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2020 Bundles

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Re: 2020 Bundles

#21

Post by gordon_freeman »

tanjtanjtanj wrote: post #20
gordon_freeman wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got Peacock Premium free with my Xfinity internet connection which has ~175 LIVE English Premier League matches streaming in USA. No need to now subscribe to NBC Sports!

Unfortunately they're trying to get you to subscribe to both Peacock and NBC Sports Gold. Most of the tops 6 teams matches going forward will be shown only occasionally on Peacock.

I agree but that maybe only for this PL season. I think they are gradually moving subscribers to Peacock and assuming they would only exclusively show all live PL games on Peacock service from next season onwards.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#22

Post by javajosh »

lawrenceyan wrote: post #13

It's honestly been amazing to see the utter decimation traditional television/media has encountered over the last decade. An entire generation of kids is growing up without ever having watched TV thanks to Youtube and Twitch.

The screen is the thing. Broadcast TV to CRT displays was never important; the human eye and ear glued to a glowing rectangle of changing light and sound, that was the thing. Now, the screens are everywhere, on the wall, in our pockets, and can show us anything anytime. It has revolutionized entertainment to the point where each individual can mine his or her own seem of addictive content that shuts off the critical mind, to provide respite from an unfriendly world occupied by humans zombified as they descend into the mindless void of the screenhole.

So, yes, the economics of it is fascinating, and horrifying, as billion dollar companies exist to create the artificial scarcity information requires to monetize. But the side effect should always take center stage: we relegate each other and ourselves to staring into the glowing abyss in our pockets, each compulsive viewing rightly characterized as a suicide in miniature.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#23

Post by Swizec »

javajosh wrote: post #22
lawrenceyan wrote: post #13

It's honestly been amazing to see the utter decimation traditional television/media has encountered over the last decade. An entire generation of kids is growing up without ever having watched TV thanks to Youtube and Twitch.

The screen is the thing. Broadcast TV to CRT displays was never important; the human eye and ear glued to a glowing rectangle of changing light and sound, that was the thing. Now, the screens are everywhere, on the wall, in our pockets, and can show us anything anytime. It has revolutionized entertainment to the point where each individual can mine his or her own seem of addictive content that shuts off the critical…

Broadcast vs on-demand is crucial. There’s a huge difference between having a captive audience that has no choice and producing content people choose to consume.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#24

Post by dgudkov »

One of the most successful examples of bundling is Microsoft's enterprise plans. For instance, the top E5 plan includes so much enterprise software for so low price that it creates the perception of free software. MS Office? Free. Power BI? Free. Etc.

Tableau, which I believe is a more sophisticated data visualization application is getting squeezed out from enterprise accounts. Why? Because Power BI is "free".

Bundling is a huge power.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#25

Post by curiousllama »

kodablah wrote: post #8
ErrantX wrote: post #5

> sports, meanwhile, is well on its way to being the only reason to keep the traditional bundle. Semi-side note but I feel this will go soon too. Amazon are starting to show sports, inclusive with Prime Video, in the UK.

I have just become a first-time cord cutter, if you can even call it that, with YouTube TV's recent opt-in inclusion of the RedZone channel. I still got way more (admittedly obscure) sports with my cable package, but this finally reached enough parity to move on. The real reason that sports fans should remain with their traditional bundle is the UX. With cable, if I want to flip between a dozen college football games…

> The lack of a traditional remote and the channel-changing latency is a big problem with these new services

I may be in the minority here, but I really like the chromecast UX. So much easier to search on my phone - a familiar interface - than fiddle with a remote that I constantly lose, or is out of batteries, or lags with the TV, or makes it hard to scroll, or or or

Re: 2020 Bundles

#26

Post by lacker »

lawrenceyan wrote: post #13

It's honestly been amazing to see the utter decimation traditional television/media has encountered over the last decade. An entire generation of kids is growing up without ever having watched TV thanks to Youtube and Twitch.

Yes... over the weekend I discovered that my kids (ages 5 and 7) did not know what a "channel" is.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#27

Post by lacker »

ErrantX wrote: post #5

> sports, meanwhile, is well on its way to being the only reason to keep the traditional bundle. Semi-side note but I feel this will go soon too. Amazon are starting to show sports, inclusive with Prime Video, in the UK.

The biggest reason for delay in the US is that the NFL signed a deal with DirecTV that goes from 2014-2022, and they signed it before the size of the streaming market was apparent.

So in baseball, you can get all games streamed for $60 a year. The NBA, you can get all games streamed for $60 a year. But for the NFL, most people can't get all NFL games streamed. You can get a DirecTV subscription, for something like $800 a year, and if you aren't in the DirecTV area you can pay $300 a year to watch NFL games. The cost is just way out of line, because it's priced by the DirecTV people, and their goal is to get you subscribed to DirecTV, not to help you cut the cord.

In a couple years I expect this deal will be renegotiated along lines similar to the other major American sports, and then it will be far easier to cut the cord for sports fans.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#28

Post by owlninja »

DenseComet wrote: post #19
paxys wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He makes a bold assertion though that Microsoft will include new AAA titles from its various properties in Game Pass from day 1. I find that very doubtful, and so Steam's purpose will continue to be selling games for the first ~6 months of their release cycle (when the bulk of sales anyways happpen).

Day 1 releases is one of the main draws of Game Pass. The Game Pass marketing site [1] has an entire section labeled "Play Day One" that says "Be among the first to play the latest titles from Xbox Game Studios and ID@Xbox, available to Xbox Game Pass members the same day as their global release." [1] https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass

One down side my son discovered recently is when he went to play red dead redemption 2, which he only recently started, and it had been pulled. It was a little frustrating. Otherwise game pass has been a pretty good value.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#29

Post by TeMPOraL »

Swizec wrote: post #23
javajosh wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The screen is the thing. Broadcast TV to CRT displays was never important; the human eye and ear glued to a glowing rectangle of changing light and sound, that was the thing. Now, the screens are everywhere, on the wall, in our pockets, and can show us anything anytime. It has revolutionized entertainment to the point where each individual can mine his or her own seem of addictive content that shuts off the critical…

Broadcast vs on-demand is crucial. There’s a huge difference between having a captive audience that has no choice and producing content people choose to consume.

You can sort-of achieve a poor man's "on-demand" by providing bazillion cable channels, but real on-demand delivers a qualitative difference: you no longer schedule your life around your TV, but watch at your convenience.

Re: 2020 Bundles

#30

Post by TeMPOraL »

lacker wrote: post #26
lawrenceyan wrote: post #13

It's honestly been amazing to see the utter decimation traditional television/media has encountered over the last decade. An entire generation of kids is growing up without ever having watched TV thanks to Youtube and Twitch.

Yes... over the weekend I discovered that my kids (ages 5 and 7) did not know what a "channel" is.

Huh. Good point. If ever I have to explain it to my daughter (age 1.5) at some point, I'll probably have to say that a channel is like an unending YouTube livestream with pre-planned content...
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