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CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

nytimes.com

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Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#11

Post by exelius »

dragonwriter wrote: post #7
jpmattia wrote: post #4

Watching CBS over lines owned by Comcast (who owns NBC) will be interesting.

> Watching CBS over lines owned by Comcast (who owns NBC) will be interesting. People having been watching CBS over lines owned by Comcast most of the nearly half century Comcast has existed, including the period where it has owned NBCUniversal (it has been, after all, a CATV company a lot longer than its been an ISP.)

Actually, Comcast would love to be able to ditch the local networks. They currently have to pay local station owners for distribution rights in the form of retransmission agreements.

This way, CBS will be paying for a commercial CDN because, well, that's what you have to do when you distribute video over the Internet if you want decent performance (and there are lots of business and technical reasons for this). Most commercial CDNs have had interconnect agreements with all the large ISPs for over a decade.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#12

Post by untothebreach »

paulhauggis wrote: post #2

Isn't the Internet great! Instead of paying cable for one bundle of channels, we are now paying a monthly fee for each one.

I know you are being sarcastic, but as an existing cord-cutter who hasn't paid for TV in over 2 years, I much prefer this way.

I won't sign up for the CBS service, but I would totally pay a monthly fee for Comedy Central and Fox Sports Detroit, as those are the only things I really miss from back when I had cable.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#13

Post by ChuckMcM »

I'm going to assume they started on this effort at the same time they started making loud noises about Aero and their "mini" antennae.

I agree that it seems strange to have both pay + ads, which is clearly a grab at both the money people paid to the cable/satellite company and the revenue they get from advertisers. I would subscribe to a service where it was free and the ads paid for it (like broadcast TV), or it cost money and had no ads (Netflix). My guess is that they won't be as successful as they would like, perhaps that is my hope. I would not be a fan if this pay and pay model became the norm.

Of course the Dish/DirectTV/Comcast folks are no doubt having fits about being disintermediated.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#14

Post by dsl »

dchuk wrote: post #9

While I'm excited that more Big Networks are realizing that offering streaming only packages to consumers is a Good Idea, I'm really worried about how the cable internet companies will retaliate. We've already seen them blame Netflix for its own popularity, what's stopping them from doing this to companies like HBO and CBS that are now willing to offer a package that circumvents TV entirely?

The cable companies can't retaliate against the likes of CBS and HBO, because they risk losing the content for their service. So they pick on Netflix instead...

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#15

Post by wmf »

tedivm wrote: post #8
ansible wrote: post #6

For the live stream, the ads will be the same as those on the traditional television broadcast. For the on-demand programming, the typical 12 to 16 minutes of ads an hour will be reduced 25 percent. I guess I'm not their intended customer. I'm not going to pay for a service to give me ads. If I'm watching a live show, I want the ability to pause it, walk away for a few minutes, and then skip commercials. For on-deman…

Do you have cable? My guess is they're targeting existing cable customers who are considering cutting the cord- those people are already paying for a service that gives them advertisements, so for them this isn't much different (in fact it's 25% less ads and potentially a much smaller cable bill).

Isn't ultra-basic cable (including CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox) around $10/month? Paying $6 for just one network with ads seems really steep.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#17

Post by californian »

tedivm wrote: post #8
ansible wrote: post #6

For the live stream, the ads will be the same as those on the traditional television broadcast. For the on-demand programming, the typical 12 to 16 minutes of ads an hour will be reduced 25 percent. I guess I'm not their intended customer. I'm not going to pay for a service to give me ads. If I'm watching a live show, I want the ability to pause it, walk away for a few minutes, and then skip commercials. For on-deman…

Do you have cable? My guess is they're targeting existing cable customers who are considering cutting the cord- those people are already paying for a service that gives them advertisements, so for them this isn't much different (in fact it's 25% less ads and potentially a much smaller cable bill).

Except this is streaming broadcast shows, not cable (unless I missed something). This wouldn't really help cutting the cord... you could already get rid of cable and just use an antenna for CBS.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#18

Post by dwild »

At first I though it was US only, like always, but then I saw there's also Canada in the countries. I fill everything, it's fine, I get to the second step, the activation, it ask again for address, but now, no country and only a state selection.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#19

Post by induscreep »

wmf wrote: post #15
tedivm wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have cable? My guess is they're targeting existing cable customers who are considering cutting the cord- those people are already paying for a service that gives them advertisements, so for them this isn't much different (in fact it's 25% less ads and potentially a much smaller cable bill).

Isn't ultra-basic cable (including CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox) around $10/month? Paying $6 for just one network with ads seems really steep.

ultra basic cable is free. Over the air broadcasts.

Re: CBS Offers Web Service as TV Unbundles Itself

#20

Post by ryanhuff »

californian wrote: post #17
tedivm wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have cable? My guess is they're targeting existing cable customers who are considering cutting the cord- those people are already paying for a service that gives them advertisements, so for them this isn't much different (in fact it's 25% less ads and potentially a much smaller cable bill).

Except this is streaming broadcast shows, not cable (unless I missed something). This wouldn't really help cutting the cord... you could already get rid of cable and just use an antenna for CBS.

Antennas won't work for many people.
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