Skip to main content

Why I Want To Break Up With Cable But Can't ...

... Live Sporting Events

Thanks to Hulu, Netflix, and a handful of other websites I'm able to find the majority of TV shows I care about streaming online mostly for free, or a few for a small monthly fee. My husband and I even gave up cable for awhile and got along great, except we kept finding excuses to go to a local bar to watch baseball and football games. For as much as we spent on beer, we might as well have kept our cable subscription.

Now I know there are torrenty ways to download anything I could ever want to watch for free, but I'm at the age where that kind of hackery doesn't hold the same thrill it used to. I just want to watch my shows quickly, easily, and reliably and if I have to pay a small fee to do so, it's not the end of the world. I also think that media providers who don't realize that they could grow their audience (and make more money) if they played nicely with providers like Hulu and Netflix *cough* CBS *cough* CW *cough* premium cable *cough* are behind the times and just don't get the way media distribution is changing.

After our last move we resubscribed to cable and while we're loving our easy access to the NFL and Cubs games, that's the only reason I can see for keeping the cable. Our particular local cable provider, while the best in the area, still stinks. They've had to replace our box 3 times in 4 months, each time losing all of our DVR content (thank goodness for Hulu). Our current box freezes up at least once a week, sometimes in the middle of recording something, or missing recording shows entirely. So much for DVR. Considering the subscription fees for Netflix and HuluPlus combined are less than our cable bill, provide us with more content on demand, and do not rely on a broken down old cable box in order to record my shows, I'm really having a hard time seeing why I should stick with cable.

To be fair, the NFL isn't completely unreasonable. During the off-season I can access 2010 season audio for free and video for $19.99 for the entire off-season, and this includes a great smartphone app that I've used during the season to listen to the free live game audio. I honestly can't remember what it costs to get access to games online during the season, but it can't be as unreasonable as MLB ...

MLB.TV is also available through your computer or a smartphone app, but after paying either $99.99 or $119.99 you have access to only out-of-market games. That means if I'm at work and can't go to the Cubs game and can't watch it on TV, I also can't have it on in the background on my computer screen. Or if I'm out and about doing things while the game is on, I can't pull out my phone while I'm waiting in line or something and watch the game live for a few minutes. Or if I've given up cable and still want to watch the Cubs game, I can't watch it if I live in the Chicago market.

This makes absolutely no sense. Why would you block out the one market most likely to want to watch the game online? Watching TV online isn't just a last choice or consolation prize for when you can't watch a program on TV anymore. A growing number of people are breaking up with cable or watching TV both online and live, so treating online viewers like a small niche market doesn't make sense anymore. As smart TVs and smartphones become more and more prevalent, people will only be viewing more TV online. Wake up MLB and give us access to our local baseball online.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Day In the Life of an Electronic Resources Coordinator

Ever since I started my current job I've been trying to write a post to sum up the unique niche in which I find myself, but I think maybe my day last Friday, might be better (and maybe more entertaining) than anything I've tried to write up to this point.  Just consider it a flashback to the old #librarydayinthelife. The quick outline of my job: I manage (pay for) all the electronic resources that the reference department subscribes to (I have a counterpart in childrens, but when in doubt, our department usually pays for it), but I'm also a regular run-of-the-mill reference librarian with regular desk shifts, print collection development responsibilities (000s), and I manage our department's (mostly) high school student assistants who help patrons with the public internet computers, do a little shelving, and help everyone in the department with odd jobs. 8AM - department meeting During August the library board doesn't meet, so we decided to fill the time we ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2015 Reading Resolutions

Last year was the first year that I decided to do reading challenges beyond the basic "read x books" and I loved it. I read more books in 2014 than I ever have before, so I'm going to stick with it for 2015. First up is the challenge I created all on my own. When I was a precocious youngster, I was obsessed with reading "the best" books. Now I've learned the importance of reading things you enjoy, but I've read a lot of classics and tend to enjoy them, so I spent way to much time compiling various "best of" lists and made one master list of best novels. For 2015, I plan to read 50 of the 100 best (that I haven't already read). Below is the list, with the ones I read linked to my Goodreads review. Progress: 10 of 50 Achebe, Chinua Things Fall Apart Aligheri Dante The Divine Comedy Anonymous One Thousand and One Nights Atwood, Margaret The Handmaid's Tale Austen, Jane Emma Austen, Jane Persuasion Baldwin, James Go Tell It O...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ebooks & Libraries

For a long time I've been frustrated with the way ebook publishers have been approaching library lending, but my rage has been overruling my sense and I haven't been able to get many coherent thoughts into print. Luckily Bobbi Newman pretty much hit the nail on the head with her " 9 Reasons Why Publishers Should Stop Acting Like Libraries Are the Enemy and Start Thanking Them ". I could go through each of her reasons and expound on why each one makes so much sense and explains a piece of where my frustration is coming from, but I'm going to focus on the points that have been bugging me the most. First from the consumer side, I know I'm not alone in the group of people who don't like to buy books until they're pretty sure they're going to love them. I simply read too much for buying every book I read to make any sort of financial sense. Often that means borrowing the first book in a series or by a new author to see if I want to spend money on th...
1 comment
Read more