The Internet is displacing cable for a growing number of individuals, families, and businesses. More people are opting to become zero TV homes, which means they get TV service, not in the traditional ways, but via the Internet.
According to a recent Nielsen study, the number of zero TV homes jumped to 5 million from 2 million in the past six years. As budgets tighten and people embrace a simpler lifestyle, cable is increasingly seen as waste. This trend is not likely to stop, because the Internet offers a plethora of ways to do without cable.
Anytime access
The most obvious way the Internet is displacing cable is by providing access to the TV shows viewers want to watch. Though cable TV has made choosing when to watch your favorite show more convenient through DVRs and on-demand service, there are still challenges with these methods, so your shows may not be available when you want them.
The Internet streams your favorite TV shows to your computer whenever it's convenient for you. More shows are available than can typically be found with on-demand services, so more watchers are turning to the Internet to see their must-watch shows. A variety of devices (from game systems to viewing-specific technology) allow you to connect your computer to your TV, so you are actually watching Internet-streamed shows and movies on your TV set.
Thanks to the different technology now available to us, we now have different viewing habits than we did in the past. Fewer people watch shows when they are scheduled on TV, because it is so much more convenient to access them when we want. This also means we rarely watch TV ads anymore.
We used to watch TV for our news and weather. Now, of course, it is quicker and easier to go online and find the information we want. Opening any browser will give you access to the news of the day -- locally, nationally, and internationally. The Internet has effectively displaced cable as the way to get your daily news and weather.
Disconnecting cable
Businesses are starting to see the wisdom in funneling their advertising dollars away from cable TV. Niche cable channels were once the ideal way to reach your target consumers. Now that more people are turning to nontraditional viewing methods (without the ads), it is harder than ever to measure the effectiveness of cable TV ads, and it's harder to reach those viewers.
Dave Johnson, the owner of Safe Choice Security, told me he decided cable advertising had stopped working for his firm.
Ten years ago, we knew that, if we ran ads with Comcast here, we would be hitting a huge targeted audience... It was a no brainer. Now ad costs have nearly doubled, while the audience is smaller and less engaged. It just doesn't return much anymore. We've switched to almost entirely online advertising now.
Wise businesses understand that Internet advertising is much more effective, targeted, timely, and cost-efficient than TV advertising overall. Snack food manufacturers, car retailers, and beer companies will likely continue to use TV ads effectively, but most businesses, especially small and midsized ones, will likely eschew TV ads of any kind in favor of Internet advertising, which is, after all, where their customers are.
The sole area where cable TV retains its importance is live sporting events. People watch them on TV at their scheduled time. The enormous draw of such events is why their ad rates are so high. For now, a better solution for watching live sporting events is not available, but as soon as the Internet provides one, cable TV will become even more a thing of the past.
TV shows, movies, news, weather, and so much more are always available, always ready for you with your high-speed Internet connection. It truly is well on its way to displacing cable in homes everywhere.
— Gerad Hoyt is the online marketing director for Vast Bridges, a company specializing in channel marketing, sales, and promotion. You can follow him on Twitter @geradhoyt.
I've been a DVR user since 1994 and while working in Vieques for a 1/2 year I had to switch to a TV anywhere solution to stay in touch with American TV. Since then I rarely ever switch on a TV (although I do own one).
This is something I've been hammering for a long time, but I truly believe one-stop entertainment shopping (TV, Internet, radio, books) is the wave of the future. Deliverable, of course, to a range of devices. The split between Internet video and TV video is becoming increasingly absurd, and cable is too expensive.
I channel surf a lot for similar reasons. You're right though. It's all about choice and the good thing is, cable providers are slowly offering more options to subscribers so they can make that choice. It's still not the perfect system, but it's nice to see changes where subscription plans have become more flexible.
Wow, no TV since 2003, huh? I still maintain my subscription, although to a fewer channels than before. I don't watch as much television these days, although I do enjoy watching the news on TV or a couple of my favorite series when time permits.
I agree. There's no such thing as "free TV." Heck, I'll even go so far as to say that there is no such thing as "free" these days. Most offers come with catches that'll make you shell out a couple of bucks before getting your "free" stuff.
Free TV? Spend for additional bandwidth. Free samples? Pay for the handling or set-up fees. Free Internet? Buy a cup of coffee.
It's an odd thing but it maybe the experience of others too. As I have gotten older I have had less and less interest in TV. The dull dull commercials, the talking down to the viewer, the shows that idealize things I care nothing for, the parade of vapid and lifeless figures who seem to have no reflective life experiences of their own to share....call me old fashioned but I prefer my laptop or a good read.
in some cases, showtime's series Dexter when viewed from hulu is edited for content putting it in a PG 13 class and not the full-blown R-rated shown over digital cable service. I do resent the onslaught of late-night commercials for things like Viagra incontinence diapers while trying to watch a horror movie after I spent nearly $100 a month to watch it on TV service.
Good point Jabailo, but my problem is I channel surf because my show goes to a commercial or nothing is on to begin with. At the end of they day it is about choice. People don't want to pay for a lot of channels they don't watch. For instance I want sports, news, and a couple of shows and that is it. However, I wonder how long it will take for commercial ads to saturate the streaming market.
Hulu brings back the format of watching late night television...which used to be the only way to see classic or cult films. (I know from having to had to persuade parents to let me stay up and see Dr. Strangelove or other flicks on after 11:30pm at night).
So now there are places to get up and go to the refrigerator, bio-break and so on. The ads are a fair trade for me, if the show is good (like Hulu's presentation of Endgame...the series about a chess master turned detective).
That said, I do miss the simplicity of channel surfing. TV watching isn't always, ok, I sit down and start up a show. For example, when I use my friend's DirecTV, it's more of a real time activity. I scan hundreds of channels and find a bunch of things that I am interested in and watch them all simultaneously by flipping channels...10 minutes of this, a couple of that. Strangely, that's still really hard with browser-based media.
It doesn't seem to matter where video entertainment is coming from. The consumer is spending way more monthly than they did a decade ago. Can anyone remember "free" tv? We're now stuck with a cable/internet bill that grows higher and higher every year. Unless one choose to get their tv with the traditional antenna, entertainment is a many dollars a day deal. There will still be cable for those on a "budget" although it's really not a bargain by any stretch.
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