cords

May as well kick off the new year by restarting the cord-cutting debate: are people really dropping their cable subscriptions in favor of the Internet and some combination of Netflix/Hulu/iTunes/YouTube, etc.? Or is it something that will happen?

Or (and this is the cable guys' favorite answer) is it something that people like to talk about, but won't really do?

Today's installment comes from JP Morgan's Imran Khan, whose 2011 forecast is chock-full of interesting data (see these amazing Facebook numbers--and plan on getting at least one more of these today or tomorrow). … Read more

Whether it's someone looking to "cut the cord" and save money, or just a way to expand your on-demand video options, online streaming video is more popular than ever. But with so many options now available, what's the best solution -- be it for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Amazon, iTunes, or any of the myriad other online video sources?

As with anything in real life, there isn't one simple, straightforward answer that works for everyone. But we've created a set of different recommendations that should work for nearly anybody, based upon your individual priorities.

The best news for anyone shopping in late 2012? Prices for excellent media-streaming devices now start at just $50, with plenty of other great options (including brand-new Blu-ray players) at less than $120.… Read more

There's been a lot of talk about people canceling their cable TV subscription to stream video on their TVs over the Net, but consumer research firm Nielsen says the number of people actually doing it is still very small.

Cheryl Idell, an executive vice president at Nielsen, told the blog PaidContent earlier this week that many people may be talking about cutting the proverbial cable cord, but few are actually doing it. According to Nielsen data, only 6 percent of broadband households have already stopped using cable in lieu of cheaper Internet-based TV. Idell admitted that consumers may one … Read more

Time Warner Cable saw bigger profits on increased revenue during the third quarter of 2010 even as it lost TV subscribers.

The second largest cable operator in the U.S. reported a 34 percent jump in profits for the three-month period. Earnings increased to $360 million, or $1 a share, up from $268 million, or 76 cents a share, during the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue increased 5.2 percent to $4.73 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted earnings of 89 cents on $4.72 billion in revenue.

Just like cable giant Comcast, Time Warner Cable … Read more

Americans, little by little, are cutting the proverbial cord on cable television. But that doesn't mean they're breaking up with their cable companies.

In addition to controlling most of the paid TV market in the U.S., cable companies are also poised to dominate the broadband market. This means that even when people drop their pricey cable TV packages, they're still likely to pay the cable company for access to the Internet, which is used to deliver the video streams to their TVs. For cable operators, it's a "heads we win; tails we win" … Read more

iPhone cables are nice enough. But they don't challenge the limits of one's design imagination. Yes, they're simple and white. But they don't make squeaking noises. And they don't really resemble umbilical cords. Not unless you are under the influence of highly influential chemicals.

Let us all be grateful, then, for Japanese artist Mio I-Zawa.

Not content with creating a mechanical tumor (every family should have one), I-Zawa decided to push the boundaries of iPhone cable design.

He is clearly an artist whose mind and physique are made for pushing. For he got it into … Read more

Netflix finally knocked off Blockbuster yesterday. Leaders of pay TV services might be wise to start doing the business equivalent of digging foxholes and manning the battlements, or the same thing could happen to them.

There's a growing body of evidence that pay TV services--that is, cable, broadband, and telephone companies that offer films and TV shows--are ripe for a smackdown. Talk of cord-cutters is all over business news and the momentum in home-video distribution appears to be with companies that do it over the Web, such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, and the upcoming Google TV.

Skeptics say … Read more

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg just confirmed what many industry watchers have suspected: cord cutting is a problem.

All Things Digital's Peter Kafka reported that Seidenberg told attendees at a Goldman Sach's media conference in New York that future generations of consumers won't have any interest in buying service bundles, which can include Internet, pay TV, and telephone.

"Young people are pretty smart. They're not going to pay for something they don't need to," he said.

Seidenberg noted, though, that bundling isn't going away immediately.

It may happen sooner than he thinks. … Read more

If you're like me, you cringe every month when you pay your cable bill. And you dream of the day you can cut your cable cord and stop paying that monthly bill.

It's not that I don't like to watch TV. I do. But I can't stand that I pay $140 a month to watch a handful of shows on five or six channels. The DVR has completely changed my viewing habits, so that I only watch the shows I want to see when I want to see them.

Meanwhile, there is a growing amount of … Read more