Cordkillers Ep. 31 - Cordkillers is Your Fault

Pay TV subscribers dropping but nobody cares. Also why Hulu is getting less annoying.

Pay TV subscribers dropping but nobody cares. Also why Hulu is getting less annoying.

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CordKillers: Ep.  31 - Cordkillers is Your Fault
Recorded: August 3, 2014
Guest: None

Intro Video 

Primary Target

  • Pay TV companies shed video customers, but revenue rises
  • DirecTV
    - US Subscribers Lost 34,000
    - Income up 22% (AS/cust 4%)

    Charter
    - Subscribers Lost 29,000 video (gained 49,000 broadband)
    - Income loss $45 million (increased rev./customer 2%)


    TWC
    - Subscribers lost 152,000 video (gained 67,000 broadband)
    - Income up 3.7% (AS/cust 1.7%)

Secondary Target

  • Cord-cutting hits Europe
  • German broadcaster next to build Netflix competitor
  •  U.K. research group IHS Technology
    - growth in traditional pay TV declining in 12 European territories in the first quarter of this year.
    - DECLINE - Italy, Scandinavia, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Central and Eastern Europe
    - RISE in Germany France UK
    - Netflix launching in 6 European countries in September (Germany is one)
    - German public broadcaster ARD building competitor and Austria’s ORF investing in Filmmit

Signal Intelligence

Gear Up

Under surveillance

Front Lines

2014 Summer Movie Draft
draft.diamondclub.tv

  1. Amtrekker: $710,276,699
  2. TMS: $628,566,340
  3. DTNS: $606,076,934
  4. Night Attack: $449,641,313
  5. GodsMoneybags: $430,344,625
  6. /Film: $411,718,526

On Screen

Dispatches from the Front

Hey Guys,

I remember you used to do a “is this illegal, unethical, or both” bit on your show, so I had a question for you.
Hypothetically, if I where to purchase digital copies of movies and TV shows, and then go download them off a torrent site, to have DRM-free backups, is that cool? I know technically it’s illegal, but I feel like if you’re paying for it already, it’s not hurting anything to have a clean copy, especially because someone could just buy Blu-Rays and rip them to essentially achieve the same thing, which is totally legit.

Thanks, love the show!
Jake

 

 

Gentlemen, it's your boss (Tom, that's double for you (DTNS)).
Hey, I thought you might want to hear my cord cutting experience today. I unplugged the DVR box and took it down to the Time Warner building on Mopac in Austin, Texas. I did this so that I would not get the counter offer over the phone which I have taken at least twice over the years. The wait was about 45 minutes, which really wasn't that bad. I told them that I wanted to cut off the cable and phone and keep the internet. The lady was nice and then she told me that I would be billed 40 bucks to turn the service off. I said, "that doesn't make sense" and she said, "yes it does". She said that the 40 bucks was to have someone come out to my house to make sure that the basic cable was not still coming into my house. She said that I could dispute it (over the phone) with the billing department if I wanted to. I probably will, but it just gave me a sick feeling in my stomach leaving that place knowing they got the last laugh on me with that 40 dollar charge. I guess that 40 bucks is just two months rental on that box I just dropped off, anyway. Happy Cordkilling! Thanks for the show.

Steven

 

 

Hey guys,
I've got a couple things:
1) I've got a place in College Station and I tried the cut-the-cord challenge with Suddenlink and didn't fare so well; they didn't offer a deal so I cancelled my cable and ended up with internet only saving myself $5 a month. Oh well.
2) I've got a friend who's interested in cutting the cord but is looking for the best cord cutting solution for Spanish language channels. I suggested Roku before I heard the Spanish requirement but didn't see many Spanish channels on their marketplace. Could you talk about options for non-English speakers for me to share?
3) And I think you've covered this before but I can't seem to find it. Is Roku built into any TV's? Or is it just an external box?

Thanks!

Norm  (one of your 1928 patrons)

 

 

Hello Killers,

I have a few related question for Brian. Could you talk about what it is that you currently do to watch video (TV, movies and so on)?

I would imagine since you cut the cord now that you are on "vacation" away from your home set up it would be easy to just go through the same motions to watch the content you want? Do you find yourself only watching on your laptop? Or is there a device that you took with you (Roku, apple TV whatever)?

Cheers!
Byron
 

 


Hey guys,

With all this talk of Net Neutrality and bandwidth, how about discussing data caps? I mean, the mega ISPs instituted these, when? 3-5 years ago? Are they planning it increase them - ever? Shouldn’t that be something they do on say an annual basis? I mean, internet use is NEVER going to decrease.

Just something else to throw in the pot to stir things up.

Steve

 

Links

www.patreon.com/cordkillers
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box

Tom Merritt1 Comment