Cable Industry Finally Fights Cord Cutting With Fewer Ads It appears that least some cable industry executives are getting the message cord cutters have been sending. Despite the fact that cord cutting continues to break records, many cable executives continue to double down on the same dumb ideas that drives these defections in the first place. The industry's been stuffing more ads into every viewing hour by editing or speeding up programs, raising cable TV prices like it's going out of fashion, and saddling consumers with an ocean of misleading fees in the odd belief there would be no repurcussions.

This is, most people realize, not how you compete with disruptive, innovative, and less expensive new streaming services. Fortunately there's every indication at some cable companies and broadcasters that executives are finally getting the message. AT&T and Dish have explored offering cheaper, more flexible streaming alternatives (DirecTV Now and Sling TV, respectively), both understanding that getting out ahead of the cord cutting trend is the right play, even if the net result is making less money from traditional television. And on the broadcasting front, several companies this month made it clear they'll be reducing the ad loads on their programming, since charging users a subscription fee and socking them with endless ads is becoming a dated concept in the cord cutting era. Fox, for example, told the Wall Street Journal this week that the company would be reducing TV ad time in its content to two minutes an hour by 2020. "The two minutes per hour is a real target for Fox, and also our challenge for the industry," Ed Davis, chief product officer for ad sales at Fox Networks Group, told the Journal. "Creating a sustainable model for ad-supported storytelling will require us all to move." By "move" Davis of course means "actually compete," something that should have been a no brainer. Comcast NBC Universal says it's also following suit, having cut advertising time in its own shows by 10%, and reduced the overall number of advertising during commercial breaks by 20%. "The industry knows that television is already the most effective advertising medium there is, but we need to make the experience better for viewers," NBCUniversal exec Linda Yaccarino said in a statement. “We’re reimagining the advertising experience for consumers, marketers, and the entire industry.” Good call. Kind of late, but good all the same. Given there's 83 million households still subscribing to traditional cable TV, many cable executives are under the false impression they can keep doubling down on bad ideas without the check coming due. But the data indicates this head in the sand approach simply isn't sustainable. Pay TV providers saw a reduction of more than 500,000 traditional pay TV customers during the fourth quarter, a decline of 3.4% total pay TV customers from the year before. That 3.4% decline was up from the 2% rate during in the fourth quarter of 2016 and a 1% rate of decline one year before that. The shift toward cheaper, flexible streaming options is occurring whether the cable and broadcast industry likes it or not. And they can get out ahead of that trend now by giving customers what they want, or play catch up later after customers have already flooded to services that will. The shift toward cheaper, flexible streaming options is occurring whether the cable and broadcast industry likes it or not. And they can get out ahead of that trend now by giving customers what they want, or play catch up latercustomers have already flooded to services that will.







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Most recommended from 91 comments



maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 58 recommendations maartena Premium Member The voice.... I cut the cord. Normally, we watch The Voice on Hulu the next day. But since I have an OTA antenna and it was 8:01PM.... the wife and i thought: Hey, lets watch it LIVE for a change!



Boy did we regret that. The first block of commercials was OK.... we aren't used to seeing commercials anymore, so it felt a little.... new. But it didn't take long before we figured out we saw 1 artist, then a block of commercials, 1 artist, and another block..... We did end up watching the whole 2 hours (of which almost 40 minutes was commercials), but we were cured again: Hulu the next day WITHOUT commercials was worth the $11.99 I am paying for it.



I understand companies need to make money, but if I am being overcommercialized to death, I am no longer interested.

ham3843

join:2015-01-15

USA 17 recommendations ham3843 Member I haven't noticed any change in the ad saturation. I've been watching cable TV since 1985 or so and the providers might claim they have reduced

the number of ads per hour, I haven't noticed the difference, in the last several years, if anything I think it is worse in some cases. I think the execs are just giving lip service but not enough to change things.



I definitely know that ad saturation is far worse than it was in the 80s and most of the 90s.



In any case most of the content is crap anyhow, and they offer little of quality and interest to me so I cut the cord in 2011, and only watch when I'm over at friends and family.

Demonfang

join:2011-04-21

Spring Mills, PA 3 recommendations Demonfang Member WTF?! Could someone please explain to me how people were commenting on this YESTERDAY when it was posted TODAY? Is this site trapped in a temporal anomaly?