[slovette]

While perhaps a nominal iteration of improvement, cable was this way too. You didn’t have to have the $100 /month service package. There was always the $30 /mo basic cable (no guide box).

The industry simply recycling its business model in new delivery methods is a valid complaint/perception.

[lotsofpulp]

Mind boggling that someone can compare the utility to cost ratio of cable/satellite TV requiring contracts and installations to on demand libraries of near unlimited content with instant sign up and cancel abilities on every device.

Exact opposite of a “nominal iteration”.

[SV_BubbleTime]

There is on paper and in practice. Yes, streaming has a ton of content… you still watch a handful of things because there is far more noise than signal.

[nullindividual]

But! With cable, if you didn't buy the upper tier packages, you may have missed out on some great shows/networks (e.g., HBO). And cable companies often use contracts to make downgrading expensive. With streaming services, cancelling after you've binge watch the shows you're interested in comes with no penalty.

[pianoben]

> cancelling after you've binge watch the shows you're interested in comes with no penalty.

...for now. We'll certainly see these kinds of shenanigans before too much longer. Take ads. They're creeping in to paid subscriptions now - despite the fact that an allure of online streaming is that you can pay not to see them.

Where there's the possibility of a revenue play, it will happen eventually.

[Eisenstein]

The problem with cable was you couldn't have 'basic cable + FX' or 'basic + AMC' it was $30 for lame selection of mostly crap and then $80 - $100 for anything better.

[ghaff]

I didn't have a guide box--had a TiVo from pretty early on--and I was still over $100/month before my HBO monthly fee.

[uoaei]

The tech industry's definition of "disruption" has been pretty clearly validated by now as "undercut established players then appropriate their business models with little innovation". Streaming is a change from syndicated programming but introduces its own issues.

[hatsix]

the last base package I subscribed to was $80

[scarface_74]

But you couldn’t just choose a single channel aside from the premium channels.

[warkdarrior]

You cannot pick only Star Wars from Disney+ either. Or Orange Is The New Black from Netflix.