What do Music+, Blockbuster, DirecTV, and DISH Network have in common? Yup You guessed it...

Do you remember the first instance of the Expendables?  You remember, Music+, Tower Records, Blockbuster, Local Newspapers, Kodak, et. al. Well there is a sequel, Expendables 2, starring DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, Tivo, and every DVD/BluRay manufacturer in town.  Or so you would think if you were to look at it from the perspective of statistical analysts.  With 34% of consumers turning to the web first in their spare time, versus 45% for TV, you don’t have to be an Engineer to figure out that Cable/Satellite television may be seeing shadows. Yes my friends, Internet entertainment is doing to them what the Smartphone did to camcorders, music stores, cameras, daily planners, and even watches.  This is not to mention what the tablet is going to do to bookstores, magazines, books, and even television and movie theaters.

The internet is rapidly becoming the common denominator around the globe.  Now I know we are used to Olympic gold, coming in first in virtually everything and with the US inventing the internet you would think we would be the lion share of its users.  However, not only are we not the predominate user of the world network, but we are a weak sister when it comes to the number of users of the internet.  

Edelman's annual entertainment survey, which measures 2,000 respondents across the US and UK, show that TV is declining as the primary form of entertainment, with that 45% figure down from 58% just two years ago.  TV isn’t the only casualty; theaters are finding that their numbers are declining as well, with just 3% of users classifying it as their primary mode of entertainment, down from 6% in 2011.  Now, this is a familiar model, on that the US newspaper industry has been on since 2000.

Turns out those Cable providers will soon find that the gravy train has stopped.  Even TV isn't TV anymore.  The recent Olympic broadcast was predominately watched via the internet on devices other than the television. 56% preferred watching the Olympics via their computers rather than NBC's weak coverage of only a few select events.

In fact, many people are getting fed up paying nearly $60 to $85/month for repeats of Seinfeld.  Now with the introduction of Apple TV and Roku2 devices, the Cable/Satellite option seems to have lost its luster. At $85.91 per month for the most basic HD plan from Comcast that comes in at just over a grand per year. With Netflix and Hulu, it's $15.98 per month, or just under $200 per year. That's a big gap between Comcast and Hulu+Netflix, $839.16, to be exact. Of course you need a device if you don't already have one to play Netflix and Hulu on your television. A Roku costs between $50 and $100, and an Apple TV is about $100. Current difference: $739.16.

The Roku device is pretty robust now.  You not only get several libraries of movies and TV’s shows in high definition, but much like the initial days of Satellite TV – where you could get signals all around the world, you can tap into a variety of international broadcasts as well.  For those that are movie buffs, this is the way to go.  Not only do you get all the same channels offered on cable, including MLB, NBA, Showtime, HBO, Bloomberg, Comedy, etc., you don't have to pay for any channels you don't want, and to top that, not only can you watch movies at will, the application remembers where you left off when you get back to it.  Bye bye Tivo... So the question is, why on earth do you need to debate about DVD or BlueRay when you can stream virtually any movie out there at will in High Definition, Dolby Stereo, and even 3D.  Yes 3D is now supported.  Bye bye Video players...

Genres are available for many other hobbyists as well.  There are cooking channels, sports, sci-fi, classic television shows, animal channels, documentaries’, etc.   Even the interface is as clean as a simple icon select menu.  There are no addresses to type, just point and click.  The images, if you choose the HD broadcasts are amazing.  There are some complaints that could be registered, one is that local channels are noticeably missing, so in that case, we recommend buying the $35 device you can get off Amazon and get the digital free broadcast to augment your internet feed.   The other is that there are 30 second commercials that pepper your broadcasts, but they do announce beforehand their length.  Now that is not the irritating part of it.  The commercials, being a new market are few in number, so if you want to see an old 1980 beer commercial 10 times, well you’re in luck.

 

Anyway here are the costs of the alternatives.

(MONEY Magazine) -- Cable TV's $50-plus monthly cost may be unavoidable for sports fans and news junkies -- but if you just want a good selection of TV and movies, try a combo of these online services.

Netflix

Who it's for: The movie buff

Typical fare: "True Grit," "The African Queen," "Downtown Abbey"

Thumbs up: Get instant access to newish movies, sturdy classics, and past seasons of TV series.

Thumbs down: New movies may not be available as quickly as on DVD. Many titles in Netflix's DVD library, which costs extra to use, aren't offered at all. $8/month (streaming video only); netflix.com

Hulu Plus

Who it's for: The TV junkie

Typical fare: "The Daily Show," 37 years of "Saturday Night Live," "Smiles of a Summer Night"

Thumbs up: Catch the full current season of popular network and cable shows, along with archives of past episodes and a smattering of art-house flicks.

Thumbs down: Just as with free TV, periodic advertisements may interrupt your show. $8/month; hulu.com

Amazon

Who it's for: The impatient grazer

Typical fare: "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Glee" (Season 2), "Moneyball" ($4)

Thumbs up: Enjoy a little-known perk for paying $80 a year for Amazon Prime two-day shipping: Have instant access to shows and movies at no extra cost. Separately, get new films on pay-per-view.

Thumbs down: Selection is smaller than Netflix's. $80/year (Prime), $2-$4 (PPV); amazon.com

The hardware made easy

The simplest way to enjoy these services, once you've signed up, is to sit at your computer and stare. But you can do better.

To watch on a tablet: Just download the relevant app and sign up. Netflix and Hulu Plus work on iPads and Android tablets, while Amazon is built into a Kindle Fire.

To watch on your TV: Connect your PC by wire to your set. Buy a Roku box (starts at $50), which lets you send video wirelessly over a home network to your set. Or use a networked Blu-ray or videogame player, which probably has the necessary software built in.

Now far be it from Wasabi to preach any given technology, but guys, don’t belly ache to us about the economy or how tight your budget is, if you are willing to throw away an average of $739/year.  We didn’t, we all cancelled our DirecTV subscriptions after this research and are basking in the more comprehensive options of the internet.

Source(s):

http://digitalmedia.strategyeye.com/article/zgTH2r5vxkA/2012/06/13/web_closing_gap_on_tv_for_primary_source_of_entertainment_in/

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/16/pf/internet-cable-tv.moneymag/index.htm

http://flowingdata.com/2012/02/09/why-i-want-to-quit-cable/

http://www.businessinsider.com/tv-business-collapse-2012-6

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

So “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;”

____________________________________________________________

About Rick Ricker

An IT professional with over 20 years experience in Information Security, wireless broadband, network and Infrastructure design, development, and support.

For more information, contact Rick at (800) 333-8394 x 689