Tech Watch: More Households Sacrifice Cable

(KCBS) - Time Warner said it has lost 130,000 cable subscribers in its last fiscal quarter. This comes as the industry is becoming increasingly concerned with people cutting the cord to cable.

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley commented that the Internet can and will replace a significant part of cable TV but this recent change in the number of subscribers is probably more a factor of the economy.

Recent research showed that homes that don't have cable and still have broadband Internet aren't watching movies and TV on the Internet any more than homes that do have cable and satellite, which tells us it's more of an economic move and not a technology move, Cooley explained.

"Cable companies are in a funny spot," Cooley said. "They're often the same company that offer you broadband like Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner Cable and they're playing two industries at once. The Internet side wants to offer everything cable offers at a lower price."

Recently, Fox decided to change how you can get their shows online. You can't get them free the next day anymore. You have to wait 8 days unless you're already a subscriber of their cable and satellite services. Then, you can get that one-day access.

You can hear his Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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