Cable TV as you've known it is dying

[TheFugitive]

Events are rapidly unfolding which seem to indicate that cable television as we have come to know it will be going away soon.  Already those of us who have cable have seen steady price increases as others engage in "cord cutting", leaving fewer of us to shoulder the costs of running cable systems.  (the number of cable TV subscribers in the U.S. peaked in 2014 and has been declining steadily since).

The trend seems to be accelerating in that we've seen a wave of cable networks shutting down.  Universal Kids a few months ago, and a handful of HBO channels just last week.  Today comes word that MSNBC will be renaming itself MS NOW as Comcast prepares to sell them, thus breaking the tie with NBC.  More channel shutdowns are anticipated as Warner Bros/Discovery prepares to spin-off their channels into a separate company.

But a big nuclear bomb is about to be unleashed by ESPN.  ESPN has long had a streaming service available (currently known as ESPN+), but for the most part it was an add-on, it did not show the same programming as the cable channels of ESPN.  That is about to change.  ESPN is getting ready to launch a direct-to-consumer app which will give the user access to EVERYTHING, cutting cable systems entirely out of the loop, for thirty bucks a month.  In addition they have just announced a bundle deal with Fox where you can add FS1 and FS2 for an additional ten bucks.

Up to now we sports fans and our addiction have been keeping cable in business, since that was the only place you could go to get this programming.  But if you can buy it direct from ESPN people are going to start dropping their cable in droves.

Since I can get Pittsburgh SportsNet direct on an app too, most of the channels my wife likes are on FRNDLY for around ten bucks a month, and we have access to Pluto TV, TUBI and OTA channels I could realistically cut my TV bill to about 1/3 what it is currently by going this route.

My main barrier is convincing my wife, who thinks it will just be too complicated for her to keep flipping around to all of those apps.  I keep trying to tell her that the day is coming where she won't have a choice. The big providers will eventually inform us that they are becoming ISPs only and that we're on our own for television programming.

[TheFugitive]

Further update to this:

ESPN has made a deal to acquire NFL Network and the NFL Red Zone from the NFL.  And they are reportedly close to a similar deal with MLB for the MLB Network.

Assuming everything passes DOJ antitrust review that will make a huge chunk of the sports which are currently available on cable available on this new app.

The leagues appear to read the writing on the wall and are hopping aboard the train before it leaves the station.  NHL Network is technically based in Canada where their regulations might complicate a similar deal.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Another thing that's on the rise, is the use of TV antennas. There's a variety of new channels on TV to watch now, including MeTV and its classic cartoon spin-off channel, MeTV Toons (a personal favorite of mine).