[Discuss] the future of cable TV

[mark at buttery.org (Shirley Márquez Dúlcey)]

Over the top services are only a limited solution if the internet
service remains a monopoly. Net neutrality regulations should help
somewhat but I am confident that Comcast and its ilk will find ways
around them.

On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 9:52 PM, Tom Metro <tmetro+blu at gmail.com> wrote:
> Shirley M?rquez D?lcey wrote:
>> I don't expect any alternatives to Comcast to immediately surface in
>> my neighborhood. Verizon never did bring FIOS to Boston and has
>> stopped pursuing new markets, and RCN seems to have abandoned any
>> further expansion in the city...
>
> By alternates I didn't mean local suppliers of packaged video
> programming. I meant "over the top" services, like Sling TV
> (https://www.sling.com/, also marketed as http://www.dishanywhere.com/),
>  or Sony's similar service:
> http://www.multichannel.com/news/tv-apps/sony-take-viacom-over-top/383701
>
> But these are still limited packages of channels, just cheaper.
>
> What I'd really like to see is an open standard for IPTV delivery,
> rather than the proprietary app model. Then I can take my Kodi media
> player, go to one of several independent TV listings services, search
> for desired programming, select a show, and the URL loads up in the
> media player without requiring any special hardware.
>
> Then sprinkle in a bit of infrastructure to handle things like
> encryption, logins, and micro payments. You can even have third parties
> creating packages, using an authorization scheme similar to Google's
> OAuth, where the content provider checks with the third party (whom
> they've made a licensing deal with) to see if you are authorized.
>
> So when you visit the Discovery channel, for example, they give you the
> most recent episodes for free, but charge a micro payment per episode to
> access their back catalog, or verify that you have a valid subscription
> with one of the third party package resellers.
>
> Even if old media companies like Discovery and HBO don't jump on this
> bandwagon, we need this infrastructure for the small upstarts. We have
> already seen a wave of fairly high quality original programming being
> distributed through YouTube, and many of those providers are now bumping
> into the limits of how YouTube lets them monetize and they're looking
> for new delivery mechanisms.
>
>
>> The longer term hopes are Google Fiber or a municipal network, and
>> in the unlikely event that the latter happens it would probably be a
>> data-only network with no TV offerings.
>
> That's a different, but related problem. Yes, you need unfettered
> bandwidth and better choices. Just as well if they don't bundle video.
>
>  -Tom
>
> --
> Tom Metro
> The Perl Shop, Newton, MA, USA
> "Predictable On-demand Perl Consulting."
> http://www.theperlshop.com/
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