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Viewership was down in the third and fourth quartersIt might be time for cable to start worrying about online streaming. The Wall Street Journal reported that a drop in TV ratings and viewership can be chalked up to subscription-based streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.People familiar with the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau told the newspaper that as much as 40% of TV-rating declines in the third and fourth quarters were attributable to streaming services. The news comes as TV viewing has declined by an estimated 10% from a year previously in the third quarter, and by 9% for the...

Traditional television watching is declining faster than ever...

Because of bundling, even though no one watches CNN, that race-baiting, left-wing network is still wildly profitable.

Dish Network recognizes that people, especially millennials, aren't subscribing to pay TV and they're hoping to make that segment of consumers new customers with the introduction of Sling TV, an over-the-top service that costs $20 a month with no contract beyond a month-to-month commitment. Dish announced Sling TV, which has no direct connection with Slingbox or Sling Media (although both have a link to EchoStar, the parent of Disney Network), at CES on Monday, when CEO Joe Clayton introduced it as "a brand for this consumer segment" that "offers our new customers programming that is tailored to their wants and...

Whatever the FCC's charter might be, and whatever its intentions, its rules and regulations over the past 70 years have often stifled competition, thwarted innovation and curtailed investment in the nation's communications networks. Here are five prime examples:

The news that both HBO and CBS are launching standalone paid streaming services is a sign that traditional media companies are finally stepping into the space dominated by Netflix. And others seem sure to follow.

The TV critic at The New York Times is keeping an eye on the tube, so we don’t have to. Reading this, describing what’s coming into our living rooms this summer, I have to think that’s a very good thing: In case you missed the news that traditional courtship is dead, naked people on VH1 stand ready to enlighten you. And in case you thought that television networks had evolved beyond trying to attract viewers with cheesy titillation — ditto.Yes, it’s time for “Dating Naked,” a reality series beginning Thursday on VH1 in which just-introduced strangers looking for love are...

Digital television streaming companies are forging ahead with their services following the conclusion of a Supreme Court case against Aereo Inc., despite the media company's loss in a copyright dispute brought on by traditional broadcasters. According to The New York Times, with clearer legal parameters for service delivery, dozens of digital media startups plan to move forward with innovations that offer ways to watch traditional cable broadcasting for a fraction of the cost. "If cable companies believe that their old ways of doing business are protected by the Aereo Supreme Court decision, they are clearly misguided," Dan Nova, a partner...

Stop paying the electric bill and they’ll turn off the lights. Cable TV, however, is no longer quite so essential. It’s now possible to stop paying the cable bill and enjoy much, if not all of your favorite programming — at great savings. But is cutting the cord right for you? To help answer that question we’ve created a new interactive cord-cutting calculator . Here’s how it works: Answer a few questions about your TV watching needs, including your favorite shows and sports leagues, and the tool will crunch the numbers and give you several options to best approximate your...

Cable TV's sports costs are prompting a growing number of people to "cut the cord". Exhibit A: The $8 billion charged by the Dodgers for broadcast rights to their games knowing full well that pay-TV companies would have to pass along this sky-high cost to all customers. Time Warner Cable is the Dodgers' partner in crime. It paid that whopping sum for exclusive rights to distribute the Dodgers channel to other pay-TV companies, assuming, like the team, that it would get away with sticking both fans and non-fans with an extra $4 to $5 fee every month. The harsh reality,...

This is a followup thread to another one that was posted yesterday on the same subject, particularly this one: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3103587/posts To get straight to the point, I'd like someone to give me a straight answer about what a viable option would be for us to accomplish the following: Continued internet access for our home. Continued access to desirable TV programming - local channels, desirable cable programming such as sports events, both local and national, and [take my pick] of other stuff, also Fox News and CSPAN if it still exists. Cost decreased significantly from what we're paying [ourlocalcableprovider]. (I don't...

Cable is to TV what the dial up is to online access. We no longer need Cable to see what we want and when we want to. Streaming TV allows us to dump cable. Get a Roku or a Smart TV. Get Netflix for $8.00 and Hulu Plus for $12. And stations such as METV even stream on local sub channels that you can access for free!

Yes, there is a red America and a blue America, at least according to television viewing habits. Our friends at National Media, a Republican ad-buying firm, sent us this map of a recent television event. Using data from Rentrak, a company that monitors data from set-top boxes, the map shows what percentage of television viewers in specific designated market areas watched this television event live.

A thought provoking Marketwatch article regarding the growing trend of cable "cord cutting" demonstrates the need for a shakeup in the cable television industry. The industry is being run into the ground by old guard gatekeepers. It is becoming a case study of what not to do when faced with competition from visionaries with new technologies and business models. Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts is best thing that ever happened to Netflix shareholders. Listen Comcast shareholders: Despite CMCSA sitting near 52 week highs, that is abysmal compared to what the market cap SHOULD be and WOULD be if the company...

Has any FReepers completely ditched their cable or satellite provider and went exclusively with streaming services, such as Roku or Wi-Fi Blu-Ray? I did. I had cable that I was paying upwards to $80 a month. I got rid of it and simply stream Netflix, HuluPlus, or Amazon Prime and saved over half.

The TV business is having its worst year ever. Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research. Media stock analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson recently noted, "The pay-TV industry has reported its worst 12-month stretch ever." All the major TV providers lost a collective 113,000 subscribers in Q3 2013. That doesn't sound like a huge deal — but it includes internet subscribers, too. Broadband internet was supposed to benefit from the end of cable TV, but...

Two weeks ago, Al Jazeera America launched, beaming into 48 million homes across the country. The media company that allowed Osama bin Laden to use it as a vehicle to communicate with jihadists around the world is now on your TV screen and you are paying for it. The network pushed its way onto basic cable packages with several providers. If you subscribe to Verizon, Comcast, Dish Network or DirecTV, you are forced to subsidize Al Jazeera's propaganda as part of your cable bill whether you like it or not. I represent a district about 70 miles north of where...

My Charter Communications cable television went out about 3 hours ago. I know, boohoo you say :) I agree but I was interested in the FedEx Cup golf I had DVRed. It went black and I soon discovered the entire cable feed was off. I called Charter and the rep asked do I live in Georgia. Yes, I reply. He says there is a big problem and it's out for the entire state of Georgia. No estimate to get it back on but "repair crews had been dispatched." groan.... I searched bing, google and the local news site but no...

With streaming television becoming more and more popular, and providers like Aereo making an end-run around cable and satellite providers, a lot of attention is being paid to the future of bundled cable. In a world of growing choices and a weak, jobless economy, how long can something last that charges customers a ton of money for dozens of channels they never watch? Bundled cable is, in my opinion, one of the greatest hustles ever perpetuated against the American people. The worst part is how it works as a kind of affirmative-action program for left-wing programming that likely wouldn’t survive...

Television has been a mainstay of American life since the late 1950s, but nothing lasts forever and one CEO of a major cable company is hinting that the end of TV could come sooner than we think.