Cutting the cord to cable has gone from a fringe action to a way of life for millions of Americans that have given up on expensive cable and satellite TV packages and built their own on-demand TV experience with streaming TV. Not to mention the “cord nevers,” millennials who never bothered getting traditional pay TV packages in the first place.
And as those numbers have grown, so have a proliferation of set-top boxes, streaming “sticks” and services from Sling TV to Amazon Instant Video, with stand-along services coming soon from HBO, CBS and Apple. This is another moment in the rise of streaming, over-the-top TV services that will reshape the power of television delivery for the next decade. Could it be that the a la carte TV experience is finally coming, where we can pick and choose the sports, shows and movies we want when we want them at a reasonable price? Not quite yet, but we’re getting closer.
So we thought the time was ripe for another deeper look at cord-cutting and streaming TV to help you if you haven’t cut the cord yet, or give you insight into where we are — and where we’re going into the future of television.
Read now:
>How ‘Cord Cutters’ and ‘Cord Nevers’ Became ‘Cord Compromisers,’ by Matt Smith
>How Streaming and Binging Has Changed Our Relationship with TV, by Dena Levitz
>Your Guide to Streaming TV Sticks: Amazon Beats Google, Roku, by Kathy E. Gill
>5 Tricks to Getting the Best Possible Reception With Your Indoor Antenna, by Steve Belk
>Mediatwits #155: Cord-Cutting Gets Real as Streaming TV Options Mushroom, hosted by Mark Glaser and produced by Jefferson Yen [VID]
>Your Guide to Cutting the Cord to Cable TV, by Sonia Paul
> The Line Blurs Between Web Series and TV Shows, by Julie Keck
Recent coverage around the web:
> Sling TV Will Give Non-Apple Cord Cutters HBO Access Too, ReadWriteWeb
> These new streaming services may entice you to cut the cord, Fortune
> Cutting the cable cord: Will the online media boom mean the death of TV?, PBS NewsHour
> Cutting the cord: a look at the pros and cons of quitting cable, the Guardian
> Diary Of A Cord Cutter In 2015 (Part 4: Favorite Apps And Resources), TechCrunch
> This is why people cut the cord, TechCrunch
> Apple Asks TV Programmers to Supply Their Own Streams for Apple’s TV Service, Re/code
Previous Coverage on PBS MediaShift:
Binge Programming: How Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ Changes the Game, by Eric Elia
Special Series: Cutting the Cord to Cable TV, by Mark Glaser
I’m Mad as Hell But I Haven’t (Yet) Cut the Cord, by Dorian Benkoil
The Cord-Cutters Manifesto, by Mark Glaser
5 Theories on the Death of Cable, and Why They’re Wrong, by Seth Shapiro
View Comments (4)
In my research I found that many experienced cord-cutters did not need to use a set-top box -- they just connected their screen to a spare CPU and then to the Internet,
You may find my book of interest:
Post-TV: Piracy, Cord-Cutting, and the Future of Television
University of Toronto Press, 2015
Regards,
Dr. Strangelove
University of Ottawa
Sir,
You might also take a look at the huge relevance smart DNS and VPN services have on the video on demand industry. You have Simpletelly.com and http://www.my-private-network.co.uk and many more who are allowing people to stream Netflix, Hulu and many other services streaming from wherever in the world. And in the case of Netflix, one subscription can mean access to all countries without moving from your couch. If that's not major...
Great and we did cut the cable TV cord a while back but ironically, I'm wondering what is taking so long for PBS to offer their own streaming service via subscription, directly? Revenue stream.
PBS has a great app, as does the Smithsonian.
I cut the cord in June when I realized I was already streaming 90% of my content. I have no intention of returning to cable ever. All that money simply to have access to shows constantly interrupted by commercials. It's a singularly bad deal.