Wait. Yet another op-ed crowing about thedeath of cable TV? Haven’t we heard this like a million times before? Yes, it’s true: Digital Trends, along with virtually every other publication and pundit that observes technology has beenmaking this predictionon a regular basis for years. But here and now, in 2021, the end of cable has a deeper feeling of inevitability than ever before. Here’s why.
The pandemic, which began in earnest one year ago, has forced many of us to rethink how we live our day-to-day lives. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to remain employed have had to rethinkhow we work, parents and caregivers have had to rethink how to manage theirchildren’s education, and we’ve all been forced to drastically rethink how weentertain ourselves.
Too expensive
You might think that as Americans were forced to entertain themselves at home, their appreciation of their pay-TV subscriptions would increase. But clearly, the opposite has happened — and it’s not hard to understand why.
Cable and satellite television are just too expensive. That was the number one response from a recent study by Parks Associates that explored thereasons people had for ditching their traditional TV providersover the past 12 months.
But money wasn’t the only reason. Respondents said that certain features they valued could only be found on streaming services, and many said that they switched for specific shows and channels that they couldn’t get through cable or satellite. Conversely, those who had switched often complained that their previous provider forced them to pay for too many channels they simply never watched.
American businesses believe these predictions too. In October 2020, CNBC reported that at least three large U.S. media companies expect about25 million U.S. households to cancel their pay-TV subscriptionsover the next five years. That would be the same number of cancellations in a five-year period that the industry saw over the preceding 10 years.
Other factors
In the past, pay-TV players could count on major networks to keep folks locked into their packages. It wasn’t that long ago that the big four broadcasters — ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox — could only be accessed via cable, satellite, or terrestrial antenna. But lately, live TV streaming services such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and FuboTV, which the industry refers to as Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (vMVPDs), have closed that gap.
Along with networks came major sports events, which were another reason to choose cable. Butthis year’s Super Bowl, which is being televised by CBS, will be available on a wide variety of streaming platforms, many of which are offering it free to anyone with an internet connection.
Satellite TV operators have enjoyed an easy ride to date within the rural communities they serve because high-speed internet is often nonexistent in these locations. But this too is primed for rapid change. At the end of 2020, Elon Musk’s SpaceXreceived a 10-year, $885 million commitmentfrom the federal government for its Starlink constellation of broadband satellites. Musk claims that the service, which is currently being beta-tested in the U.S., willoffer speeds of up to 150Mbps, for about $100 per month. Starlink’s deployment plans will eventually give it enough coverage to deliver the same service globally.
By now, most folks know that on-demand streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, andDisney+offer some outstanding content that you can’t get on regular pay TV. But as 2021 sees a further increase in the adoption of advancedTVs with 4K resolutionandhigh dynamic range(HDR), there will be yet another reason for folks to ditch cable and satellite TV. Right now,4K broadcastsare still a rarity on these platforms, as is HDR. But virtually all of the top content from on-demand streamers exists in these formats and many feature advanced surround sound likeDolby Atmos, too.
So while we don’t expect cable and satellite TV to be completely extinct by 2022, we think that when we all look back five or six years from now, 2021 will be seen as the year these services passed the point of no return.
