Why pay for cable or satellite when I get everything I need from the internet? More and more of my friends and family ask themselves this question and promptly cut their cable or satellite off. With the emergence of web based products like Hulu and Roku, and Netflix, people can stream virtually any show or movie they want, when they want. The best part is, most of this is available for little to no cost.
There are numerous online options for television. Let’s examine Hulu, Netflix, Roku, Youtube and Amazon. Hulu accounts can be created for free, and offer tons of TV shows that are being broadcasted on TV right now. Netflix is a monthly subscription that not only allows you to rent movies and have them sent straight to your house, but now offers tens of thousands of movies that can be streamed online on demand. Don’t want to watch TV on the computer screen? Not to worry, many TV’s and computers these days have connections to make the TV screen the computer monitor. One of the best options is the Roku box. This box plugs into the TV, and accesses the internet. The box has an upfront cost of $59.99 for standard definition, or high definition boxes from $69.99 to $99.99 (Roku, n.d.). What is better is there are no monthly costs from Roku. It comes with capabilities to stream movies from various sites, most notably Netflix. I can stream any of my watch instantly movies on my Netflix account without touching my computer. Another trend that is going to steal revenue from cable and satellite companies is companies like Youtube and Amazon offering movies at a pay per view rate. You can pick a video you want to watch, pay the money, and stream the video online with a few simple mouse clicks.
How is this going to kill cable and satellite? Netflix subscriptions are $8.99-23.99 per month, and most tv show options are free (Netflix, n.d.). The average cable bill is $71 per month, and increases almost yearly (Seidman, 2009). There is quite a bit of money to be saved by cancelling the cable or satellite service. I have three close friends and family members that have cancelled cable or satellite tv and go with online tv, and know of at least three more that will cancel theirs as soon as their sporting events are being broadcasted live online.
References
Netflix. (n.d.). Netflix. Retrieved from http://www.netflix.com
Roku. (n.d.). Www.roku.com. Retrieved from http://www.roku.com
Seidman, R. (16). Average monthly cable bill is $71 according to study. Retrieved from http://http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/04/16/average-monthly-cable-bill-is-71-according-to-study/16887
No comments:
Post a Comment