Shuttered Restaurants, Bars, Hotels Speed Up TV Cord-Cutting Even More (arstechnica.com) 68
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Everyone is stuck at home, which you would think would mean a lot more TV watching, not less. And up to a point, that's true: millions of us are putting millions of hours into streaming content from Netflix, Disney+, and others. What we aren't doing, though, is watching cable -- especially sports, which aren't happening in the bars and restaurants we aren't going to. Residential customers have been cutting the cord for years, but now commercial subscribers to pay-TV companies have started jumping into the cancellation heap, The Wall Street Journal reports. Restaurants, bars, hotels, and airlines aren't continuing to pay for pricey channel bundles when nobody is coming in, and even if they could, those viewers would have nothing to watch.
Cable operators continue to charge fees for sports programming that currently doesn't exist thanks to a fairly tangled web of rights and contracts. And while some customers could receive rebates down the line, managing cash flow today may be easier if you just cancel the package altogether. That's even truer for small businesses, which are trying to shore up enough resources to survive long-term. One bar and grill in Arizona told the WSJ cutting off its cable plan is saving the business $1,600 per month. Although the restaurant does anticipate opening for in-person dining in the next weeks, tables will be spaced farther apart, capacity will be limited and the screens dark, as there are no professional or college sports to show. Last week, Variety reported that cable broadcasting's so-called "Pay TV" services have already lost 1.7 million paying subscribers in just the first three months of 2020. Meanwhile, satellite TV witnesses a higher 14.3% drop in paying subscribers in just those same three months.
It begs the question, will the pandemic finally kill cable TV?
Cable operators continue to charge fees for sports programming that currently doesn't exist thanks to a fairly tangled web of rights and contracts. And while some customers could receive rebates down the line, managing cash flow today may be easier if you just cancel the package altogether. That's even truer for small businesses, which are trying to shore up enough resources to survive long-term. One bar and grill in Arizona told the WSJ cutting off its cable plan is saving the business $1,600 per month. Although the restaurant does anticipate opening for in-person dining in the next weeks, tables will be spaced farther apart, capacity will be limited and the screens dark, as there are no professional or college sports to show. Last week, Variety reported that cable broadcasting's so-called "Pay TV" services have already lost 1.7 million paying subscribers in just the first three months of 2020. Meanwhile, satellite TV witnesses a higher 14.3% drop in paying subscribers in just those same three months.
It begs the question, will the pandemic finally kill cable TV?
And nothing of value was lost (Score:5, Insightful)
It's all lowest common denominator rubbish.
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Unfortunately for the upper half the population, the lower half seems to be dictating the direction where things are going. "No one left behind" is an extremely bad, feel-good concept. Especially when you lower the bar for everyone to ensure that nobody fails. It's a race to the bottom, Idiocracy-style.
Dr. Lexus: Don't worry scro'! There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.
Re:And nothing of value was lost (Score:4, Interesting)
Indeed.
the screens dark, as there are no professional or college sports to show.
Thank all the gods, I've never like having to listen to sports "personalities" reel off endless monotonous statistics in a voice pregnant with expectation that something actually worth seeing might happen at any moment, while I'm trying to have a conversation with my wife or friends. If I ever watch sports it's almost always with the sound off.
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They why, pray tell...are you going to a sports bar, or sports oriented establishments??
I mean, you know, they are easy to spot, they usually have a lot of TV's tur
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What can I say, I like bar food.
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this.
How else can I inexpensively punish my arteries in such a manner and see my game at the same time?
hawk
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What is all lowest common denominator rubbish?
Highly skilled and practiced athletes demonstrating physical prowess and mental fortitude in competition with each other? How is being so good at something that millions of people will pay to watch you do it 'rubbish'?
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I would rather watch paint dry.
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I've done that. There was a movie about it a while back. I sat through it just to say I did. So, here I am, saying I did it. I'm FINALLY getting the pay off! WOOHOO FOR ME!!!
Hot poker in the eye is still preferable, if not for the whole permanently blind thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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well, my Saturday just filled up! Popcorn and paint drying!
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That's ok. If anybody tries to force you to watch things you don't like then let me know and I'll tell them off for you.
I don't like watching hardcore pornography but I still respect the skill and stamina of the actors. Not liking something doesn't make it rubbish.
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No sports feed? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:No sports feed? (Score:4, Insightful)
There's a lot of interesting things at Hooters, they're easy to see since they always come in pairs.
There's the salt/pepper shakers, the ketchup/mustard bottles, the breasts of the waitresses, etc.
Re: No sports feed? (Score:2)
There's the salt/pepper shakers, the ketchup/mustard bottles
Thought those might be a metaphor for some bizarre torpedo-tits but then you mentioned actual tits...
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I was trying to write a lot of things that go in pairs, so that the read would keep reading and think "he's mentioning everything but breasts" and then end with the actual breasts. My problem was that I could only think of two things before ending with the punch line.
one little add-on (Score:5, Insightful)
It begs the question, will the pandemic finally kill cable TV?
... and while we're at it, could we permanently get rid of professional sports too, please?
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I don't even watch sports and really don't care that much about them either, but why would you be so upset about them that you'd want to see all of them ended permanently?
Re:one little add-on (Score:5, Insightful)
I believe it was professional sports that were specified, not simply sports. Sports are fun and healthy hobbies that can bring communities together. Professional sports are exploitation filled shitfests that all too often are willing to forgive even the most vile criminals, so long as they are able to throw a ball in a straight line.
These fun addons are coming to your favorite video games in the near future!
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Professional sports are exploitation filled shitfests that all too often are willing to forgive even the most vile criminals, so long as they are able to throw a ball in a straight line.
Not all professional sports involve the use of a ball.
There's motorsports, gymnastics, water sports,...
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Water sports must be extremely popular, I heard that even the CIA and FBI have their own waterboarding teams.
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Don't forget the Russian hookers.
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The intent of your comment is unclear: are you saying I'm committing some strawman fallacies, or are you saying I'm exposing and debunking stawman fallacies?
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Yes, we all know professional baseball is full of Italians.
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Funny that you mention dogs.
Seriously though, Poe's Law. I can't tell if that's a joke or not.
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It's not really a sport but it might kill off one of the worst offenders: The WWE (professional wrestling).
They are contractually obligated to keep making shows but with an empty stadium it's very difficult. Pro wresting relies on the crowd to help fake it. For example they wrestlers need a lot of rest so one will lie on the floor pretending to be injured but really just taking a breather while the other one does a premature victory lap and plays to the crowd.
WWE is one of the worst companies in the world f
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I mostly agree, although it's entirely forgivable when non-journalists do it.
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To each his own. Me, nothing bugs me more than people who don't know the difference between their/there/they're, its/it's, etc.
Oh wait, I just remembered what really bugs me: people who say "should of been". I wish Facebook, Twitter and all messaging platforms would auto-fix this fucking mistake and highlight it in neon red underlined bold.
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Capitol principle loose affect.
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I had to do a double take on your post. I automatically corrected it in reading to "should have been". I was like WTH is the problem with that? So damn common, my brain is trained to tune it out...
And for GPP I'll toss lose/loose on the pile with a side of 'if you will'.
Pro Sports (Score:2)
Why get rid of them?
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Lets start with the stupid so-called "sport" that involves a bunch of horses running around in circles all fighting to be the fastest horse to run around that circle.
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Because of how cable TV tiers work, often you have to pay for at least ESPN if you want more than the basic channel package, whether or not you care about professional sports. It might not be itemized on your bill, but you are still paying for it.
I personally don't care, I've been cable-free for almost 20 years now.
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No, it does not beg the question (Score:4, Informative)
"Begging the question" is a logical fallacy that happens when an argument's premise assumes the truth of its conclusion. In this context, "to beg" means "to evade" (somewhat archaic but correct). An actual example of begging the question: "God is real because the Bible says so, and the Bible is true because it is the word of God."
Full disclosure: (Score:3, Interesting)
Out of little more than force of habit and malaise, I have the cable package with hundreds of channels I never watch, perhaps a dozen or so that I do, including a premium channel or two.
Rather predictably, I watch as much (or more) streaming content as I do appointment tv... still, cable would be the first household budget item to go if the revenue stream thins enough.
It is a luxury much like eating out at restaurants, or drinking at bars, and those were surprisingly easy to forego.
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I moved country a couple of years ago and ended up not watching broadcast TV, only streaming. Once you get over the FOMO you realize it's not worth the money.
Actually I wasn't even paying for it, the cable internet package had an offer where you got TV for a year for free, I just couldn't be bothered to plug it in, wait for it to boot, switch HDMI cables around...
Fool me once (Score:3)
The cable companies added a clause to their contract saying the contract and its payments would remain in force even if unforeseen events (like a strike) caused a cancellation of the sport. The bar owners thought to themselves, "what are the chances that all the sports in this bundle package will go on strike simultaneously?" And signed the contract. Then the virus hit.
Now they know better, and in the future they'll either contest such clauses, or walk away from any cable/satellite/streaming company requiring such a clause.
Re: Fool me once (Score:2)
And they'll see a significant portion of their clientele leave as those patrons go the sports bar a mile down the road that still pays for the sport package
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Good, maybe the macho posers that take an hour to finish a single round at the only bar nearby that has decent pool tables will stop hogging the tables all night.
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Disney is the same thing. Parents will pay anything to keep their brats quiet for an hour. Parents who can cord cut
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Yes . . . but also no. (Score:2)
Sure it'll kill your Cable TV subscription, but now you're going to be paying the equivalent, or more, to like 12 different companies to get the same things.
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Wow, who's your cable provider? Dropping cable (but keeping internet) saved me around 180/mo.
I don't want "the 500-channel-universe" (Score:2)
> Sure it'll kill your Cable TV subscription, but now
> you're going to be paying the equivalent, or more,
> to like 12 different companies to get the same things.
Maybe it costs a bunch of money to re-create "the 500-channel-universe" on streaming, but who wants it? Most people watch maybe 5 to 10 different channels. Different people have different tastes amongst those 500 channels. A non-fan of sports doesn't really want to pay "RSN fees" or for an ESPN he/she never watches. An English-only-speaker
and the internet price will go up / cap go down to (Score:2)
and the internet price will go up / caps will go down to over the lost $$$.
Comcast CEO
Your only choice in this town pay up!
Cable is reasonably priced! (Score:2)
"One bar and grill in Arizona told the WSJ cutting off its cable plan is saving the business $1,600 per month."
With such reasonable prices, I just don't get why businesses or individuals would bother with cutting the cord. That's basically just having a single latte per day instead of the usual 11. Pocket change, really.
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What the hell is this bar doing that it costs 1600$USD per month for fucking cable?
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What the hell is this bar doing that it costs 1600$USD per month for fucking cable?
It’s the commercial contract when you’re a business for public viewing. It’s calculated based on the number of seats and tv. Some businesses in the past would get a Directv receiver at home for personal use, install a dish at the business and show it to their customers. Works until Directv started geotagging the receivers and if it was at a business they would sue the customers for copyright infringement.
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Hell, it would cost less to get a Netflix subscription for every fucking TV in the place.
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Hell, it would cost less to get a Netflix subscription for every fucking TV in the place.
Sports bar and other type of businesses that would get these commercial subscriptions do it for the live sports and pay-per-view events (UFC). That’s what their customers are there for. PPV events can run $1,500 per event and they were happy to pay for it since those events bring in customers.
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What the hell is the point of a sports bar (Score:2)
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The only point that I've ever seen for a sports bar is to herd all the macho tools into one place that I can avoid.