - so 315 channels including all major premium content, HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime..
The content is managed by an HR-44 HD 6 channel DVR and 3 x C41W wireless STBs and a Wireless Video Bridge (WVB) Let's assume all TVs have wireless capability. Today the monthly cost is around $204. That includes all content, equipment and taxes. The phones, tablets and PC can also receive streamed content via DirecTV apps.
Now let's try and replicate this with streaming. If we tried the DirecTV Now option - first we would need 2 subscriptions to handle the 4 TVs. Today those two subscriptions would cost $70 / month. After Jan 9th it would be $120.
Now let's add HBO and Cinemax ($5 each) to both - so $90 or $140. Okay, now add Showtime Now $10.99 as a separate subscription - so $101 or $151.
So that's get us 100 channels, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime. Now for a very limited time DirecTV was offering 1 free AppleTV with each subscription.
That covers 2 TVs. Now you need to cover the other 2. So that means 2 Chromecast devices, 2 Roku or Apple TV streamers. So you're talking 1 time costs of $70 to $300+ depending on what you choose. Double that if you need 4.
Turn those one time costs into monthly for a year and your running $6 to $25 for two devices and $12 to $50 for four. Add that to your monthly and you're in the $175 - $200 range . Now sure that's only for the first year and then you're back to $150.
But that still doesn't address the 100+ channels you are missing from DirecTV, let alone the DVR and local channels.
You could add HD antenna for local content. But good quality ATSC amplified antenna cost about $50 each. - so there's another $200 or $17 month for a year.
And finally you need to address DVR. While it is expected that the DirecTV Now subscription will eventually provide DVR service - today it doesn't. So there are some options for recording Live TV via the ATSC antenna I described above. Folks like NowWhere TV and TabloTV. But these devices aren't cheap - the 4 tuner Tablo DVR is $300. Now the good news it will stream recorded content via Roku or to your phone. But it can't record ESPN or HBO for example.
My point here is this. Can you cut the cord in 2017 ? Sure you can. But understand what that means and the impact.
With traditional services today - you get complete packages that cover all your needs and you can control costs via packages / content. With Cord cutting you may be A) purchasing hardware to support streaming to TVs, B) buying Antenna and OTA DVRs and C) having less than you might via a normal service and D) payments to multiple providers to cover all the content.
Bottom line is this. The good news is that we are seeing more and more content available for streaming. The bad news is that depending on your use case - you can end up with a bunch of pieces/parts and separate subscriptions to get the equivalent capabilities offered by traditional providers. My expectation though is that within 3 years - so by 2020 - streaming will be a very viable option and may even become the normal method for television distribution.
I expect to see a heavy battle between ATT, Verizon, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple in this space. What I could easily see for example is a DirectTV app for all new TVs that you assign to your subscription and simply stream content. It will eliminate dishes, SWMN controllers, etc. DVR will all be cloud based.
Starting with NetFlix, then Hulu and Amazon - internet based options allowed you in my opinion to augment your Live television options. Or like Apple TV would allow you to view purchased content from their store.
Now every major broadcaster (i.e. ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox) along with many of the cable content providers (i.e. ESPN, HBO, etc.) offer some sort of streaming option. But in many cases, these options require that you already have a subscription with a cable or satellite provider. Some do provide a stand-alone option (like HBO Now) but then you are paying a separate subscription.
Most recently ATT/DirecTV came up with DirecTV Now. A pure streaming option with up to 100 channels (on sale for a limited time for $35/month). You can even add premium content like HBO for just $5 / month.
Additional options include SlingTV and Playstation Vue from Sony.
With all of these streaming options, the big advantage is portability. All come with iOS or Android apps - so you can watch on your phone or tablet and most if not all also have apps for AppleTV, Roku, or Amazon Fire. And as we have seen several of the providers now developed have their own content - from House of Cards and Orange is the new Black, to most recently the Grand Tour reboot of BBCs popular TopGear.
But the big question is - can you really replace cable or satellite with streaming?
So the answer is - it depends... On A) what content is important to you, B) what tools you have to stream and/or record content, C) what you're willing to pay and D) what limitations you're willing to live with.
For example the new DirectTV Now offering from ATT actually sounds pretty good on paper - 100 channels, low HBO add-on along with the ability to stream to mobile devices. But you need to read the fine print. For example there is No DVR capability and you may not get your local channels, plus you can only stream to 2 devices at a time. If you can live with that - cool you may be able to cut the cord and your costs. If you can't....then its a pretty limited offering.
You also have to consider the impact on your internet connection and home WiFi Network. Now if you have a good reliable 40Mbps or greater internet connection - then yawn - your should be able to stream just about anything to multiple locations and not have to deal with the dreaded buffering. If you don't, then you need to consider the added costs. Same with WiFi - if you have 802.11n or higher - you should be fine. If you have 802.11b/g you could experience issues and may have to upgrade.
Next you need to figure out how you want to stream. So a dedicated device like Apple TV or Roku or via a browser like Chrome and display redirection like Chromecast or MiraCast. You have apps for phones and tablets - but like any other device will need a good consistent connection for a reasonable experience.
And finally there is cost.
So let's use a scenario.
A household with 4 TVs, 4 phones along with 4 PCs and 2 tablets. Current service is DirecTV Premier - so 315 channels including all major premium content, HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime..
The content is managed by an HR-44 HD 6 channel DVR and 3 x C41W wireless STBs and a Wireless Video Bridge (WVB) Let's assume all TVs have wireless capability. Today the monthly cost is around $204. That includes all content, equipment and taxes. The phones, tablets and PC can also receive streamed content via DirecTV apps.
Now let's try and replicate this with streaming. If we tried the DirecTV Now option - first we would need 2 subscriptions to handle the 4 TVs. Today those two subscriptions would cost $70 / month. After Jan 9th it would be $120.
Now let's add HBO and Cinemax ($5 each) to both - so $90 or $140. Okay, now add Showtime Now $10.99 as a separate subscription - so $101 or $151.
So that's get us 100 channels, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime. Now for a very limited time DirecTV was offering 1 free AppleTV with each subscription.
That covers 2 TVs. Now you need to cover the other 2. So that means 2 Chromecast devices, 2 Roku or Apple TV streamers. So you're talking 1 time costs of $70 to $300+ depending on what you choose. Double that if you need 4.
Turn those one time costs into monthly for a year and your running $6 to $25 for two devices and $12 to $50 for four. Add that to your monthly and you're in the $175 - $200 range . Now sure that's only for the first year and then you're back to $150.
But that still doesn't address the 100+ channels you are missing from DirecTV, let alone the DVR and local channels.
You could add HD antenna for local content. But good quality ATSC amplified antenna cost about $50 each. - so there's another $200 or $17 month for a year.
And finally you need to address DVR. While it is expected that the DirecTV Now subscription will eventually provide DVR service - today it doesn't. So there are some options for recording Live TV via the ATSC antenna I described above. Folks like NowWhere TV and TabloTV. But these devices aren't cheap - the 4 tuner Tablo DVR is $300. Now the good news it will stream recorded content via Roku or to your phone. But it can't record ESPN or HBO for example.
My point here is this. Can you cut the cord in 2017 ? Sure you can. But understand what that means and the impact.
With traditional services today - you get complete packages that cover all your needs and you can control costs via packages / content. With Cord cutting you may be A) purchasing hardware to support streaming to TVs, B) buying Antenna and OTA DVRs and C) having less than you might via a normal service and D) payments to multiple providers to cover all the content.
Bottom line is this. The good news is that we are seeing more and more content available for streaming. The bad news is that depending on your use case - you can end up with a bunch of pieces/parts and separate subscriptions to get the equivalent capabilities offered by traditional providers. My expectation though is that within 3 years - so by 2020 - streaming will be a very viable option and may even become the normal method for television distribution.
I expect to see a heavy battle between ATT, Verizon, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple in this space. What I could easily see for example is a DirectTV app for all new TVs that you assign to your subscription and simply stream content. It will eliminate dishes, SWMN controllers, etc. DVR will all be cloud based.
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