arkstfan
Sorry folks
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RE: New C-USA Media Rights Deal with CBS Sports
(03-17-2018 03:41 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: (03-17-2018 01:46 PM)arkstfan Wrote: (03-17-2018 01:12 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: I’ve never thought of linear tv by that narrow definition. For instance, most cable system boxes allow for you to pause, stop, rewind, and record shows for later viewing. Most all cable systems have a significant menu of on demand shows that can be watched. So, when i say linear TV—I’m talking cable TV/OTA. Cable is fairly close to streaming in terms of flexibility—just fewer on demand options. You are correct—OTA doesn’t have that same flexibility.
I think linear is also being given an informal expanded definition of a provider offers a program at a specific start time.
So ABC OTA would be linear, watching the program later on the ABC app would not.
I don't know if it is making financial sense but watching OTA market change has been fascinating. We've gone from ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox, and maybe one other independent station to in Little Rock I believe 23 channels that do not offer religious, spanish or infomercial content 24/7. Even more interesting is that Ion a channel relegated to around 300 on Direct TV is now available OTA in Little Rock (I work at home on Fridays, all day CSI). Another channel primarily seems to be emptying the vaults of Discovery networks with Modern Marvels and such. My absolute favorite is Comet a partnership of Sinclair and MGM to show old sci-fi, monster, and horror movies and series.
While I cannot record with my current TV it does permit me to pause for up to 90 minutes with a 16gb USB stick installed (can accept larger but won't use more than 16, just an operating system limit) that's on a just under $1000 4k set with Roku built in. There is a built in program guide for OTA content. Odds are when I replace this unit the next will allow me to put in a large capacity SD card or USB and save 10 to 20 hours without a standalone box.
If you can get 20ish channels with a relatively easy antenna set up then it changes the game for the bundler as well. Why pay licensing fees you have to pass on to consumers to obtain content that the consumer can easily get. We used to think of the locals plus a few channels as the bare bones package but a variety of channels without locals may be the new bare bones and only consumers unable to get that content via an antenna (like my brother who cannot get anything but PBS with a 30ft antenna out in the sticks) end up paying for it.
lol...back when I was a kid I grew up in era where NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and 2 indy UHF stations where the total palette of television choices in the typical suburaban Houston household (due to governmental squabbling, cable was very late to much of the Houston area). Our families first cable system was Warner. It was basic cable and had about 40 stations. I felt like I had found television Nirvana. My guess is, something like that combined with a couple of streaming service memberships would serve 95% of the population just fine.
We started out with 12 stations on cable. Four of those you could get with rabbit ears.
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03-17-2018 04:13 PM |
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