Cable Loosing Its Edge? (Apr 16, 2010)

Back in 1980, we had a few dozen channels just getting started with new 3-4 letter names to go with ABC, CBS, and NBC.

HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and The Movie Channel were the only choices for pay-TV movies and there were just one of each channel back then.

WTBS was on satellite since 1976 and slowly became an important cable channel entity of its own.

Nickelodeon, ESPN, CNN, USA, C-SPAN, WGN, and WOR were also on the cable scene.

Many early attempts for cable channel launches such as SPN, Spotlight pay cable, Daytime, CBS Cable, ARTS, and other forgotten channels either merged with another channel or just disappearred due to lack of coverage.

That's how it was back then. If a cable channel doesn't get popular and enough cable subs to support its advertisement model, then it either mergers or disappearrs.

Nowadays, we have over 1,000 cable channels of varying formats, genres, methods, and extensions of existing brands (ESPN2, HBO3, etc.), and spinoffs of cable channels. There's so many of them today that I lost track of the cable channels once they went well past 100.

Back then in 1980, I never heard of cable channels asking for subscriber fees ranging from a nickel a month for some obscure channel to $4 a month for ESPN like it is today. I feel like with my expanded cable bills going for over $35 a month, with more than two dozen channels I never ever tune in, I feel like the U.S. Government bailing out the obscure channels full of reality or talk programming that few people care to watch.

The cable companies have been sending me flyers about their digital cable service for some $20-30 more a month for some two dozen more channels that are on the digital tier. Oddly enough, last time I checked, there's still 24 hours in a day, and I just don't have that much time to watch that many television channels. It just can't be done.

Two hours a day is all I have allocated for watching TV. The rest of the time is spent listening to old rock and funk songs from the past on streaming and satellite radio, putting together my shows for podcast and stream, watching youtube and hulu, and other stuff. I see the movie titles that the advertisements are pushing on their HBO/Cinemax channels and they just don't ring a bell. I haven't been in a movie theater since 1989.

I watched in the past year the following channels: ESPN, ESPN2, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, TV Land, ABC Family, Spike TV, and Nick at Nite. That's it. Haven't had time for FX, CNN, MSN, Fox News, etc. Never watched MTV since the early 90s. Never watched a single show on Food, Travel, TV Guide, HGTV, or a shopping channel. Why pay for channels I never watch? It's a waste of money.

With many original cable channels that can be illegally found on youtube (watched the latest South Park episodes before they get pulled), I can just pay for high speed broadband Internet and ditch the expanded cable, and save over $35 a month.

I can't get KFMB or KGTV at my house since they went digital, but I can watch many CBS and ABC shows on the web for free.

So when will we be able to get some TV sets that can let you subscribe and pay for channels you want to view regardless of what the cable company wants to carry or not? Put some on-demand cable channels on the Internet, offer it for either free or pay (use pay for HD versions of the programming), make people register to stream the shows, and you'll really see how popular the cable channel is. Superfast broadband is the answer to cable channel hell. Let the people choose what they want to have, to pay for, to watch, and to determine whether a cable channel stays or goes.

The oblivious cable channels are still using dated technology that doesn't let you choose what channels you want without reqiring you to buy services you don't want and don't need. I just want HBO directly through the Internet to my Internet browser. I'll pay $12 a month for on-demand streaming for all programming per month and get past the cable company bottleneck that requires you to rent a converter box, digital gateway, expanded cable, and extra programming. What is it, like spend some $50 extra a month just to be able to buy a pay cable channel with $12 on top of that? That's a waste of money!

Internet TV sets are also the solution. Haven't seen one yet. Simple one cable hookup directly to the back of the TV, just like you do with a landline telephone, is what cable TV really needs to evolve into.

I'm already paying $18 a month for basic cable just so I can be able to get KFMB and KGTV to watch the games because I can't get them at my house. I don't care to pay more for obscure channels I don't care to support or watch.