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clrmoney
clrmoney
2/10/2017 11:13:05 AM
User Rank
Platinum
Century Link Future
Century Like has added 45,000 Prism new subscribers and that is a plus for them and as time goes I'm sure sure the future will be bright for them.

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dcawrey
dcawrey
2/10/2017 2:18:55 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Century Link Future
The margins on traditional television are becoming to high. Skinny TV is the future. Sure, there are still generations that won't want to make the switch; at the same time there are a number of people who don't value TV as high. 

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afwriter
afwriter
2/11/2017 3:29:35 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Century Link Future
I think that as more people become aware of skinny bundles they will only grow in popularity. At some point people are going to be forced out of traditional cable packages because there won't be enough revenue to sustain a bloated package. I wonder if a rise in skinny bundles will lead to the death of multiple channels?

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Michelle
Michelle
2/11/2017 7:08:42 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Century Link Future
I wonder the same. Content distribution agreements may change over time as well.

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dcawrey
dcawrey
2/12/2017 2:53:07 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Century Link Future
@afwriter I've noticed that services like Sling are doing a good job with targeted advertising towards people on the web. But I would have to guess that some providers don't want to be too vocal about this - they still want the fat margins that come with traditional cable. 

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Adi
Adi
2/13/2017 9:07:39 AM
User Rank
Author
Re: Century Link Future
dcawrey - I think it's also a matter of balance. We can see shifts in the market, but the vast majority of US HH still get their video via a full-fat Tv subscription, and pay-TV subscription and ad revenue far outstrip anything that's coming via web video advertising or OTT subscription. So even if you accept the switch is coming, timing your own response correctly is the difference between success and bankruptcy. 

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Adi
Adi
2/13/2017 9:03:31 AM
User Rank
Author
Re: Century Link Future
afwriter - I think that's starting to be a real concern. If you look at ESPN's coverage, for example, it's been dropping steadily all year. And that used to be a must-have channel, with the highest carriage fees. Viacom is also rethinking its approach, as its taken a hit in 2016.

 

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elizabethv
elizabethv
2/15/2017 8:59:16 AM
User Rank
Platinum
Skinny Bundles
I'm honestly always amazed that so many people go for the bigger cable packages anyway. It isn't like they advertise 400+ channels and then you have any kind of reasonable belief that you are actually going to spend any amount of time even watching those videos. Especially when they are all padded to the hilt with telemarketing channels that do nothing but sell consumers items they don't really want. That's why when I cut the cord I walked away and never looked back. I may not ever buy an Easy Wave, but I'm all the better for it. 

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Adi
Adi
2/15/2017 10:21:41 AM
User Rank
Author
Re: Skinny Bundles
elizabethtv - I think they are aimed at consumers who want options. In previous research some years ago, we found that the average US household watched 18 channels regularly. More than half their viewing time was on 6-8 channels, and these 6-8 channels were consistent across almost all respondents. But the remaining ten channels they watched -- accounting for somewhere around two-fifths of their viewing -- were all over the place. So (very, very approximately) to keep a family of 4-5 people in a TV-centric family, you need 40-60 channels or so. 

Of course, you were still getting 400, but the way the carriage fee model is set-up, most of the subscription fee goes towards your top 40 channels or so. The rest are part of bundles and packages from the channel provider and don't really add very much to cost.

Now OTT is hammering away at that whole structure. It's still there, but increasingly looking shaky. 

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vnewman
vnewman
2/15/2017 5:47:50 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Skinny Bundles
And this doesn't just affect individuals, this affects the enterprise as well.  At my firm, we have two large screen TVs that play the news (and sometimes major sporting events) - we only typically utilize two channels, but the cheapest package we could buy includes dozens.  What a waste.

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elizabethv
elizabethv
2/21/2017 6:54:17 AM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Skinny Bundles
@Adi - That's really interesting that some of the channels families spent watching were all over the place. I suppose that makes sense, but it isn't really something I've ever thought about. I know a lot of the channels are to help pay for the cost of the other channels. Nonetheless I've always found them annoying. Extremely annoying actually. I'm sure they aren't channels any cord cutters are missing. 

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