That's the way it should work. Instead we're all paying outrageous amounts for a handful of channels we do watch, and all the crappy ones nobody watches
Cool, I'm not switching from my Directv with no contract as well. Will watch the rockets on TNT and ESPN this year.
The insane amount may get worse with ala carte. Expectations are that you'd have to pay at least $30 for the ESPN suite (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, ESPN Classic) in ala carte.
Agreed. People rooting on the a la carte model or an internet only model are rooting against their own interests. The profitability won't be there for a lot of channels and thus the number of shows will die off. Sure, the cream will still rise to the top and exist, but any show that you are fond of that is on a minor channel or that is a cult show will fall to the wayside. It will also really hurt sports, because believe it or not, most people aren't willing to pay what it would take to keep sports revenues up on an a la carte basis. You guys act like if it was a la carte you'd be paying $5. That isn't even close. They'd need to take that fee they want for millions of subscribers and prorate it for the thousands that would actually buy it. You'd be surprised how low the viewership would be and how high the fee would be.
I agree. We could probably expect it to be a lot worse if providers weren't around to bargain the price down. All the sports networks would not be kind if we were buying directly from them. Think about if you had to buy separately from Comcast, ESPN, Fox, NFL network, NBA network, MLB network, Big 12/Big 10/SEC, etc... Not defending the cable/satellite providers here, I just don't think that a la carte would be the television utopia that lots of folks seem to think it would be.
Depends on the person. For a guy that really only cares about over the air stations, CSN-Houston. For the few games of Houston teams that end up on national channels, I can deal with the lost.
I represent a few cable companies (not in these negotiations) and contrary to these reports, there's absolutely no urgency on their part to strike a deal on CSN right now, even with Howard. Their main incentive for adding a channel is the potential of adding or losing subscribers. The ad revenue they get is fairly small. They don't have any evidence that they're losing subscribers in significant enough numbers to justify what CSN is asking. Unless CSN agrees to let them confine the channel to the Houston market, and maybe some other small regions, and those associated subscribers, a deal probably won't happen for years.
At least you have a choice! I can't get Comcast in my apartment complex since they have a service contract with AT&T.
My hatred for comcast burns too brightly...I will not bend out of principle at this point. Looks like I am streaming for another season. I will never give Comcast cable my business again. SCREW 'EM!
^^This. The issue as a whole has become ridiculous. Rockets need to file a suit to exit the contract. If Comcast and the Lastros/Crane can't get their act together then the Rockets need exit the agreement by whatever means necessary. IMO they owe this to their fans.
I go back and forth on what I'm going to do. I bet money that there will be no deals made at all before or during this upcoming Rockets season. So my options are: stay with Uverse and stream through VLC or switch to Comcast. Sadly, one of the reasons why I recently moved where I moved is because I knew I could get Comcast at the house. At my previous residence, it wasn't an option. To all of you for whom Comcast is not an option, I am sorry. That sucks. Hopefully, if I and others begin to leave our current providers and switch to Comcast, it will give those providers greater incentive to negotiate.
I guess I'm buying a sling box and hooking it up at my parent's house who gets Comcrap. Not the way I want to watch games, but I'm not paying Comcrap a dime. Ever.
This is kind of random, (since I no longer live in Houston nor deal with Direct Tv or Comcast) , but I stream Rockets games online (if its not a TNT, ESPN, or ABC game) from my iMac, and use AppleTV to utilize my HD TV. They should have similar software or devices for Windows users etc. One way not to give in to the demands or with blackouts
I'm hoping we get a LOT of games on TNT and ESPN this season. I will never get Comcast. I will watch all nationally televised games, and I will steal the rest from the internet. The streams are getting to be better quality with each passing season. **** you Comcast.
Mix that with the fact that Comcast can't even get their services to 60% of the Houston area not to mention people who live outside of Houston. That fact alone gives no urgency for Direct TV to strike a deal. And don't forget the Astros are included in this and there is probably no huge push of people wanting to see them on TV. Thank the Lord for the internet.
