Walt Disney has agreed to add content and to invest in online video site Hulu. When the deal closes, Hulu will be able to boast content from News Corp, NBC Universal, and now Disney.
Disney will offer -length episodes of its most popular prime-time shows from its ABC network, ABC Family, Disney Channel and SOAPnet will be streamed on Hulu on an ad-supported basis including:
Full-length episodes of ABC primetime programs like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Samantha Who?, Scrubs, Private Practice and popular late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live
Cable offerings such as ABC Family's Secret Life of the American Teenager and Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place and Phineas and Ferb.
Full-length episodes of hit ABC Family series like The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Greek
Popular series from ABC Daytime and SOAPnet like General Hospital and The View
Classic series from ABC's library like Hope and Faith, Less Than Perfect, Commander in Chief, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Dancing with the Stars
The Disney announcement adds to those recent announcements by YouTube and Amazon that greatly enhance the programming value of broadband video providing you even more reasons to cut the cable TV cord.
This is the second post in a series that show you the basics of how to cut the cable TV cord.
There are second world that most households with broadband access enjoy - the home world of TV. The illustration on the right shows an illustrative Cable TV, Satellite TV, or TV via phone set-up.
In our example, a cable signal comes through a coax cable into your home which is connected to a cable box - in the illustration a digital cable box - which turns the cable signal into channels which you watch on your TV.
Many households connect a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to their cable boxes to record and store their favorite programming for viewing at any time - called time phasing.
For some households, gaming devices like Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony Playstation, or Nintendo Wii are connected directly to TV's. Almost all of today's gaming devices have internet connectivity which will be useful for when we talk about viewing broadband video.
Finally, we can't forget about the humble TV. Manufactuers are building in devices that connect TVs directly to broadband video requiring no other devices.
In my next "How to" post, I'll describe how to link the world of the internet to the world of TV.
Amazon announced today that that its customers can rent box-office favorites and purchase top TV shows in HD from Amazon Video On Demand. Amazon joined YouTube this week in announcing expanded movie and TV content libraries available via broadband.
Customers can select from more than 500 HD TV shows and movies from major studios and networks including Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Showtime Networks. Amazon Video On Demand offers 40,000 titles in total. Bill Car, Amazon's VP Music and Video confirmed that Amazon's customers are asking for "movies and TV shows they can watch instantly on their television [via their broadband]". With movies and TV episodes in HD, Amazon Video On Demand (VOD) is providing customers with even more choices for entertainment without the need for cable or satellite TV.
To watch Amazon's HD Video on Demand library on your TV, you need a compatible devices (I'll explain these in my next series of posts) including these device manufacturers that have partnered with Amazon on their HD offering:
TV shows will be available on these platforms for purchase for $2.99 and recently released movies available for rent for $3.99 to $4.99.
As you will see, Amazon, YouTube (Google), NBC (Hulu) all realize the trend - that consumers are continuing to cut the cord and go direct through broadband connections to their TVs.
This is the first post in a series of posts that show you the basics of how to cut the cable TV cord.
There are two worlds that most households with broadband access enjoy - the world of the home computer network and the world of TV. Today, the two rarely meet.
The illustration on the right shows an illustrative home computer network.
Most broadband access is obtained through either a broadband cable from your cable company or broadband DSL access from your phone company.
Typically, cable or DSL modems are supplied by your cable or telephone company as a part of their service plans.
Your modem is typically connected to a router if you use more than one computer. For the purposes of our discussion, assume you have a wireless router which means your broadband internet access can be received by devices either wirelessly or via an Ethernet cable.
Connected to the router can be a number of computing devices including laptops, PC's, gaming consoles, and even printers.
I will assume for many households, this forms the basis of your home computer network. Today, home computer networks are used for accessing the world wide web, e-mail, social networking, downloading and listening to and watching music and movies.
In my next post, I'll describe the other home world - the world of the TV. After that post, I'll show how to bring the two together.
If you don't have broadband access, there are a number of providers and methods for obtaining access which is a prerequisite for viewing real-time or streaming video on the web.
Google announced today that its YouTube video network will feature premium Hollywood studio movies and TV shows directly to consumers from a custom page. YouTube becomes the latest to offer first rate Hollywood programming directly on the web.
The premium content will be free to view, but supported by ads with ad revenue shared with content owners. Content from Sony, CBS, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, BBC, and independent film studio Lions Gate Entertainment will be available through YouTube.
YouTube still lags Hulu – many of Hulu’s programs are only a few days old when their air on TV where most of those announced by YouTube are older “re-runs” including Fantasy Island, Alf, Party of Five, and the Adams Family.
The move is significant in that YouTube dominates the digital video market with over 100 million unique visitors in January 2009 and over 6.3 billion videos viewed according to ComScore media. YouTube has over 11 times as many videos viewed as the next largest distributor – Fox Interactive.
In addition, YouTube continues to move its model from videos featuring user generated content to those featuring professionally developed programs. Advertisers have been reluctant to place ads next to user generated content for fear that what’s playing could damage their brands. Instead, Google sees premium content as providing a higher return per view compared to user generated content.
In total this means more choice, more flexibility for those of you who have cut the TV cord.
There is a strong economic argument for "Cutting the Cable TV Cord".
As of January 2008, the average monthly home cable bill was $84.59, up 21 percent from two years earlier, according to the Federal Communications Commission – 21%!
The FCC also issued a strongly worded to the cable industry saying that “cable customers have been receiving less from cable companies, but paying the same price or in some cases more…over double the rates they paid a decade ago”.
For what are Americans paying? Most cable packages are organized into multiple tiers:
· Basic Tier – includes local broadcast and public television
· Expanded Basic Tier
· Digital Tier – higher quality, number of channels requiring “digital” set-top box
· Premium Networks – HBO, Showtime, etc.
· Pay-per-View – Programs (e.g. movies) that cost $3-4 per viewing
· Video on Demand – subscribed programming delivered like a virtual “DVR”
What about cable industry regulation? Only basic cable is regulated and this is only the case if Local Franchising Authorities deem that there is insufficient competition.
This means that the vast majority of new programming features and higher end cable is not regulated. Cable companies can charge any rate they choose for non-basic tiers. With basic cable running approximately $50 across the country, many subscribers pay well in excess of the average rate of $85.
Let’s assume you are the average subscriber and you “cut the cable TV cord”. This means that you would save $85/month or $1,020/year. However, this is with post-tax money. We get paid in pre-tax money.
Assume you are in the 15% marginal tax bracket meaning you pay 15% of each extra dollar you earn in Federal Income Taxes next year (2009) from $16,700 to $67,900 per year for married, filing jointly status.
Cutting the cable TV cord is therefore equivalent to a $1,200 annual pay raise. This does not consider state and local taxes. For example, in Pennsylvania where I live, this amounts to 4.2% per dollar above federal rates.
If you are filing single and you earn an extra dollar from in the $33,951-$82,250 annual income range, then you pay 25% marginal tax rate.
Cutting the cable TV cord is equivalent to a $1,360 annual pay raise.
If you make $67,900/year - the high end of the 15% married filing jointly marginal tax rate range - then the increase of $1,200 in pre-tax “pay” is like receiving a 1.8% annual pay raise - which is probably more than you received last year.
While these “pay increases” are not equal to the 21% two year increase the cable companies enjoyed over the past two years, it’s within your control and who can say that in this economy. Best of all, there are many other benefits including more choice and flexibility that go along with these savings.
Welcome to the initial post of Cut the Cable TV Cord. Are you someone interested in -
1. Much more programming choices? 2. Saving substantial sums of money? 3. Truly on demand program viewing? 4. Exploring where web, TV, and movies are going?
Cut the Cable TV Cord will bring you news and provide you "how to guides" on how you can take advantage of a trend as significant as the move from rabbit ears to cable in the 1980's.
The availability of television programming on the web is not new, but has exploded in its availability and visibility this year. Witness Hulu's ads during the 2009 Superbowl.
In addition, systems and software have emerged in the last six months that connect your broadband router to your TV(s) and make it easy to find and to manipulate web TV programming - as easy as a DVR.
Unlike Alec Baldwin who says in Hulu's Superbowl ad, "what are you going to do - turn off your computer and your TV", my goal is to get you to at least turn off your cable or satellite TV and not watch programs ON your computer.
In future posts is to show you how to take advantage of web programing and "cut the cord" on your existing cable and satellite TV provider saving hundreds of dollars a year. At a minimum, you will vastly learn how to expand your choice of programing and realize an unprecedented level of on-demand flexibility.
I will write this blog assuming a novice level of technical capabilities. If you are a "technophobe" or technology dabbler, then this is your place. In addition, I will bring you stories highlighting the general trend to web "broadcasting" sweeping the television and movie industries and its implications to consumers, advertisers, and to society in general. As such, I will try and divide my posts between those benefiting the "how to" readers and those interested in more of the "macro tends".
