Cable could be losing its grip on your set-top box (FAQ)
Feb 20, 2016 14:51:58 GMT -5
mountain likes this
Post by Porscheguy on Feb 20, 2016 14:51:58 GMT -5
It's about time..
www.cnet.com/news/cable-could-be-losing-its-grip-on-your-set-top-box-faq/
"Today, 99 percent of pay-TV subscribers rent set-top boxes and spend an average of $231 a year to lease these devices, according to a congressional study. This practice brings in about $20 billion a year in revenue to cable, satellite and telco operators. While prices for computers, TVs and mobile phones have dropped by 90 percent in the past 20 years, the FCC says pricing on set-top boxes has increased 185 percent".
Some experts, such as CNET Reviews editor David Katzmaier, say there's no technical reason cable operators need to put any hardware in your home.
"There's no need for warehouses full of cable boxes or arduous 'service windows' where the technician supposedly shows up 'sometime between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.' -- or not -- to fix (or more likely just replace) your device," Katzmaier wrote in a recent commentary on CNET. "Full-fledged pay TV service should just be an app, like Sling TV, that runs on your phone, your Roku or even the TV itself."
This is the same point raised by Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, who voted against the FCC's proposal.
"Our goal shouldn't be to unlock the box," he said. "It should be to eliminate the box."
www.cnet.com/news/cable-could-be-losing-its-grip-on-your-set-top-box-faq/
"Today, 99 percent of pay-TV subscribers rent set-top boxes and spend an average of $231 a year to lease these devices, according to a congressional study. This practice brings in about $20 billion a year in revenue to cable, satellite and telco operators. While prices for computers, TVs and mobile phones have dropped by 90 percent in the past 20 years, the FCC says pricing on set-top boxes has increased 185 percent".
Some experts, such as CNET Reviews editor David Katzmaier, say there's no technical reason cable operators need to put any hardware in your home.
"There's no need for warehouses full of cable boxes or arduous 'service windows' where the technician supposedly shows up 'sometime between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.' -- or not -- to fix (or more likely just replace) your device," Katzmaier wrote in a recent commentary on CNET. "Full-fledged pay TV service should just be an app, like Sling TV, that runs on your phone, your Roku or even the TV itself."
This is the same point raised by Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, who voted against the FCC's proposal.
"Our goal shouldn't be to unlock the box," he said. "It should be to eliminate the box."
