The end of cable as we know it?

[drowg14]

Time Warner is trying to force it's LA subscribers, and all TV viewers in the LA area to pay $4 a month for a Dodgers channel. DirectTV says they don't want to force all of their subscribers to pay for a channel they might not want, and want to offer it on an a la carte basis. Link below:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...#axzz2z6gNfB2H

If DirectTV wins this case, it could ultimately lead to the end of being forced to pay for every channel you don't want when paying for cable, and having everything a la carte. Personally, I haven't paid for cable ever since I moved out on my own, roughly two years ago now. I live on Netflix and MLB.tv. But if I could pay for just a sports package, or just for certain sports channel, I would consider making the switch. For those interested in further discussion on the topic, it was the focus of an episode of the "Effectively Wild" podcast this week, which is a podcast I would recommend to everyone anyway.

Anyway, I was curious about this boards thoughts on this matter. How do you watch TV/sports/the Reds? Do you think the great TV Revolution is nigh? Would you appreciate being able to pick and choose your channels? Discuss!

[Hoosier Red]

The overall question may be better suited for the non-baseball forum, but I worry what this will mean for the expected cash grab from the next local TV deal for the Reds.

[bucksfan2]

I heard Jim Bowden talking about this on the radio yesterday. The gist of what he was saying is that he deal on the table for the Dodgers from Time Warner is a bad deal. He was saying that the Dodgers made a bunch of salary commitments to build the best team they can (and have the highest payroll in baseball) and they need a good TV deal to support that spending. The Dodgers could always go back to the days of Frank McCourt.

[traderumor]

I heard Jim Bowden talking about this on the radio yesterday.

You lost me right there

[gilpdawg]

You lost me right there

We joke about him, but that is a decent show. He's in the perfect place for him.

[cumberlandreds]

Internet viewing is coming fast, IMO. Most of what I watch is via the Internet. MLBTV,Netflix,YouTube etc.... If you could watch ESPN via the Internet without having it tied to your cable I would probably drop my TV. I can see in the very near future people paying for what they want to watch via Internet and dropping their cable/satellite. I know I am very close to doing that.

[RedFanAlways1966]

I guess that I only watch 4 to 7 channels (98% of the time). I pay for god knows how many. Has to be cheaper if I only had the 4 to 7 channels that I watch.

[klw]

And I feel fine.


We ditched cable 5 years ago when we bought our current home. We only get 10 channels- 5 are NH PBS, 4 are VT PBS, and the 10th is ABC. I watch a lot less than I used to. I can now stream the free MLB.com game on the tv through the Blu-Ray or computer. I miss watching some things but not as much as I would have were it not for the internet.

[JaxRed]

And I feel fine.

We only get 10 channels- 5 are NH PBS, 4 are VT PBS, and the 10th is ABC. I watch a lot less than I used to.

10 channels and 9 are PBS? I can understand why you watch less.

[klw]

10 channels and 9 are PBS? I can understand why you watch less.

Yeah but I get all the Rick Steeves marathons a man could want.

[WrongVerb]

And I feel fine.


We ditched cable 5 years ago when we bought our current home. We only get 10 channels- 5 are NH PBS, 4 are VT PBS, and the 10th is ABC. I watch a lot less than I used to. I can now stream the free MLB.com game on the tv through the Blu-Ray or computer. I miss watching some things but not as much as I would have were it not for the internet.

I stopped watching cable about 1.5 years ago. For years I'd have it on but one day I realized there wasn't anything that I was watching that I couldn't do without. So I canceled and save about $60/mo. I stream all kinds of stuff through Netflix and watch baseball on mlb.tv. Other stuff I want to watch like The Daily Show and Cosmos are streamed as soon as the episodes have been broadcast.

MLB.tv, just to keep this post somewhat relevant, has to be the best value out there. (At least until Netflix opens up their entire library for streaming.)

[UKFlounder]

Until they jacked up the price of the more popular channels so that having only the few more popular ones would end up
costing the same as or more than having the entire package now. Maybe that would not be possible or I am too cynical, but I am not sure that a la carte would be much cheaper. The cable companies are not going to try to change their model in order to make less money after all.

I guess that I only watch 4 to 7 channels (98% of the time). I pay for god knows how many. Has to be cheaper if I only had the 4 to 7 channels that I watch.

[sdwagers]

MLB.TV would be incredible if not for the blackouts...

[redssince75]

If you could watch ESPN via the Internet without having it tied to your cable I would probably drop my TV.

This is where I am, too. I am huge into college sports so obviously ESPN controls much of what I watch on TV. If it wasn't for that, I think I could go with local over-the-air plus internet plus netflix.

I grew up without cable, I can do this

I did too, but I also only saw the Reds when Joe Garagiola & Tony Kubek had them on some Saturday afternoon. Also, I listened to 9-10 of my college football team's games on radio, with 1-2 televised during the year. Now, I can watch any game I want pretty much.

So how I grew up doesn't necessarily gauge where I want to be today.......

[westofyou]

This is where I am, too. I am huge into college sports so obviously ESPN controls much of what I watch on TV. If it wasn't for that, I think I could go with local over-the-air plus internet plus netflix.



I did too, but I also only saw the Reds when Joe Garagiola & Tony Kubek had them on some Saturday afternoon. Also, I listened to 9-10 of my college football team's games on radio, with 1-2 televised during the year. Now, I can watch any game I want pretty much.

So how I grew up doesn't necessarily gauge where I want to be today.......

No doubt... I have DirectTV myself and I ain't giving it up!!