Remember when everybody had home phones? Yeah … those were the days.
Now 35.8 percent of American homes don’t have landlines at all, according to government data, while another 15.9 percent of American homes with landlines rarely if ever use them. According to the Associated Press, the same evolution which has impacted telephony could soon impact television viewing. Specifically, new Neilsen data reveals that five million American homes do not subscribe either to cable or satellite television – nor do they use antennae to get signals. These “Zero TV” homes – which exclusively use the internet to access content – totalled just two million six years ago.
Hmmmm …
The rise in popularity of web-only “television” can be seen in the launch of House of Cards, a new web-only series which debuted earlier this year on Netflix.
So … will home “television” go the same way as home phone service?
Well, with cable and satellite bills running $100 per month or higher (and nothing really worth watching on those hundreds of channels), we can easily see bargain hunters increasingly hooking their massive high definition screens up to online-only content.
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18 comments
Glad someone is hooked up on AP mobile. Good article yesterday.
Glad someone is hooked up on AP mobile. Good article yesterday.
I don’t pay for cable. MTV doesn’t play music videos and all the educational channels are reality TV shows now. Why pay for that garbage?
It is depressing when you think that TCL was originally a joint venture between the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and NASA.
Fittingly we now have Myrtle Manor. The people we wanted to show the stars are now the “stars”.
I don’t pay for cable. MTV doesn’t play music videos and all the educational channels are reality TV shows now. Why pay for that garbage?
It is depressing when you think that TCL was originally a joint venture between the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and NASA.
Fittingly we now have Myrtle Manor. The people we wanted to show the stars are now the “stars”.
My DirecTv bill went up from $54/mo the first to over $120/mo. I told them to stick it!! Miraculously, my bill came back down.
My DirecTv bill went up from $54/mo the first to over $120/mo. I told them to stick it!! Miraculously, my bill came back down.
Why pay money to watch endless commercials, “reality shows”, and infomercials????
A long time ago, cable had some fun, entertaining, stuff. As Nolff said below, MTV used to play music videos. Of course, this was the eighties, when there was good music and great videos to watch.
Now, you get to watch a bunch of retarded rednecks trying to molest gators, trying to molest bigfoot, doing other stupid redneck things, and endless commercials and you get charged out the ass for it. Every time I visit family or friends who have cable, it only reinforces to me that I made the correct decision in dumping cable, several years ago. You just don’t get anything worth the money you pay for it.
Why pay money to watch endless commercials, “reality shows”, and infomercials????
A long time ago, cable had some fun, entertaining, stuff. As Nolff said below, MTV used to play music videos. Of course, this was the eighties, when there was good music and great videos to watch.
Now, you get to watch a bunch of retarded rednecks trying to molest gators, trying to molest bigfoot, doing other stupid redneck things, and endless commercials and you get charged out the ass for it. Every time I visit family or friends who have cable, it only reinforces to me that I made the correct decision in dumping cable, several years ago. You just don’t get anything worth the money you pay for it.
Hopefully these companies will be forced to go down on their prices as a result of people leaving en masse for alternatives like Netflix.
… AND improve their programming!
Hopefully these companies will be forced to go down on their prices as a result of people leaving en masse for alternatives like Netflix.
… AND improve their programming!
reddit.com/r/cordcutters
i have been without cable or satelite tv for well over 2 years and the only thing i miss is espn…but not enough to pay $60/mo (the non-promotional rate for basic cable) for 98 chanels dont want or could get for free online through that network’s web page or netflix/hulu/amazon.
also some interesting food for thought. in the UK and much of europe you pay a “tax” for every TV in your home. the revenues go to pay the broadcast companies so that they can produce shows. In America we have commercial sales to fund the same companies….so let me ask you this: why are you paying for your subscription AND watching commercials?
reddit.com/r/cordcutters
i have been without cable or satelite tv for well over 2 years and the only thing i miss is espn…but not enough to pay $60/mo (the non-promotional rate for basic cable) for 98 chanels dont want or could get for free online through that network’s web page or netflix/hulu/amazon.
also some interesting food for thought. in the UK and much of europe you pay a “tax” for every TV in your home. the revenues go to pay the broadcast companies so that they can produce shows. In America we have commercial sales to fund the same companies….so let me ask you this: why are you paying for your subscription AND watching commercials?
I dropped cable over 7 months ago and don’t miss it one bit. I love Hulu, Netflix and my local library! I have saved so much money and my kids are no longer slaves to the idiot box.
I dropped cable over 7 months ago and don’t miss it one bit. I love Hulu, Netflix and my local library! I have saved so much money and my kids are no longer slaves to the idiot box.