Within these pages of this here news service, we have written about how folks that watch television within their homesteads in a given period of time have been changing the way their get their TV programs, usually in the form of obtaining their signals through a coax cable provided through a local cable TV company where they receive hundreds of channels and paying dearly for that privilege. These subscribers didn’t like the cost for such services where at times, their bill would be over $100.00 per month! Its solution is to subscribe to a streaming video service where one would receive an endless number of program titles to view whenever they wanted for a fraction of the cost of a CATV bill! Best of all, one can watch their TV shows through their phones or their electronic pad devices, not just limited to a TV machine!
Many folks decided to jump on the opportunity of getting alternative media by going streaming and to ditch cable. This method of video switcharoo was known as “cord cutting” where their cable TV subscriptions were cancelled, only to subscribe to such services as Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO-GO, as well as the one that started this all-Nexflix!
Although a number of folks did indeed “cut the cord”, many folks didn’t. They indeed kept their cable service to watch their video entertainment. Some have streaming media at their disposal as well! But in spite of the high fees that cable services provide, as well as companies that use satellite signal transmissions, people have kept their cable services either through choice or through circumstances.
Deloitte Insights, a source that studies and reports on how media and technology affects the domestic public at large, recently conducted a report on the current habits of cable TV users, noting on how they use their cable TV systems and why. The study noted on how people still held on to their cable TV subscriptions (i.e. why didn’t they cut the cord), and the reasons behind staying cabled.
According to the report, a bit more than half (56%) have cable is because they also receive phone and internet services bundled at a reduced rate. If they got these services as separate bills, it would be for a much higher price. Since folks need their phones and internet, they would be willing to get what they really want for less, so cable is considered as a “bonus”. Also, HBO, Showtime, and others premium channels offer their streaming services for a less of a price (if not for free) if they were legit subscribers to a cable service. And without internet access, there would be no streaming! It’s the best of all three worlds.
But for the folks that want cable TV as cable TV, nearly 3/4 (71%) stated they watch because it offers “live” TV. This means that they want to view a live sporting event, news as it breaks (i.e. “breaking news”), or any other program where streaming would not make sense if consumed. Live programming is always preferred compared to getting it “canned”!
In addition, 53% noted that a cable TV company provides digital video recorder devices (DVRs) to capture video content to view later. This is ideal if one wanted to watch their favorite shows through their big screen TV set at a time when it suits fit to watch. This is akin to using a video cassette recorder a few generations ago where one would have to program their VCRs to tape a show for later use. However, one had to have plenty of blank tapes (or tapes they would record over) to view their content. There was an upside to this and its downside. Its upside resulted in a physical copy of the show to keep in a collection, even passing the tape to some other person to view. The downside is the fact that one had to fiddle with the VCR to program the machine to record the show(s) and when. Some folks never got the programming part right (think of flashing clocks that read 12:00), while others didn’t want to mess around with the time on, time off, and channel numbers. DVRs would be programed through simple steps using buttons on a remote that would get the proper settings every time! The downside of DVRs is that you didn’t have a copy to keep on a bookshelf, let alone pass the copy of the program to others. One can download the program from the DVR to a hard drive or as a DVD burn, but that can be too troublesome for some folks. Nevertheless, people still capture their shows to watch later, if at all!
There are other reasons why people want their cable TV, such as “Because I have had it for so long and don’t want to change!” (36%), “I am happy with the value I receive for the cost” (34%), “I do not stream content often, or at all” (28%), and “To access the library of content available for streaming through my pay TV subscription” (21%). Whatever the reason or whatever the case, cable TV is far from being dead, let alone cut! It just ain’t what it used to be!
For the record, Deloitte’s survey was conducted through online means in November of last year among 2,088 polled consumers based in the USA.. The report can be read in its entirety through this link https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/technology/digital-media-trends-consumption-habits-survey.html
-Enjoy!
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NEWS AND REVIEWS
No reviews this week, so please check the next issue for more news and reviews. See you then!
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