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HDTV Expert - A La Carte TV: No Blue Plate Special?

A Needham and Co. analyst estimates that a la carte pay TV delivery could eliminate at least 124 smaller channels, costing $80B to $113B in U.S. consumer value, while a typical cable channel requires roughly 165,000 annual viewers just to break even at $280 million per year in operating costs. Cord-cutting continues to accelerate, with Netflix approaching 30 million subscribers and services like Aereo charging around $10 per month to stream over-the-air broadcasts via the Internet. Canada's upcoming mandate to unbundle TV channel packages will serve as a real-world test of whether a la carte models benefit or burden consumers.

Pete Putman •
Columns
Cable HD Streaming HD

HDTV Expert - Time To Stop Whistling Past The Graveyard?

Pay TV providers in the U.S. lost 316,000 subscribers between June 2012 and June 2013, with cable operators alone shedding 591,000 video subscriptions in Q2 2013, according to Moffett Research. Competing services like AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS gained 371,000 subs in the same period, while over-the-air antenna reception, Netflix, Amazon Prime streaming, and digital downloads are increasingly viable alternatives for cost-conscious viewers. For consumers paying upward of $185 per month for bundled packages, the math increasingly favors dropping channel tiers and supplementing broadband with streaming.

Pete Putman •
Columns
Streaming HD Market Trends & Analysis Satellite HD

HDTV Expert - Zero-TV Households and the Second-Season Crunch

Nielsen's Q4 2012 Cross-Platform Report identifies over 5 million Zero-TV households, up from 2 million in 2007, with 67% consuming video via PCs, smartphones, and tablets rather than traditional sets. Network broadcast ratings are declining sharply, with shows like New Girl dropping from 8.4 to 6.16 million viewers in their second season, while cable originals such as Homeland and Game of Thrones command stronger audience loyalty. Notably, 23% of Netflix subscribers have cancelled cable or satellite subscriptions, signaling a structural shift that improved smart TVs and faster streaming will likely accelerate.

Ken Werner •
Columns
3DTV Cable HD Sports

Cox Communications brings Masters Golf Tournament to customers in 3D on ESPN 3D

Cox Communications launched ESPN 3D channel 896 for Cox Advanced TV Plus customers in Virginia, delivering stereoscopic Masters Golf Tournament coverage from April 11-14, 2013 using 6-9 dedicated cameras with 3D-specific graphics and commentary. Viewers require a 3D-compatible television manufactured March 2010 or later, Cox HD service, and an HD/DVR Trio receiver with HDMI output to access the channel. Customers without 3D hardware can still watch full Masters coverage on standard ESPN, making the 3D tier an optional upgrade rather than a replacement broadcast.

Shane Sturgeon •
Bulletins
IPTV Cable HD DTV Transition

HDTV Expert - Is Cord-cutting Hurting the Pay TV Market? - by Ken Werner

Strategy Analytics forecasts digital TV subscriptions growing from 114M in 2011 to 129M in 2016 at a 2.36% CAGR, but their methodology bundles IPTV with traditional pay-TV, obscuring meaningful subscriber trends. When IPTV subscribers are subtracted, combined digital cable and satellite subscribers barely grow from 106M to 109M over the same period. Deloitte's survey data reinforces the concern, finding 9 percent of Americans have already cut the cord and 11 percent are actively considering it, signaling real pressure on traditional pay-TV providers.

Pete Putman •
Columns
Cable HD Streaming HD

HDTV Almanac - Net Neutrality: Justice Department Investigates Cable

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into cable television practices, focusing on Comcast's policy of exempting its Xfinity content streamed over Microsoft Xbox from subscriber data caps while counting competing services like Netflix and Hulu against those caps. Investigators are also scrutinizing 'TV Everywhere' authentication schemes that require bundled cable or satellite subscriptions to access online streaming content. The outcomes could reshape the subscription television market - either by forcing equal data cap treatment for all streaming services or by compelling providers to offer standalone online access without a traditional bundle.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Satellite HD Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - Comcast Partners with Skype

Comcast and Skype have partnered to bring HD video calling to Xfinity subscribers via an adapter box and high-quality camera added to existing set-top boxes, enabling calls to any Skype user across smartphones, tablets, and PCs. The service supports picture-in-picture display and will roll out initially in Seattle and Boston, priced at $9.99 per month after a free three-month trial for triple-play customers. For households with broadband already in place, this could meaningfully lower the barrier to living-room video communication, though the monthly fee may limit broader adoption.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - Cable Loses; Telco Wins; SatTV Draws

Leichtman Research Group data for 2011 shows the top 10 U.S. cable providers shed over 1.6 million subscribers, with Comcast down roughly 2%, Time Warner down 4%, and Charter losing 5% of its customer base. Telco services FiOS and U-verse collectively gained 1.5 million video subscribers, while DirecTV added 660,000 and DISH Network lost more than 160,000. Despite cord-cutting pressures, total pay TV subscribers still grew by a net 380,000, suggesting cable operators may need to restructure pricing or pivot toward broadband to remain competitive.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Cable HD Streaming HD OTA HD & Antennas

HDTV Almanac - Olympic Online Coverage Will Include Every Event

NBC will stream all 302 Summer Olympic medal events online, totaling an estimated 3,500 hours of coverage, but access requires an existing cable, satellite, or telco subscription that includes CNBC and MSNBC. Supported platforms include computers, smartphones, and tablets, making it broadly accessible for authenticated subscribers. This authentication model mirrors rumored plans by Hulu to require TV subscriber validation, signaling a broader industry shift toward pay-TV-gated access for major broadcast content online.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - Cable Services Dangle Bonuses

Cablevision's Optimum Rewards program now bundles Hertz car rental discounts and free Gold Plus Rewards membership alongside cable subscriptions, a move that highlights the broader struggle cable providers face in retaining subscribers. Cablevision's subscriber count has declined steadily since Q4 2010, pressured by rising retransmission fees, infrastructure costs, and competition from streaming and DVD rental services in its New York City metro market. The trend raises a practical question for subscribers: whether loyalty perks unrelated to content delivery signal that cable providers are running out of compelling, service-focused value propositions.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Cable HD Streaming HD

HDTV Almanac - Some Data Streams Are More Equal

Comcast's XFINITY TV app on Xbox 360 streams cable content without counting against subscribers' 250 GB monthly data cap, while competing services like Netflix and HBO GO do count toward that threshold. The policy exploits a technical distinction - that XFINITY traffic stays within Comcast's own network rather than traversing the public internet - to give first-party content a measurable cost advantage over rivals. This raises serious net neutrality concerns, as similar arrangements could allow broadband providers to effectively disadvantage competing streaming services through selective data accounting.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Streaming HD Satellite HD Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - Reader Mail: The Future of Cable TV

A reader challenges the assumption that broadband infrastructure can support universal HD streaming, noting that even in a 125,000-person Southern California community, available speeds top out at 1.5 Mbps down - far below HD streaming requirements. The author counters that low-bandwidth users could queue content for progressive download to local terabyte-scale storage, allowing viewers to 'chase' a show while it downloads, effectively decoupling delivery speed from viewing experience. Both perspectives suggest linear cable programming faces long-term structural decline, with the timeline and transition path varying by geography and infrastructure.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Streaming HD Satellite HD Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - Online Streaming Grows

Roku CEO Anthony Wood, speaking at OTTCon in San Jose, reported that the platform now hosts nearly 500 channels with viewing time doubling from six to twelve hours per week, with projections to reach 35 hours to match traditional broadcast consumption. HBO Go is already among those channels, signaling that major content holders are actively experimenting with internet streaming delivery. For cable and satellite providers, the trajectory suggests a fundamental disruption to their core business model as on-demand streaming closes the gap with linear broadcast viewing.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - Competition Does Not Lower Cable Fees

An FCC report titled 'Report On Average Rates for Cable Programming Service And Equipment,' based on January 2010 data, finds that 'expanded basic' cable service fees are actually slightly higher in competitive markets than in non-competitive ones. The cost per channel is lower in competitive markets, but only because providers bundle more channels into their packages rather than reducing prices. For subscribers, paying more for unwanted channels is a questionable value proposition, and the author suggests this model may not satisfy customers much longer.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
OTA HD & Antennas Satellite HD Cable HD

HDTV Almanac - After Midnight: More Retransmission Disputes

A retransmission consent dispute between New Young Broadcasting and Time Warner Cable over ABC affiliate stations WBAY-TV and a companion Albany outlet reached its February 29 deadline without resolution, prompting both parties to extend negotiations by one week to March 7. Rather than immediately triggering a blackout, the broadcaster advised viewers that free over-the-air reception remains available, while also pointing to DirecTV and DISH Network as alternatives. The standoff illustrates how carriage fee negotiations increasingly leave consumers caught between broadcasters and pay-TV providers fighting to protect shrinking revenue streams.

Alfred Poor •
Columns