If you don't have one
of the cable subscribers listed above (or even if you do), you can also control your TV using Alexa and a Logitech Harmony Remote.
According to the latest full year report compiled by BI Intelligence, cable companies reported the lowest amount
of cable subscribers in years, but growing broadband internet subscribers:
Analyst Rich Greenfield, a frequent skeptic about ESPN's future in a cord - cutting world, commissioned a study that found that 56 %
of cable subscribers would drop the sports network and ESPN2 to save $ 8 a month.
The job cuts follow a loss
of cable subscribers and a miss in its quarterly earnings last summer.
A loss
of cable subscribers, and the revenue that comes with them, doesn't mean a completely equal loss in total revenue for the industry, however.
With every passing quarter, however, that behavior becomes less of a bogeyman and more of a painful reality — and the latest survey
of cable subscriber numbers has a little something for both sides of that debate.
Not exact matches
Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves estimated that the top 8
cable companies lost 463,000
subscribers in the second quarter
of 2015 compared to a decline
of 141,000 for the second quarter last year.
The
cable giant may be doing better than the rest
of its competitors when it comes to hanging on to TV
subscribers, and its Internet access business also provides plenty
of cash flow from cord - cutters and streaming fans.
Given the amount
of money that ESPN gets per
subscriber — the highest in
cable land at an estimated $ 6.41 each per month — that means the network has given up half a billion dollars in revenue.
That is among the findings
of a new report from Englewood, Colo. - based research firm IHS which shows Canadian
cable providers lost over 10,000
subscribers in Q2, making for three straight quarters
of losses (satellite has recorded losses for five straight quarters).
Now, YouTube TV, which is owned by Google, can offer
subscribers a fuller lineup
of cable channels.
Increasingly, their network and
cable channel partners are refusing to license their shows to the independent streaming services — historically the active licensers
of that content and now their chief competition for
subscribers.
Comparable services were previously only available to
cable subscribers, but Rogers is looking to get ahead
of the unbundling wave
An increasing number
of subscribers are re-evaluating their expensive
cable packages as a result.
It's probably good that Disney isn't relying on that idea too much because, according to one recent survey, only 6 %
of subscribers in a recent survey
of cable users said that they would be willing to pay $ 20 a month for ESPN.
The
cable provider's second - quarter revenue is expected to fall short
of Wall Street's forecasts as the company's
subscriber base continues to shrink.
After companies from
cable giant Comcast to satellite TV titan AT&T, which owns DirecTV, reported their fourth quarter results, the total number
of pay TV
subscribers dropped 3.4 % from a year earlier, the highest rate
of decline since the trend
of cord cutting emerged in 2010, analysts at MoffettNathanson Research reported on Thursday.
The
cable giant added 53,000
subscribers in the last quarter — its best performance in almost a decade — and some analysts saying reports
of the death
of cable «have been greatly exaggerated.»
But that point
of view neglects the reality that many
cable subscribers pay for those streaming services already.
As growing numbers
of TV watchers either cut the cord entirely or opt for what
cable providers like to call «skinny bundles,» ESPN's iron grip on viewers and
subscribers is being questioned in a way it never has in the past.
As one
of Google's most successful YouTube Original stations, the Nerdist Channel has nearly half a million
subscribers; the company has also adapted several
of its online shows, like All Star Celebrity Bowling, for
cable.
Having Viacom content helps Charter add video
subscribers at a time
of increasing competition from virtual streaming services like Hulu and DirecTV Now, while Viacom is still heavily dependent on
cable and satellite companies for distribution, according to Evercore ISI.
«We think that basic
cable is kind
of the weakest point
of the media ecosystem because that's where you're really getting hurt by
subscriber losses.
As Karl Bode at DSL Reports put it in his brief analysis
of the latest MoffettNathanson numbers: «The bad news for
cable is the majority
of them continue the slow trickling loss
of subscribers that, unless you work somewhere in the
cable ecosystem with your head buried in the sand, nobody believes is going to stop any time soon.»
The move would combine Time Warner's vast collection
of content, from movies to
cable TV networks, with AT&T's sprawling network
of cable, satellite and phone
subscribers.
But the decline
of cable could be tough for smaller players, such as niche channels which currently get a share
of cable fees but might not be able to attract
subscribers on their own.
A monthly fee
of $ 34.99 per month will let
subscribers stream about 70
cable channels.
In Canada, TSN's 9.1 million viewers and Sportsnet's 8.8 million
subscribers have no choice but to pay one
of the Big Three
cable providers for their live - sports fix.
His $ 37 - billion deal in 2009 to combine General Electric Co's NBCUniversal business and Comcast's
cable networks put him in charge
of more than 20 million
subscribers of video, internet and voice services, the broadcast network known for «Friends» and «Seinfeld,» plus theme parks and the film studio.
Broadcasters including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS sued Aereo for copyright infringement, saying Aereo should pay for redistributing the programming in the same way
cable and satellite systems must or risk high - profile blackouts
of channels that anger their
subscribers.
The service, which provides access to more than 100
cable channels, had 328,000
subscriber in its first two months after debuting at the end
of November, Bloomberg reported.
And the company offers a $ 25 credit for unlimited data mobile
subscribers who also buy any
of its TV services, whether delivered by satellite,
cable, or Internet app.
The company, majority owned by Walt Disney Co., has lost 3.2 million
subscribers in a little over a year, according to Nielsen data, as people have «cut the cord» by dropping their
cable - TV subscriptions or downgraded to cheaper, slimmed - down TV packages devoid
of expensive sports channels like ESPN.
In other words, if ESPN is losing
subscribers, it's more likely due to American households dropping
cable TV services altogether than opting out
of ESPN specifically.
Cable sports giant ESPN's struggles in recent years have been well - documented, with the Walt Disney - owned network shedding more than 12 million
subscribers in the past six years as the number
of cord - cutters has ticked upwards and
cable providers have started offering slimmer bundles that don't always include ESPN.
When correcting the model to include current profit margins, the effects
of cord cutting, the impact
of Turner's current contracts with pay - TV companies and other factors, Petrocelli said, Shapiro's model shows that
cable bills would actually decrease by 54 cents per month per
subscriber.
More than 81 million
subscribers pay Netflix $ 8 to $ 12 a month, and slowly but unmistakably these consumers are giving up
cable for internet television: Over the last five years,
cable has lost 6.7 million
subscribers; more than a quarter
of millennials (70 percent
of whom use streaming services) report having never subscribed to
cable in their lives.
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that ESPN has lost a relatively small but nonetheless significant number
of subscribers, resulting in smaller - than - expected profits from Disney's
cable channels business.
Additionally, the strength
of Comcast and its 25 - plus million TV and internet
subscribers inked a partnership with Cox and Charter Communications, the number - two and three names in
cable and internet provisions, to fortify a pipeline for advanced TV measurement.
Internet providers generally won't lay
cables in places where there aren't enough potential
subscribers to make it profitable, keeping a lot
of the world offline.
A Rogers TV
subscriber who has the company's new $ 25 Starter package — the «skinny basic» bundle mandated by new federal rules — could add the Sportsnet channels for $ 18 a month, or Sportsnet and rival TSN together for $ 25, plus the cost
of a set - top
cable box.
And using some complex mathematical formulas, MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson arrived at some interesting per -
subscriber price projections for major
cable networks operating in a world where channels get paid based more purely on the amount
of people who actually watch them.
Faced with a loss
of viewers to Internet services such as Netflix,
cable programmers like Viacom are seeking to increase the per -
subscriber fees they get from pay - TV distributors including Dish.
While Aereo was a small service with only tens
of thousands
of subscribers, broadcasters worried that
cable and satellite companies could create similar technologies and avoid paying retransmission fees, which total almost $ 5 billion annually, according to SNL Kagan.
Comcast reader feedback 133 Share this story As streaming video continues to chip away at
cable television
subscriber numbers, Comcast is making a few
of its information superhighway pace increases available simplest to customers that pay for each information superhighway and video carrier.
Comcast Corp. posted strong first - quarter earnings growth, despite continuing
cable TV
subscriber losses, and formally submitted its $ 31 billion proposal to buy Sky PLC, one
of several deals it has contemplated that could transform its business and roil its rivals.
In addition, under the
Cable Communications Policy Act,
cable operators are now required to make available by lease or sale a lock - box device which allows the
subscriber to use a key to lock out the viewing
of a particular
cable service.
Because it has more
subscribers to Animal Planet (250,000) than to ESPN2 (50,000), one Utah
cable company simulcast Utah's 17 - 16 Las Vegas Bowl victory over Fresno State last Saturday on both the network
of Bears and Lions and the network
of bears and lions.
Apparently finally learning
of this wild new thing called the Internet, NBC is showing every sport and event online, live, for free (assuming you are a
cable subscriber,
of course)-- if you like the Olympics, go ahead and get friendly with NBC's Live Extra.
That spring, nobody outside
of New York or Denver (except
subscribers to a fledgling
cable - TV service called Home Box Office) saw, during one ABA championship series, the greatest individual performance by a basketball player at any level anywhere — ABA, NBA, BAA or UCLA.