4 ms·

This just doesn't make sense. If a broadcast is telling a TV to redirect to an internet stream; why not just go straight to the internet stream? That OTA spectr

This just doesn't make sense. If a broadcast is telling a TV to redirect to an internet stream; why not just go straight to the internet stream? That OTA spectrum is valuable... Also: It seems like whoever's pushing this forgot that people are really, really getting sick of ads. A major part of the rise of online streaming is... Lack of ads. The whole article looks like one of those "pie in the sky" tech utopia visions that never pans out.

bityard 3y ago
> A major part of the rise of online streaming is... Lack of ads. Sorry but ads are the new normal when subscribing to most streaming services. Netflix CEO in 2019: "Netflix will never have ads." Three years later, Netflix is "excited" to launch an ad-supported tier. This came shortly after a price jump on all of its plans, of course. We pay for Amazon Prime ($140/yr) more for the streaming than the "free" shipping or other perks. But increasingly, more and more content in the Prime library can only be "rented" or "bought", or watched "free with ads." The quality of the content that is available to watch "with Prime" (i.e. without paying even more) is going steadily downhill. The bargain DVD bin at my local grocery store has a better selection. We also have occasional access to Hulu, Disney, Peacock and whatever else through friends and family and it seems like the shows on all of these have ads on them. (Or at least most of them do?) I was quite happy to pay a monthly fee to watch stuff ad-free. Now since that is quickly not becoming an option, I may have to pull my wooden leg and eye patch out of storage.
- gwbas1c 3y ago
  > I was quite happy to pay a monthly fee to watch stuff ad-free. Now since that is quickly not becoming an option, I may have to pull my wooden leg and eye patch out of storage. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't deal with ads on Amazon, Netflix, Disney+, or YouTube. The thing is, there is significantly more content that I want to watch than I have time to watch. So, if something requires ads, or another subscription, I just watch something else. I totally understand going back to piracy.
dylan604 3y ago
> A major part of the rise of online streaming is... Lack of ads. I think you might have missed the latest trend of offering streaming at a discounted rate by including ads. > The whole article looks like one of those "pie in the sky" tech utopia visions that never pans out. I can tell you this isn't something going away, and the tech to do this is here. Look into FAST, AVOD, and other OTT types of offerings. I know, because I work on the periphery of this stuff. If you are watching any kind of streaming video with an account number, your viewing habits are being consumed. It's been this way ever since the switch to digital cable. Forcing an account for OTA is the holy grail.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > If you are watching any kind of streaming video with an account number, your viewing habits are being consumed. This is the precise reason why I don't use streaming services.
  - dylan604 3y ago
    The sentence you quoted was the set up for the next sentence. The implication there was meant more for the less obvious cable subscribers. Most subscribers are unaware that they've been tracked ever since they day they switched to a digital stream. I've heard comments like yours while explaining why they keep their cable. Of course streaming services track your viewing habits. That's how they can do "Recommended for you" sections.
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      Ah, I see. In my mind, cable is a form of streaming service -- so I didn't differentiate between the two.
      - dylan604 3y ago
        Interesting that you think of cable that way. What makes it a streaming service to you? Because it's IP based? Cable started as a way to deliver OTA broadcasts to people that could not receive the broadcast (typically due to terrain issues). That then grew into channels that did not actually have an OTA broadcast. Maybe it's a generational thing?
tenebrisalietum 3y ago
An idea that just popped into my head is that maybe phones will start including ATSC 3.0 tuners at some point, so the Internet connection is right there, ubiquitous, and everything can be integrated with an app. NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. could offer an app that "streams" in a local TV channel using ATSC instead of cell or wifi. You'll want to get a Yagi antenna case for the best results though.
- brewdad 3y ago
  When phones bring back the headphone jack, you’ll know the reason why. “External antenna”
- gwbas1c 3y ago
  For a while phones had FM tuners. I even owned one for a period of time. They never really caught on.
  - kalleboo 3y ago
    In Japan they just finally started dropping TV tuners (local ISDB standard) from their Android phones in the past 2-3 years, before that it was pretty common.
sheepybloke 3y ago
I would be excited about this if I could watch local TV without an OTA antenna. One of my biggest frustrations is that I either have to get a) cable or b) a flaky OTA connection to watch things like local sports. If I could stream local TV and more specifically sports like I would a normal broadcast, that would be amazing.
supertrope 3y ago
I agree. Broadcast TV that depends on broadband is an awkward hybrid. The surveillance capitalism and interactive features just sound like a worse version of the Internet (WebTV). That's combining the flexibility of broadcast TV with the increased system requirements of having a broadband connection and training the masses how to type their Wi-Fi password into their TV. A lot of TV viewers can barely program their VCR or change inputs. It would be more technically efficient to have 500-600 MHz 5G as YouTube and similar service are already a la carte and on demand. However the type of crowd that uses an antenna doesn't overlap a lot with the crowd that pays for 5G service.

bityard 3y ago

> A major part of the rise of online streaming is... Lack of ads. Sorry but ads are the new normal when subscribing to most streaming services. Netflix CEO in 2019: "Netflix will never have ads." Three years later, Netflix is "excited" to launch an ad-supported tier. This came shortly after a price jump on all of its plans, of course. We pay for Amazon Prime ($140/yr) more for the streaming than the "free" shipping or other perks. But increasingly, more and more content in the Prime library can only be "rented" or "bought", or watched "free with ads." The quality of the content that is available to watch "with Prime" (i.e. without paying even more) is going steadily downhill. The bargain DVD bin at my local grocery store has a better selection. We also have occasional access to Hulu, Disney, Peacock and whatever else through friends and family and it seems like the shows on all of these have ads on them. (Or at least most of them do?) I was quite happy to pay a monthly fee to watch stuff ad-free. Now since that is quickly not becoming an option, I may have to pull my wooden leg and eye patch out of storage.

gwbas1c 3y ago
> I was quite happy to pay a monthly fee to watch stuff ad-free. Now since that is quickly not becoming an option, I may have to pull my wooden leg and eye patch out of storage. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't deal with ads on Amazon, Netflix, Disney+, or YouTube. The thing is, there is significantly more content that I want to watch than I have time to watch. So, if something requires ads, or another subscription, I just watch something else. I totally understand going back to piracy.

dylan604 3y ago

> A major part of the rise of online streaming is... Lack of ads. I think you might have missed the latest trend of offering streaming at a discounted rate by including ads. > The whole article looks like one of those "pie in the sky" tech utopia visions that never pans out. I can tell you this isn't something going away, and the tech to do this is here. Look into FAST, AVOD, and other OTT types of offerings. I know, because I work on the periphery of this stuff. If you are watching any kind of streaming video with an account number, your viewing habits are being consumed. It's been this way ever since the switch to digital cable. Forcing an account for OTA is the holy grail.

JohnFen 3y ago
> If you are watching any kind of streaming video with an account number, your viewing habits are being consumed. This is the precise reason why I don't use streaming services.
- dylan604 3y ago
  The sentence you quoted was the set up for the next sentence. The implication there was meant more for the less obvious cable subscribers. Most subscribers are unaware that they've been tracked ever since they day they switched to a digital stream. I've heard comments like yours while explaining why they keep their cable. Of course streaming services track your viewing habits. That's how they can do "Recommended for you" sections.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Ah, I see. In my mind, cable is a form of streaming service -- so I didn't differentiate between the two.
    - dylan604 3y ago
      Interesting that you think of cable that way. What makes it a streaming service to you? Because it's IP based? Cable started as a way to deliver OTA broadcasts to people that could not receive the broadcast (typically due to terrain issues). That then grew into channels that did not actually have an OTA broadcast. Maybe it's a generational thing?

tenebrisalietum 3y ago

An idea that just popped into my head is that maybe phones will start including ATSC 3.0 tuners at some point, so the Internet connection is right there, ubiquitous, and everything can be integrated with an app. NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. could offer an app that "streams" in a local TV channel using ATSC instead of cell or wifi. You'll want to get a Yagi antenna case for the best results though.

brewdad 3y ago
When phones bring back the headphone jack, you’ll know the reason why. “External antenna”
gwbas1c 3y ago
For a while phones had FM tuners. I even owned one for a period of time. They never really caught on.
- kalleboo 3y ago
  In Japan they just finally started dropping TV tuners (local ISDB standard) from their Android phones in the past 2-3 years, before that it was pretty common.

sheepybloke 3y ago

I would be excited about this if I could watch local TV without an OTA antenna. One of my biggest frustrations is that I either have to get a) cable or b) a flaky OTA connection to watch things like local sports. If I could stream local TV and more specifically sports like I would a normal broadcast, that would be amazing.

supertrope 3y ago

I agree. Broadcast TV that depends on broadband is an awkward hybrid. The surveillance capitalism and interactive features just sound like a worse version of the Internet (WebTV). That's combining the flexibility of broadcast TV with the increased system requirements of having a broadband connection and training the masses how to type their Wi-Fi password into their TV. A lot of TV viewers can barely program their VCR or change inputs. It would be more technically efficient to have 500-600 MHz 5G as YouTube and similar service are already a la carte and on demand. However the type of crowd that uses an antenna doesn't overlap a lot with the crowd that pays for 5G service.