The Future of Cord Cutting is About Choices

Have you seen articles that foretell gloom-and-doom for streaming TV. Articles about how Cord Cutting will ruin cable TV. That one day Cord Cutters will regret their role in the demise of cable and satellite TV. And that streaming TV subscription services like Sling TV and Hulu are just going to recreate expensive cable bundles. About how Cord Cutters will eventually pay the same price or more for streaming services when compared to cable TV — Hey. Don’t listen to this hype. This is cable TV gloom-and-doom talk. And it is just talk. Cable and satellite TV companies are trying to create fear. They want you to doubt that you – the Cord Cutter – or future Cord Cutter – have made the right decision. But there is no need to worry. The future of Cord Cutting will be amazing. Because… The future of Cord Cutting is about choices.

Change Creates Fear

The Status Quo

Cord Cutting is change. It challenges the status quo. It is human to fear change and to resist change.

Cable TV is the status quo. Right now, cable TV is the norm. But that is changing.

The number of households with cable and satellite TV subscriptions is declining.

• Over 100 Million cable and satellite TV subscribers each year from 2009 to 2015
• Peak of 103 Million cable and satellite TV subscribers in 2012
• 99.2 Million cable and satellite TV subscribers in 2016

Today, about 90 Million households still pay for some cable or satellite TV.

Change is on the horizon.

(Cable subscription numbers courtesy of MoffettNathanson, BusinessInsider.com)

Customers Demands Are Met With New Technologies

Have you heard a cable TV subscriber say this? “I have hundreds of channels that I never watch.”

Or this? “I only watch 6 cable TV channels.”

Maybe you have asked yourself this question? “Why should I pay for hundreds of channels that I never watch?”

These are common questions from cable TV subscribers. These questions show that many customers don’t want or need hundreds of cable TV channels. The cable TV mega-bundle has too many channels and is not wanted by many cable TV subscribers. Cable TV subscribers think that the cable TV mega-bundle has too many channels, has many channels that are never watched, and the price of cable TV is too high.

Companies have listened to these customers. And they have started to solve the problem with technology. Companies are solving customer demands by:

• Improving internet speeds
• Adding new ways to connect to the internet at home (Fiber, 5G Wireless)
• Creating ways to stream video to computer browsers, laptops, tablets, and phones
• Building servers and apps for streaming content like Netflix and Hulu and Sling TV
• Making streaming devices like Roku and Amazon Fire TV

At first, these technologies were more ways to watch TV and movies – that is, they were additions to the cable mega-bundle. But as these technologies improved, internet streaming started to become the first choice for watching TV. “Netflix and Chill.”

And then Netflix became so popular, Cord Cutters began cancelling their cable TV and ONLY subscribing to Netflix. This has become known as Cutting The Cord. Or Cord Cutting.

So, the Cord Cutter was born. Cord Cutters realized that they no longer had to pay for hundreds of cable channels that they never watched.

Cord Cutters saw that they had choices!

The Future of Cord Cutting is About Choices

The fallacy of nearly every article that foretells a grim future of Cord Cutting is the same. The gloom-and-doom story is that Cord Cutters will pay more to get all the streaming services they want to replace their cable mega-bundle. Or that the Cord Cutting trend will get to a point where all that is available for the Cord Cutter is streaming packages that are just like the mega-bundle.

These gloom-and-doom articles overlook the big picture. They are not considering the shift in the entertainment industry, the full potential of streaming services, and that customers want choices. They overlook that the changes in the entertainment industry are based on new technologies developed to meet customer needs. And they tend to think of Cord Cutters as people who are going against the trend – temporarily.

The gloom-and-doom articles fail to realize and acknowledge that Cord Cutters are just early adopters of the entertainment industry’s future. And they fail to realize that the new technologies and changes in the entertainment industry are driving consumer changes.

The Entertainment Industry is Shifting

Cord Cutting is not grim.

There is an ongoing shift in the entire entertainment industry. Cord Cutting is only a part of the shift.

The entire TV and movie industry is being disrupted and shifting due to several changes in film-making.

Here are just a few of those changes:

• TV, movie production, and post-production is becoming easier – there is cheaper equipment and foreign locations offer cheaper alternatives for filmmakers
• There is an expansion of movie production companies – HBO, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Hulu, Crackle, and even independent artists
• New technologies make it easier to distribute movies through stand-alone streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Crackle using high-speed internet – movie theaters and cable TV are no longer needed

These changes started before Cord Cutting. HBO was one of the first companies to take advantage of these changes. The Sopranos.

Netflix and Hulu came along later. Orange is the New Black. Crackle joined the game with Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Early Cord Cutters recognized that Netflix and Hulu had enough TV entertainment, and that they had the option to go without cable TV. They didn’t need the cable TV mega-bundle.

The entertainment industry began to shift.

The Cord Cutting trend began.

The Future of Cord Cutting is Amazing (And NOT Grim)

Eventually, there will potentially be tens, or even hundreds, of paid streaming services (Netflix, Hulu) available to Cord Cutters.

Pay streaming services may even include a mega-bundle like the cable TV mega-bundle. As long as customers want a cable TV mega-bundle, the cable TV bundle will exist. However, in the future, the cable TV bundle may not be transmitted through traditional cable or satellite. Instead, the cable TV bundle may be streamed through an app – just like Netflix, Hulu, and Sling TV.

DirecTV has already started streaming cable TV bundles over the internet through their DIRECTV NOW app. The DIRECTV NOW app is a streaming service that has four cable TV bundles. Read more about… What is DirecTV NOW?

And in-between Netflix and DIRECTV NOW will be “slim” cable bundles. Sling TV is already providing “slim” bundles now with their Orange and Blue packages. And Sling TV is a VERY popular service because it meets the needs of many Cord Cutters.

So, what does the future of Cord Cutting and streaming services look like?

Some streaming services will continue to deliver the traditional cable TV mega-bundle – like DIRECTV NOW. Other streaming services will deliver a package of various popular content – like Netflix. Some streaming services will deliver a “slim” cable bundle – like Sling TV. And other streaming providers will focus on delivering custom, specialized content like ESPN/Sports, DisneyNOW, or HBO NOW.

The future of TV and movie streaming services will be about meeting customer needs by providing choices.

There are so many choices already!  Read about more streaming cable bundle choices… How-To Watch Live TV.

And one thing is certain… Cord Cutters will have more choices.

The Future of Cord Cutting is About Choices

Is Cord Cutting about saving money? Sure.

But Cord Cutting is really about choices.

The choice to PICK only the services you want.

The choice to NOT pay for hundreds of channels you don’t use.

The choice to GET the entertainment that interests you.

The choice to START or STOP services when you want.

Being a Cord Cutter is about having choices.

And the entertainment industry is already shifting to give Cord Cutters more choices.

It’s a great time to be a Cord Cutter!

 

 

Read more about how… Cord Cutting Impacts Cable TV Subscription Losses