I was speaking more about content than how we consume that content. If we don’t start churning out more talented writers, maybe people will lose interest in TV altogether — maybe go outside and breath the air or something. As it stands right now, quality is dropping faster than I can lower my standards.
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Oh OK, got it. I agree with you. 
No other source is as perilous. You’re also talking to someone who needs cable cards due to the inequity of the local channel lineups. It’s not trolling.
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EVOCA, pay stations on the ATSC 3.0 subs.
Antennaman on Youtube Discussing EVOCA
Here's to hoping he's wrong.
The demise of Channels DVR is greatly exaggerated, but the loss of Cable cards will eventually impact many Channels users. Channels can almost certainly continue just fine with OTA + TVE + Pluto, etc. but none of those options entirely replace what Cable cards provide.
Then again, who knows what the TV landscape will look like in 3 years, or 5 years? I have learned to focus on what works for me today. I'll worry about the future when I need to
Prior to switching to Channels a couple years ago, I was a long time satellite subscriber. Channels with OTA + cable has been an excellent replacement and has saved me quite a bit of money (bundling cable TV with my existing internet service was significantly cheaper than what I was paying for internet + satellite.
I recognize though that Cable cards won't be around forever and eventually I will need to adapt again, but Channels will adapt too. In the meantime, I'm going to do whatever I can to hold onto my Cable cards for as long as I can. I'm coming to the end of a 2 year promo with Xfinity and I'm paranoid to do anything that might jeopardize my card activation. I will likely call them to see if they are willing to extend me for another year or two at the same promo rate, but beyond that I'm not sure it's worth the risk to make any package changes or try to sign up for a new bundle. Even at full price, the cost will still be less than what I had before (although not by much).
On a related note, I have used the Xfinity Stream app, and it works adequately, but I'm not sure what their long term vision is for delivering content. I believe Stream is still considered to be in beta, even after several years, and I had to sideload it onto all my Android TV devices. For the time being, it seems that Xfinity is still focused on getting costumers to rent their boxes, but how much longer will that be a viable option?
The industry will continue to evolve, but for now Cable cards remain a great option to use with Channels. Enjoy them while it lasts!
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Well stated.
I worry more about the long-term viability of non-DRM TVE (when I say long term in this respect, I mean more than a year or three). This is some fairly extreme volatility for those of us [apparently old guys] who have been tapping paid cable/satellite services for our own consistent, personal media-server use for nearly 2 decades.
Moving away from linear TV has a been a problem for distributors for years now, and it took them that long to figure out how to fragment the watching experience [into various apps for each provider] enough to force people into it. Those folks who like sports are realizing the extreme cost of continuing with linear TV on the sports networks.
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the title is missing the word "card"....as this is all bickering about use of cable cards mostly.
I see it as the opposite, Channels DVR the only software i know if that support TVE.
I never knew that was a thing, else i would have dumped cable much sooner.
How dependent someone is to xyz cable company is mainly dependent on what channels they want and those they have to have. If they are willing to compromise, and give up some, and move to a streaming provider like Philo, then cool. Otherwise, they can stay subscribed to CATV company and use Cable Card tuner (for as long as its supported) and/or TVE with that provider account.
I wish Emby supported TVE, I was using that for the longest time with my Prime tuner and Cable...but i find Channels DVR a nice and great improvement "Cable box replacement" that is not tied to one monopoly high priced cable company.
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Absolutely. If not for sports, I would be perfectly happy with just OTA + one or two premium streaming services. But I want to watch most of the Cubs games and college basketball, which means I need an RSN, Big 10 Network, ESPN, and Fox Sports. Presumably someday we will be able to subscribe to all of those channels a la carte, but there are a lot of content rights issues that need to be addressed and the a la carte pricing will likely cause some sticker shock.
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Any actual data to support that position?
There’s 55 million+ CableCard devices out in the market. TiVo and Comcast signed an agreement (as part of licensing) that keeps CableCards around to 2030+. TiVo itself is today still selling CableCard receivers. Xfinity publicly states they’ll support CableCards well into the future.
So why the belief it’s less/more perilous than TVE or OTA which have none of the same support?
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For one thing, the option to request a Cable Card while signing up for an Xfinity package no longer exists on the website. The website forces you to choose one of their X1 receivers, which wasn't the case before. There may still be back channels to obtain and activate Cable cards, but they definitely aren't making it easy. Some packages are already impossible to activate on a Cable Card. A few years back, I spent hours on the phone with various levels of support, trying to add the Sports & Entertainment package, but it just wouldn't go through. I consistently received the same answer, that their system simply wouldn't allow that package to be activated on a Cable card. They aren't just going to cut off existing Cable cards users, but they will likely do anything they can to push those people to Xfinity owned boxes. Don't be surprised if more channels move to IP-only over time, with Xfinity sending notifications to their customers - "If you want to continue receiving Fox Sports 1, you must obtain an X1 box."
Charter has already stopped giving new cablecards to resellers:
There would need to be law changes to truly kill OTA (must-carry, DMA exclusivity, etc). ATSC3 is moving at a glacial pace. It's easily the "safest" from major change.
TVE, I stated before. CableCards and TVE are both pretty perilous. 1a and 1b. The difference is that the net has been pulled out of CableCards by dropping the FCC requirement. Physical hardware manufacturing will stop, if it hasn't already. HDHR Prime's are old stock only, with no new hardware on horizon. TVE doesn't need hardware, and can evolve.
Largely, I'm on board with you that CableCard > TVE, but saying the OP was trolling is still wrong, due to the above
Same exact boat. Long-time DBS user that switched for pricing.
I'm in an almost-perfect situation because Spectrum allows for something resembling an a-la-carte setup with a small number of channels for a small price, which gets me 2 local network areas. Fubo provides me my main RSN/cable channels lineup and some 4K (along with their AWESOME multiview), Spectrum gives me locals + the turners, which Fubo lacks. OTA supplements.
Channels has made this frankensetup unbelievably manageable. It's really a godsend. I just worry about my cablecards going away, as Spectrum also sent me a survey asking what i would do if they went away.
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For me, I told them I was willing to stay if they gave me the current promo rate or I would cancel. They said no, and I cancelled. Now I have more and better content at $35/month less.
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I was paying $40.10 in taxes and fees alone. These costs did not follow me to Philo. My total monthly savings is $99.61 even after adding Showtime. And the super cool part is that I did all this with zero end user impact thanks to Channels. The only way I could have pulled this off before Channels would be with new boxes, remotes, and apps and a ton of user frustration -- and the effort probably would have failed in the end.
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I found FUBO to be a very good replacement for Comcast. It is about $70 a month and has locals and cloud based DVR included. It works great with Channels.
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As a longtime TiVo user I can't recall any point in time in which getting (and activating) a CableCARD was as easy as getting a set top box. It almost always involved at least a phone call or maybe an online chat.
In store salespeople have been saying they "aren't supported" or "going away" since like 2005.
If you have working cards or can get them via phone call there is probably no reason to worry about it. They will most likely work as long as they continue to support the hundreds of thousands of set top boxes they have in the field with internal CableCARDs.
Once CableCARD support is gone there will be no provider/network supported way to use your own DVR of any sort. As the OP suggested, that would be the end of Channels DVR for cable tv use.
I can't imagine many people would pay a traditional cable provider $80-$100/mo to use TVE (30 fps / stereo sound) as the only way to view the content they paid for.
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Comcast Provides XFINITY app on firetv devices and you can setup passes and record.... So Boxes are no longer a requirement for additional outlets.... only 1 Box is needed... So if the Cable cards die there are already options in place. I have 2 Primes if they die I will not stop using Channels DVR TVE or XFINITY.
Where I live, Comcast/Xfinity has a 100% monopoly on high speed Internet. It's my only choice. And they know it. Comcast has priced their stand-alone Internet package such that it's only about $10 less than their Internet+CATV package. So Xfinity Internet-only plus any streaming service is way more than the Xfinity Internet+CATV package. So I went all-in and bought a used HDHR prime. After trading in my Xfinity STB for a CableCard, I now save quite a bit on my bill... I don't incur the STB lease fee AND they give me a monthly credit for supplying my own equipment.
I would be very sad, indeed to see CableCard disappear.
I also have that problem. However, I got fed up with Xfinity rising prices. So, I went to Internet only. False advertising, as I am paying for 300Mbs and getting only 200Mbs. The combo packages get much more expensive when the taxes and fee are added. No tax on Internet.
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Odd, must be your area then, cause they never had an option to not have a one of their cable boxes here. It was included (charged) to you weather or not you wanted it or used it. No option to "trade in" and only have a cable card on account. It was insane. near the time i canceled, on the bill they detailed, they were charging $14.99 for box and $5.99 for the remote...pluss all the fees i did not want to pay, Reginal Sports fee ( I do NOT and have never watched Sports on any channel and never wanted them) and other BS fees that made the base bill around $60 just fees, not including taxes and the actual package.
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