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CBS Turned Down Apple TV Subscription Service Deal

To this day, it still absolutely blows my mind that some of these networks either took so long to realize or STILL DONT KNOW that consumers will PAY to see shows they missed....they WANT to watch the shows they missed....

I mean, these networks are so stupid that it took them years to go...Oh, maybe we should put an On-Demand section for TV? Oh, people like Hulu? Like Netflix? Who knew?

I missed an XFactor the other night and tried to find it EVERYWHERE and could not get it at ANY PLACE. I have Hulu, I have Roku (which added XFactor today), and other things. I eventually just torrented it and watched it.

Blows my mind
 
That's ok, CBS. Verizon made the same decision with the iPhone, and they didn't regret it one bit. :D
 
DiamondMac said:
To this day, it still absolutely blows my mind that some of these networks either took so long to realize or STILL DONT KNOW that consumers will PAY to see shows they missed....they WANT to watch the shows they missed....

I mean, these networks are so stupid that it took them years to go...Oh, maybe we should put an On-Demand section for TV? Oh, people like Hulu? Like Netflix? Who knew?

I missed an XFactor the other night and tried to find it EVERYWHERE and could not get it at ANY PLACE. I have Hulu, I have Roku (which added XFactor today), and other things. I eventually just torrented it and watched it.

Blows my mind
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Was your DVR not working? Or have you cut the cord and are relying on someone else paying "your" cable bill by torrenting their files?

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nizzard said:
That's ok, CBS. Verizon made the same decision with the iPhone, and they didn't regret it one bit. :D
Click to expand...

Completely different.
 
I've been lurking here for awhile and thought I'd jump in.

We haven't completely cut the cord because Mediacom forces me to carry basic cable in order to have high speed internet. Without that requirement I would have chucked them a long time ago.

My question is, why doesn't Apple just become a content distributor/cable provider? We keep hearing they have so much surplus $$ this might be an option for them. I'm not a techie so it might not be possible but they have icloud in place and stream content from itunes now. Would it be dificult to also become an ISP? Most of the cable companies seem to also be ISP's anymore.

I would rather give my tv/internet $$ to Apple than Mediacom, heck let's throw cell phone in there too and dump ATT. I know if Apple is running it, it will just be a better experience overall.
 
samcraig said:
There's irony in this thread with people running off to go grab content illegally/off torrents because that's only possible because other people ARE paying for cable and uploading the content.
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Not in the case of CBS, it's broadcast over the air so you can watch it (and whatever else) without needing to pay a cable company or anyone else.
 
milo said:
Not in the case of CBS, it's broadcast over the air so you can watch it (and whatever else) without needing to pay a cable company or anyone else.
Click to expand...

I would bet that the people torrenting and uploading are not doing so from homes not serviced by cable. I think it's pretty safe to assume the people doing the uploading are not grabbing signals "off air."

Again - my personal opinion and generalization.
 
CBS is greedy and dumb

first of a they only make fraction of a cent for cable subscribers. you watch they are only going to fragment their market and those who will Winn are the ones that join in. be avalable on all possible channels and devices.
 
anti-win said:
I bought a house in Suffolk County, Long Island, NY.

Cablevision is a joke and in my town of Brookhaven, the politicians are controlling whether Verizon can push their Fios out east.

My biggest concern about cutting the cord and relying on Apple TV and streaming service is sports. I need NFL, MLB, NHL. What do people do to get their sports fix? ESPN plays all day long in the background just for something to listen to.
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When I didn't have cable, I generally went to sports bars to watch football.

I think you'll find that's pretty expensive though and isn't forgiving on the waistline either.
 
Hey CBS, I love your shows, I really do. But when I watch them through Plex, guess how much ad revenue you get from me: $0.
 
CBS: out to lunch

;) I can understand if CBS wishes to retain all advertising revenue, in thinking they can do a better job in-house of providing their content.

But they do not.

From my perspective CBS offers one of the absolute worst online video experiences extant. Bar just about none. It seems of late, meaning in the last year or so, they have opted to downgrade the resolution of their offerings, which can be highly pixilated at times. Did not use to be that way, and my most charitable assessment in that regard is perhaps they changed the algorithm to better suite higher-rate broadband. But compared to Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu, and just about everybody else, they blow.

That isn't even the worst of it. Maybe only me on this end, but good luck trying to watch one of their programs online from start to finish without it freezing up during one of the commercials. If memory serves I may have had success a time or two, but more usually it can be expected that during some commercial break it will not appear, with no other option then than to refresh the browser window, sit through some more commercials (assuming they play), and then try and find where one left off.

With this not bad enough, they also like to add insult to injury by occasionally running some cheesy commercial which is multi-media advertising, which after it plays requires one to manually return to full screen. Thanks.

All in all, a really bad experience, and not worth the aggravation unless one just really liking one of their programs.

Apple would be doing CBS a favor, if they let them.
 
What a joke

Why are companies so resistant to internet TV. I use Hulu quite a bit. It's a great way for advertisers to get their word out as you cannot forward through the commercials. It won't be long before advertisers realize that very few people actually watch advertisements anymore. Product placement is and internet TV is where everything is heading, get with it or get left behind.
 
Oiltool said:
Why are companies so resistant to internet TV. I use Hulu quite a bit. It's a great way for advertisers to get their word out as you cannot forward through the commercials. It won't be long before advertisers realize that very few people actually watch advertisements anymore. Product placement is and internet TV is where everything is heading, get with it or get left behind.
Click to expand...

A lot people just want to be able to turn on the TV and watch shows without the need of using services and using internet. It'll be a long time before internet TV will become the norm.

Look at Rhapsody, it's been 12 years for Spotify to finally be released in America.
 
samcraig said:
Was your DVR not working? Or have you cut the cord and are relying on someone else paying "your" cable bill by torrenting their files?

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Completely different.
Click to expand...

Was my DVR not working? Well yes, it was working just fine. Except the World Series was being played that night (was originally scheduled for the previous night but a rain delay forced it to the following night) and no TV company had actually changed the TV guides to reflect this so the "X Factor" show downloaded was the World Series while the X-Factor played after the World Series which nobody on their DVR got. So, it didn't record for me or anyone that night that had it set for DVR.

Any other questions? I would actually love to hear your response as to how I would watch it otherwise than torrents?

As for the other comments, I have absolutely no idea where they came from. Have DirecTV with many channels, already stated that I own multiple add-on's like Roku, Hulu, etc....where does this "cord-cutting" thing comes into play exactly?

But then again, come on....we all know why you say it...you have no answer to my question so your best bet is to demean me and make it seem like I am looking for a freebie.

It is what usually happens on here when people have no answer to a question presented to them
 
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ArcaneDevice said:
CBS aims for a middle aged dull audience who are not tech savvy (no, BBT doesn't count - it's another bland sitcom about couples now) and neither are CBS. They refused Hulu and it took years for CBS to finally put their shows on the Web and their site is crap. Barely any episodes available, poor interface, cluttered site that's hard to find stuff on ...
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I can't get it to play in HD, never seen it get that high on their little meter. Steady 34+Mbps connection on my side. Very bad online presence.
 
Not having episodes of CSI everywhere. Priceless. I'm happier w/o CSI, I'm mean CBS.
 
DiamondMac said:
Was my DVR not working? Well yes, it was working just fine. Except the World Series was being played that night (was originally scheduled for the previous night but a rain delay forced it to the following night) and no TV company had actually changed the TV guides to reflect this so the "X Factor" show downloaded was the World Series while the X-Factor played after the World Series which nobody on their DVR got. So, it didn't record for me or anyone that night that had it set for DVR.

Any other questions? I would actually love to hear your response as to how I would watch it otherwise than torrents?

As for the other comments, I have absolutely no idea where they came from. Have DirecTV with many channels, already stated that I own multiple add-on's like Roku, Hulu, etc....where does this "cord-cutting" thing comes into play exactly?

But then again, come on....we all know why you say it...you have no answer to my question so your best bet is to demean me and make it seem like I am looking for a freebie.

It is what usually happens on here when people have no answer to a question presented to them
Click to expand...

I think you read too much hostility in my post - and if so - I apologize. It was a question. Leading perhaps - but a question.
 
Tiger8 said:
what do use? Netflix? or do you rent episodes?
Click to expand...

I use Netflix and iTunes for content. For soccer (my preferred sport to watch) I use fox soccer.tv and airplay from my iPad. For news I watch a free podcast of the NBC evening news every night and in the morning I watch/glance at a podcast of Morning Joe. I'm on the west coast so some of those are available in almost real time.
 
Soutosoul said:
I've been lurking here for awhile and thought I'd jump in.

We haven't completely cut the cord because Mediacom forces me to carry basic cable in order to have high speed internet. Without that requirement I would have chucked them a long time ago.

My question is, why doesn't Apple just become a content distributor/cable provider? We keep hearing they have so much surplus $$ this might be an option for them. I'm not a techie so it might not be possible but they have icloud in place and stream content from itunes now. Would it be dificult to also become an ISP? Most of the cable companies seem to also be ISP's anymore.

I would rather give my tv/internet $$ to Apple than Mediacom, heck let's throw cell phone in there too and dump ATT. I know if Apple is running it, it will just be a better experience overall.
Click to expand...

I have Mediacom Internet with cable video service...
 
Those of us who have eclectic tastes in viewing would never settle for a handful of tediously downloaded shows.

Like Tmar above, I hope Apple becomes a carrier in order to control the process of both distribution and viewing. It promises to be a far better experience. People will want Apple devices to view all this, too, so it would not only engage the entire population, but sell more devices as well.
 
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CBS and US Cellular are stupid. I bet they gonna crawl back begging Apple to be on board after all the other TVs and cell phone networks already ripping profit off Apple.
 
Trapped Wind said:
I cut the cord 2 months ago and it was the best thing I've ever done. A Macbook Pro, iPad, and Apple Tv are all I need. CBS is making a huge mistake. There's a new subscription world upon us and either they embrace it or people will steal content. I'm not paying over $100 for Hillbilly Handfishing and the rest of the garbage they feed us. Oh and I also haven't seen a commercial in 2 months!!
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Say what you want about that show but the channel itself is good. Every channel has moronic shows.
 
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