If you are a cable subscriber like me, you probably have thought about cutting the cord to your cable box. My cable bill is $125 per month for HD Digital Video Recorder (DVR), high-speed Internet and a TV package that includes sports and TV Globo from Brazil (for my wife). Since 2001, I have had some form of DVR box in my house, and I cannot live without it. However, I can live without the 100+ channels that I never watch….so why should I pay $125 per month?
Over-the-Top (OTT) online video content options are increasing every day and are encouraging more people to cancel their cable service with savings of up to $80 per month. But, it’s not a mass-exodus just yet. With an OTT service from Netflix, Roku or Hulu, my wife can get all her favorite TV shows like Modern Family and The Soup, but getting every live ATP World Tour tennis match and TV Globo from Brazil would be a challenge today.
The OTT market is growing quickly. IMS Research forecasts that in 2016, OTT video service providers will generate $16.4 billion in revenue. This has made CEOs at cable companies think about how to move features out of the cable box and into the cloud, as Brian Roberts, the CEO of Comcast explains in this video clip.
The cloud is taking the “Battle for the Living Room” to the concept of “TV Everywhere.” For example, cable companies are beginning to allow subscribers to stream some live TV channels to their mobile devices, such as the iPad, but only within the home. A true TV Everywhere service would leverage the cloud and include worldwide access to your favorite TV shows, live sporting events, DVR recordings and even your personal content. With Internap’s cloud storage and Content Delivery Network (CDN), every Live TV channel can be cached in real time so that you can pause, rewind and record Live TV without a DVR cable box. That sure would make your HDTV hanging on the wall look more elegant!
