Cordkillers 103 – A Lot of Paperwork

Cordkillers / January 12th, 2016

Netflix adds 130 countries and lets you share your password, Sling cleans up its interface, and a new OTA DVR for cordcutters. With special guest Riley Blanton.

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CordKillers: 103 – A Lot of Paperwork
Recorded: January 11 2016
Guest: Riley Blanton

Intro Video

Primary Target

Signal Intelligence

  • New Sling TV interface rolling out this quarter
  • Sling TV CEO on the competition and internet TV’s future
    – New section called “My TV” surfacing favorites (based on viewing habits and user selection)Continue Watching, Recommendations
    – What’s Hot – beaking news, season finales – coming in a later release
    – Sports section will make it easier to find favorite teams, with sign up to sports pack in app
    – Adding ESPN3
    – RCA will offer 10-day free trials with antenna
    – Rolling out to all devices by end of March

Gear Up

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

Dear Tom and Brian,

I’m writing to comment on your discussion on Episode 102 about whether Netflix should concentrate solely on original content and de-emphasize the back catalog content. And you were also discussing how more and more streaming services are coming out with their own original content, and networks who already produce original content are making paid apps (like CBS).

And I think there’s a tipping point.

Here’s a scenario:

We want to watch the 11/22/63, and we plan to pay for Hulu+ to get that — But we already pay for Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO and we still have cable. And one of my kids is a big anime fan so we have a membership to Crunchyroll, too. (And I support several podcasts via Patreon). I’ve reached my limit of what I will pay for.

So my idea is to binge watch 11/22/63: pay for one month of Hulu+ and then put the membership on hold. I figured we’d do something similar when the new Star Trek episodes come to the CBS all-access plan.

So, my question is, where’s the tipping point? How many memberships will people pay for before they decide to do some kind of a round robin like I described above?

If they only have original content, I can see myself doing this kind of thing. But services like Netflix, with their large back catalog, would be the ones I’d be least likely to put on hold. If they let their back catalog dwindle, I may find I can go a month or two without it.

Wondering what you think about this.

Love the show!
– Beelissa

 

 

You questioned if “the kids” are still downloading torrents, or if streaming is kind now. I work at a university, and we’ve recently implemented stricter controls on Peer-to-Peer / filesharing activity on our network. Based on the number of students who got caught by that this fall (and based on subsequent conversations with some of them, as they basically get kicked off our network when we see torrent activity), I feel like I have some idea anyway. Downloads certainly seem to be down some from the heyday for those things, but we certainly saw that the activity is still common enough. Interestingly enough, when we returned from Christmas break, we saw an upswing again as everyone went back to using the filesharing programs while at home and forgot to uninstall when they got back to campus! 

 

–Anonymous

 

 

HBO Now was not available on my platform of choice (Android) until after Game o Thrones was over.

I did not torrent the show even though I have both torrented and borrowed HBO Go credentials in the past. I did enjoy binge watching it with my wife during our free trial. I left my subscription active for one more month after the free trial to show my appreciation for the service.

I think next year will be different. HBO Now is a great experience and I can’t wait to watch Game of Thrones on my Android TV devices next year.

–Tony

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

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