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Just wait until everyone is streaming their cable channels in your neighborhood. Hopefully your isp has the infrastructure to handle the increased load, or your speeds will slow to a snail's pace.

I don't see why they would,, they can't even handle the load in peak hour as is.
 
I have direct.TV..most of the channels are: shopping, pay per view...movie subcription etc.....Mostly all I get for over $100 a month is: CNN, MSBBC, E!, TVG and FauxNews.....yes they are making big money....but they have lobbyists in DC that keep everything the same. Expect nothing for you and all for them...that is the way the politics of the FCC, FTC, FEC are played.

Call them to cancel. You will get retentions and after haggling they took $50 off my bill. I pay less for direct tv than most "cord cutters" do for streaming.
 
"Our corporate overlords have lobbied us to delay a decision until they can milk as much money from the populace as possible using an outdated business model. Please continue paying your astronomical TV subscription service fees until they exhaust all appeals and their lawyers buy their private islands. Thank-you."
_________________ Yes___________that is how the capitalistic system in the US works.....not in Europe however.....Corporate crime like Wells Fargo...is okay....they pay a fine and then go to lunch or on the Chris Craft....
 
The vote that counts is the one made with our wallets. Drop cable, get an antenna, and pay Netflix, etc. for streaming.
I dropped cable tv and phone last year and put a new antenna on my tv tower. I'm perfectly happy with my savings. I do have cable internet so Charter gets me for $63.35/month but that is less than half what I was paying.
 
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I think in the next 5 years or so, the cable companies and telcos will become just plain old broadband providers. Yes, they will offer their own OTT services (possibly for a reduced rate, and other online-based services), but all video content will come via the internet rather than a traditional cable system. It will be up to the user to subscribe to the service that most closely matches what they want, taking DVR service, On Demand, TV Anywhere, and channel availability into account. You pick your device, then subscribe to the app(s) that get you the content you want.

I just don't see a point in the current transition of truly a la carte channels or apps. Hulu is a great start, but they are missing current episodes of many programs, and missing many content providers alltogether. With the proliferation of online content providers, it's going to be essential to subscribe to several services to cobble together the content that you want, if you want the current, popular programming.

I dropped cable earlier this year, and Playstation Vue provides me with nearly all of the content I'm looking for. Coupled with Netflix, I'm pretty well set. But, Hulu has their own original content, Amazon has their own, and now CBS is developing their own for their service. It can get a bit pricey to get everything you think you want.

Hulu is owned by Disney, Comcast, TimeWarner, and so on. They have full control over what is available, or what isn't available, via Hulu. In other words: if something you want to watch is missing, it's not because Hulu couldn't get a contract signed with the content owner, it's because the content owner simply doesn't want it available via Hulu period.
 
This is so very disappointing. Cable providers will probably release the lamest, most limited apps for their service since they will have very little incentive to provide a good experince to non set-top boxes. In their mind "If you want a better experience, get our cable box".
I'm from the cable company and I'm here to help you.

I can see the cable company app now. No direct entering of the channel number. You have to single click up up down. No blocking channels. Standard definition only. No voice control. We do this so that our app is consistent across all platforms. It is not our fault. You can rent our hideously expensive box if you want a better system.
 
This helps because you don't need to have the cable box from the cable company anymore. It means they don't need to come to your house anymore. It simplifies things for the customer.

It also changes the cable company from being a local thing where they have to provide local infrastructure to an online content provider kind of thing. It makes the barrier to entering the "cable" market much lower, because now it's a virtual service that runs over your internet connection instead of a literal cable that runs to your house. Should increase competition and lower costs.

Where this benefits cordcutters is that the apps allow you to only opt-in on only what you want vs having to pay for these cable packages that bundle channels you may not want with the ones you do. Also the apps have capabilities that allow you to turn off/pause subscriptions on demand. Me personally, I'm using a digital antennae for live TV but, the rest of my set-up involves a current generation Apple TV loaded with the Hulu, Netflix and HBO -- this costs me $11, $9.99 and $15 respectively. This is on top of the $60 a month I pay for 28mbps internet access. I'm now eyeballing new TV packages from Sling.com that will give me the sports channels, like ESPN, that I want. Sling has apps for most of the most popular tv boxes, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku etc. The sling subscription will add another $30 to my monthly bill but it still comes in way below the monthly charges I was getting from Comcast. I'm saving about $800 a year.

You can use the Slate cordcutters calculator to see how much you would save: http://www.slate.com/articles/busin..._streaming_services_with_this_calculator.html

I may be reading the OP wrong, but I don't see how mandating the cable companies to allow STB's from any source results in the benefits either of you are listing. That's all the FCC is looking to do: require that TV providers allow their signal/data be readable by any STB instead of the provider's own STB. This doesn't require the cable companies to furnish all their content on demand, or even via the internet. In fact, I would imagine if this initiative does pass the FCC, we'd probably see a coax connection added to the back of Apple TV, Roku, etc. so they can receive a cable signal. You'd still need a subscription to the cable service, but you'd be able to connect the cable in your wall to the STB of your choice, and the interface would look however that STB is programmed to present it (i.e., Apple would come up with their own slick channel guide instead of the straightforward listing you see now on any of the cable/satelite providers).

All this is doing is breaking the cable company monopoly on the STB, nothing more.

My concern: they better allow the STB to not only display incoming tv service, but also record it.
 
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I'm not one, and most likely will never be one, but how does this help cord cutters? I see no real advantage to this scenario. Still have a subscription. Just apps instead of channels. How is that better? @Cuban Missles you're a cord cutter. Does this make you any happier?
I agree.... One way or another you'll be paying through the nose if you want a few premium channels and a few local stations. $20 here and there adds up.
 
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If no body noticed, this is what Steve Jobs was taking about when he said he "finally cracked it". I would bet Apple lobbied heavy to get the FCC to revisit this and rewrite the rules. Doing this will break the monopoly cable companies hold. As a matter of fact, it seems they knew this was coming and started experimenting with the idea of allowing you to watch your channels through Apple TV.

Regardless with this in place and Apple TV will be an integrated environment for media from all sources. This will blur the lines between where media source is from and eventually people will be accustomed to accessing media through Apple TV. With that, Apple will have a lot of leverage against content providers as it did with iTunes and Apple Music.
I think you need to re-read the post. All this proposal does is remove the requirement for a cable box. This has nothing to do with content choice. It definitely doesn't break the cable monopoly since it's their apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and Roku. You're wrong about Apple as well. Apple would have liked the original proposal more. The rewrite was most definitely on behalf of the cable companies. The cable companies make apps, control the content, and will most definitely find a way to recoup the lost stb revenue from consumers. What leverage would Apple have? The same app will be available on every other device as well.
 
I would love to see decoupling from the dreaded set top box. Nothing worse that having a nice flat screen TV, elegantly mounted on the wall to then have all those crap cables leading to the hideous cable or satellite set top box. This change is long overdue.
 
I'm not one, and most likely will never be one, but how does this help cord cutters? I see no real advantage to this scenario. Still have a subscription. Just apps instead of channels. How is that better? @Cuban Missles you're a cord cutter. Does this make you any happier?
Yes, the cable box is a PIA, costly (small nuke plant to run one and $30 average per month rental), one more box to learn and manage, costly repairs, expensive and difficult to upgrade (add a TV or features), lousy customer service, Contracts, outdated installation process and costs, to name the major reasons I would gladly have an app for my Apple TV.
 
It's already doable today. I watch live tv through Apple TV all day. I've gotten rid of two out of three of my DVR set top boxes and will shortly be getting rid of my last one. I've already lowered my bill from $225/month to $160. When I get rid of the last DVR box it'll be down to $140/month. That's with a premium TV package, land line, and 50 megabit internet.

I have Sling TV, Sports Package with Redzone and NFL Network, multiple streams at once: $30 a month.
I have WOW! Internet, 30mbps, $24.99 a month.

I pay $55 bucks for all the sports and any cable channel I'd ever watch plus internet.
 
I suspect that the unofficial tv download market is huge. I'm intentionally avoiding the term "illegal" because that seems to be attached to "uploading" using BitTorrent. Depending on country I believe that streaming or downloading from an unofficial file host is perfectly legal for the recipient. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

My point being that I have encountered many people who are doing this and it sounded like they would be ok paying for some type of more targeted reasonably priced service. In its absence they're just taking what they want. In a recent class discussion it was surprising how many people said they've cut the cord and are relying solely on other services. Surely there's a large untapped market that will contribute to the pot to offset price adjustments.
 
I hate the cable industry as much as the next guy, but I'm not really for forcing these companies to develop apps. How do they decide which platforms get apps and which don't? I'd rather let these companies put themselves out of business by ignoring the market. Why should we keep pushing these dinosaurs forward? Let them die and something better come in and replace them.
The vote that counts is the one made with our wallets. Drop cable, get an antenna, and pay Netflix, etc. for streaming.
I've been doing this since 2010, but it's rough. For one thing, you're not guaranteed to get all of the channels OTA. The TV market where I live is about 250,000 people, so it's not exactly middle of nowhere. I can't get some major networks such as CBS which is crucial for watching NFL games. I try to stream my team's game, but I get blacked out, even though I live 120 miles away from the stadium in an adjacent TV market. For another thing, cable companies are also ISPs. In many areas, such as where I live, there's no getting around that. My cable line is 150Mbps, or I can get DSL which is 3Mbps. Right, that's some great competition! And they've been raising the rates on people who don't bundle, and they realize what the people are doing who are streaming and have been putting caps on data use. I recently upgraded to the fastest plan, which has 2TB, so there's no chance I'll hit that cap. But a couple years ago we did at 250GB on their then mid-range plan.

If the government wants to really fix things, they should go after the lack of competition in various markets. These companies are somehow able to lock down entire areas and keep competitors out. It's ridiculous. Why isn't that being addressed?
 
According to the FCC, the proposal will now go on the Commissions "circulation list" and will "remain under consideration."

'Newspeak' Translation: "...the proposal is delayed while lobbyists work overtime to ensure 'political representatives' are afforded ample time and luxury to make a decision to kill this measure..."

I applaud the FCC for attempting to make progress where capitalism has created a stronghold in order to milk every penny out of millions on antiquated systems, especially after quietly "approving" the Charter and Time Warner Cable merger not soon after the very public rejection of the Comcast and Time Warner merger. Interesting times ahead Stateside as 75%+ of communications services are provided by one company with a history of scrambling working coaxial connections for $1.99/mo boxes while working against "Net Neutrality" and much more. Good times, good times.
 
Most people are still going to want a stb, as streaming through an ATV or Roku may not be that good, if you have slow internet speed. Even with a fast speed, the quality will not be as good.

Each cable company that offers internet has the ability to stream content to their customers without it going over the internet. It's how their set top boxes currently work whenever you buy content or use on demand.
 
Is there any way to force the FCC into a decision? Are the citizens paying their salary (taxes) or is it the lobbyists? Is this another federal program that can do what ever they want?

I know the answers pretty much.
 
Except in older neighborhoods where Comcast is your only option for High-Speed Internet.

Do you not have high-speed cellular internet? That should force Comcast to be more competitive, and if not, ditch them and use cellular exclusively instead. Not paying Comcast anymore will free you up to have a bigger cellular data plan.
 
And if this vote passed, you still would. It's a not a cure all.
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If PS Vue had MASN sports, that would have been my move months ago. It was the only channel missing that stopped me from making that move.
It should be on the ATV and needs CSpan, A&E, MSG and local programming for most metro areas for me to switch. Or at the very least local TV so I don't need 4 antennas.
 
Just give me live NFL games app and live Fox News. I'd pay for NFL. Already pay for NHL and MLB.
 
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