US Congress asks FCC to snuff out Google's TV landgrab Americans will be stuck with the antiquated 1990s CableCARD access standard for a little longer. Republicans in US Congress yesterday urged the FCC to snuff out its radical (and secret) set top box proposal, which has been in limbo since November. The proposal, advanced by former FCC chief Tom Wheeler in his frantic final …
So the locked-in closed set top box which obliges customers to rent technology from two decades ago and looks like some Russian clone Spectrum will continue. How one of those helps quality AV production particularly for minority audiences is anyone's guess.
If you had a decent way forward for set top boxes, they could work with any cable provider, work with streaming providers like smart TVs, and provide stuff like the red button on Freeview to take you elsewhere, either on cable or streaming. That would better for minority programming, surely? And they might even be worth the rental money, if you didn't want to buy your own outright.
It has to be able to cover cable and satellite, MPEG-4, H.264, & H.265. And got that matter, specify a form factor so it can be slotted behind the TV.
But of course, no one wants to give up their captive audiences. If they don't get you on box rentals, they'll just get you on data overages. Either way, they have you over the proverbial barrel.
Smart TVs come in cable and satellite versions. US cable providers could just come up with (or be told to come up with) a CI+ card. Add a standardised streaming platform which is what the previous incarnation of the FCC were trying to do and you're done.
A $200 billion industry would love the status quo.
Minority programming and all those weasel words are just a smokescreen to maintain the monopoly grip they have.
Another example of how big business stiffles innovation and choice by lobbying and backhanders.MPAA and RIAA are also hand in glove behind this decision.
It's all about the forced bundling. The networks force the cable companies to take bundles of channels (which is why they all include ESPN at $8/month) and the cable companies force consumers to pay for a set top box on every television. None of the entrenched players want it to change, and ALL of the consumers want it to change.
And the problem here is that the seller doesn't have to sell. By setting an ultimatum, the networks dare the end-user providers to walk on the sun, given how often sports networks are considered a prerequisite to signing. Similarly, cable and satellite providers do the same thing to the end user. So what'll it be? Pay up or walk on the sun? Because they're pretty the guerillas at the well. It may not be all that fair, but from their view, life isn't fair.
I'm a sports fan but the forced bundling of sports channels is ridiculous.
I ditched Sky in the UK when they first split up football under the guise of needing another sports channel for rugby union.
I'll be ditching cable over here as soon as a household member (who effectively pays for the cable) leaves us.
OTT streaming is where we'll end up. But then we'll still depend on ISPs, who _are_ the cable companies.
Of course mobile data's getting cheaper and maybe we'll go mobile to ditch our local ISPs. But then, AT&T is also DirecTV and an ISP, so eventually we need SpaceX or others to succeed in bringing down the cost of satellite launches so that it's cheap to fill the skies with small satellites and we can bypass both.
Satellites are actually pretty cheap. I saw calculations that it costs Directv well under a dollar per month per customer to maintain and replace their satellite fleet as it ages. A buck a month times the 22 million subscribers or whatever it is equals over $250M a year, which means they could replace a satellite every other year which is far more often than reality requires.
The problem with "filling the sky with satellites" is that geosynchronous slots in prime locations are already pretty much spoken for.
...do not want to see the cablecard go away. Thanks to the cablecard, I haven't had to rent a cable box in years. I just use a SiliconDust HD Homerun Prime attached to my router and SageTV on my HTC. Works like a champ with full EPG and DVR capabilities. And based on the current rules, the cable company has to provide the cablecard for free. Yes I'm still paying the outrageous price for cable, but at least I'm not paying for the box.
It's a vicious lie that cable companies 'enslave' their subscribers and force them into perpetual 'rental' fees. There is no mention of servitude in the user agreement whatsoever. Subscribers are free to discontinue the service subject to the termination 'fees' of the agreement and those (usually with an IQ above 80) users are increasingly doing just that. The cable monopolies granted them have increased the numbers of terminations because of their practices rather than assured them steady growth. Perhaps they should rethink their strategy. It's NOT working.
PCMCIA vs USB dongle misses the point.
1) It's possible to do cable or VOIP with no set box or dongle. My TV has DVB-C, 2 x DVBS-2, Wifi, Ethernet, DVB-T2 (USA models would be ISDB or whatever) and the PCMCIA style slot that can take a CAM for cable or satellite and a viewing card. It has dedicated USB HDD port (encrypts drive sadly even for FTA content. I have very small setbox. for HD TV DVB (which is more demanding than cable TV HW & SW), cost $50. I have an even cheaper HD Sat box, a little bigger. Ten years ago Motorola had a PVR setbox with HD, Cable, Ethernet VOIP(via external or using internal cable modem) and no need for a card. It could use DOCSIS to validate. It had the PCMCIA CAM slot too.
2) It's really about perceived control of content (anti-piracy) rather than forcing box rental (that's a means to an end).
3) Who gets to supply and bill the customer for content. That's why sky is going head to head with Global Liberty/Virgin and Netflix in UK by supplying not just by dish, but also by Broadband (even over virgin) via linear and non-liner VOIP streaming.
It's true you shouldn't have to rent the box. Sky actually gives away their boxes, but they are crippled (even the sat one) if you have no sub. The minimum contract with Sky ensures cost of install and box is covered.
No TVs sold in the US are configured like yours. They support ATSC (our DVB-T2) and clear QAM. No PCMCIA or other slot to support cable card or other encryption cards. No DVB-S/DVB-S2 since the two satellite providers in the US both use an encrypted signal with proprietary smart cards to decode it.
A few TVs here are doing away with the tuners entirely since so few people plug their TV directly into a cable/antenna connection anymore. Basically they are turning into smart monitors.
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