A couple of weeks ago I cancelled my cable TV. The cost was too high and I decided to only pay for internet service. Maybe not the smartest move right before the Super Bowl. Well, yesterday I actually got to watch the game streaming it on my new Amazon Fire TV. Times they are a changing.
I was able to watch the game on the NBC Sports app on my Fire TV. I started watching the game on the regular NBC app through its live TV feature. About two minutes before half time the app quit and put up a message that said I needed to find another option to watch the game. When I first tuned into the game I wasn't even sure if NBC would allow any streaming. But when it quit half way through I felt like I might be sent to a pay option. Before I started the game I had three options that I downloaded and had ready to go. The NBC app, the NBC Sports app and the Fire TV Silk browser that had a bookmark to the NBC Sports internet website. Luckily when I switched to the free NBC Sports app everything worked and I was able to finish the game.
I wish that they would have told me to just go to the NBC Sports app from the NBC app in the first place. But something has changed for the better. It looks like networks like NBC are starting to "get hip" to the free streaming world that is growing out there. Locally I am able to stream live news on my NBC app and the local Channel10 ABC News app on my Roku. I have two out of the four major networks that I can now get news from for free. Only a few years ago that would not have been possible. I "cut the cord" once before and these were not options back then. I think networks and local stations are starting to adapt to users like me that have dropped their cable. I used to have an antenna at my old apartment that worked okay but the new apartment doesn't like an indoor antenna. So, using an antenna wasn't an option for me.
Leaving the old antenna and cable markets for the "internet" streaming market must be a big move for television companies. But I think companies will have to find new business models in order to survive. Streaming TV can still be a profitable business to be in. I prefer a "free" streaming station and will put up with commercials like regular broadcast television. I am also okay with paying a subscription for a commercial free upgrade to a free TV service. What I don't like is being force to pay a subscrition for a commercial based service. CBS has decided to go with a completely pay option. I am a huge Star Trek fan but I refuse to pay CBS for over the air television. Networks have been making serious money for decades with the commercial model. I don't mind it and if the content is good I can be lured into a subscription model if it is reasonable.
Form me reasonable is about $20 a month for a small package of channels. I don't expect HBO or Netflix that show first run movies. I am totally willing to settle for a few local channels. I have a subscription through Cox Cable that allows me access to local channels as part of a bundle with my internet service. This service is technically in the $20 range but with the bundle it actually saves me money on my internet service with Cox. It is a savvy move by Cox to keep me as a "cable" customer that doesn't have a cable box or the desire to have 300 channels. Right now I can't enable all the live content that I can get from Cox on a Fire TV or a Roku. I will be experimenting in the future with my Fire TV and Silk Browser and see how practical it would be to use to access the PC version of this service though. But right now not all the local and network apps allow me to get live content with my "limited" cable subscription. At least NBC and to a certain degree ABC have updated their apps to this new internet/streaming box world. Hopefully the other national networks will follow NBC's lead.
I at least was able to "sync" my PC cable subscription with my streaming boxes for the Super Bowl but the entertainment industry still has a long way to go to treat all devices/services equally. But I can see things are starting to go in a better direction. Let's see what things look like in two years after all the competition networks will face with the streaming bundle services like Sling TV.
