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US Consumer spending on Subscription-TV, Broadband, and Mobile Services will be "about the same" for most consumers, but about 15% intend to cut back. As a result, In-Stat estimates that consumer spending across these three segments could see nearly a $5 billion decrease during the next 12 months. Yet In-Stat’s recent survey reveals that broadband service is among the most integral parts of consumers’ lives. Over 66 million consumers across demographic categories are using the Internet while camped out on their sofas watching TV.

“Some male age groups had 40% to 50% of respondents using a PC while watching TV, and about 30% of females under the age of 40 are also using a PC while watching TV,” says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst.

Statliga Teracom är i dag ensam aktör på marknaden för tv-sändningar i marknätet. Enligt rådande bestämmelser har bolaget därmed ensamrätt på det åtråvärda frekvensutrymmet 470 till 790 Mhz, som öronmärkts för tv-sändningar i marknätet.

Utöver en årlig avgift till Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS, på ett par miljoner kronor betalar Teracom ingenting för frekvenserna. Det trots att de sannolikt skulle inbringa hundratals miljoner kronor i licensavgifter i en öppen auktion.

Nu vill PTS avskaffa öronmärkningen. I samband med att Teracoms nuvarande licens löper ut i mars 2014 bör hela tv-mediets frekvensutrymme bli teknikneutralt och auktioneras ut till högstbjudande, föreslår myndigheten.

People may still watch things they call "TV shows," but they'll watch them mostly on computers.

What decided the contest for computers? Four forces, three of which one could have predicted, and one that would have been harder to.

One predictable cause of victory is that the Internet is an open platform. ... So innovation happens at hacker speeds instead of big company speeds.

The second is Moore's Law, which has worked its usual magic on Internet bandwidth.

The third reason computers won is piracy. Users prefer it not just because it's free, but because it's more convenient. Bittorrent and YouTube have already trained a new generation of viewers that the place to watch shows is on a computer screen.

The somewhat more surprising force was one specific type of innovation: social applications. The average teenage kid has a pretty much infinite capacity for talking to their friends. But they can't physically be with them all the time. When I was in high school the solution was the telephone. Now it's social networks, multiplayer games, and various messaging applications.

The Corporation is developing its social media strategy with a set of online propositions, particularly around the areas of personalisation and socialisation.

Key to this is its approach to social discovery of content across BBC channels. This includes the creation of an activity page for every site user which would incorporate links to other social media sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.

Other plans include identity services, letting users personalise their experience across the entire BBC site, message boards, blogs and social networking features.

But now Mr. Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, has a plan to put all cable programming on the web in places such as Hulu, MySpace, Yahoo TV, or even YouTube. Of course, there's a catch. To get it you'll have to prove you subscribe to pay TV through cable, satellite, or telco.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes

"If you want to watch your favorite TV network or shows through broadband on any device -- PCs or mobile -- you can do it as long as you subscribe to any multichannel provider," Mr. Bewkes told Advertising Age. "It's a natural extension of the existing model."

The initiative, dubbed "TV Everywhere," is intended to be an industrywide effort, and Mr. Bewkes expects to ready a test of it this year. "This is not just for the cable industry," he said. "It's about keeping the health of all these fantastic networks while making them available at no extra charge on the online platform."

But now Mr. Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, has a plan to put all cable programming on the web in places such as Hulu, MySpace, Yahoo TV, or even YouTube. Of course, there's a catch. To get it you'll have to prove you subscribe to pay TV through cable, satellite, or telco.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes

"If you want to watch your favorite TV network or shows through broadband on any device -- PCs or mobile -- you can do it as long as you subscribe to any multichannel provider," Mr. Bewkes told Advertising Age. "It's a natural extension of the existing model."

The initiative, dubbed "TV Everywhere," is intended to be an industrywide effort, and Mr. Bewkes expects to ready a test of it this year. "This is not just for the cable industry," he said. "It's about keeping the health of all these fantastic networks while making them available at no extra charge on the online platform."

The cold hard facts: the three-headed multichannel beast otherwise known as cable operators, satellite providers and telcos collectively added 441,000 multichannel video customers in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Those statistics fly in the face of the conventional wisdom that in a recession consumers would cut back on cable services to save money and they also go against the broader newteevee belief that TV fans can survive on Hulu, YouTube and iTunes alone. Because evidently we’re quite content with our oldteevee, thank you very much. ...

But what are teenagers doing?

The industry needs to peel back the layers in the research to understand what teens and young adults are doing now to be better prepared for business in five to ten years. Consider this: Leichtman Research Group reported that while only 8% of Web video watching adults say they watch less TV because of their Web viewing habits, 18% of Web video watching teens say they’re turning away from the tube thanks to the internet.

“Yes there are some teens who are watching TV less often, while the majority are still watching just as much TV,” Bruce Leichtman told us via email, adding that they’re mostly watching YouTube and music videos online rather than TV shows.

Any cord-cutting effect, if there is to be one, won’t manifest for almost a decade, Leichtman said. “It will be six to twelve years before this group is actually making decisions for themselves on whether or not they subscribe to a TV service – that they never paid for before, so it’s not really a cord cutting – so the impact of this group, accounting for about 9% of all in the US, could possibly be felt several years from now.”

The cold hard facts: the three-headed multichannel beast otherwise known as cable operators, satellite providers and telcos collectively added 441,000 multichannel video customers in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Those statistics fly in the face of the conventional wisdom that in a recession consumers would cut back on cable services to save money and they also go against the broader newteevee belief that TV fans can survive on Hulu, YouTube and iTunes alone. Because evidently we’re quite content with our oldteevee, thank you very much. ...

But what are teenagers doing?

The industry needs to peel back the layers in the research to understand what teens and young adults are doing now to be better prepared for business in five to ten years. Consider this: Leichtman Research Group reported that while only 8% of Web video watching adults say they watch less TV because of their Web viewing habits, 18% of Web video watching teens say they’re turning away from the tube thanks to the internet.

“Yes there are some teens who are watching TV less often, while the majority are still watching just as much TV,” Bruce Leichtman told us via email, adding that they’re mostly watching YouTube and music videos online rather than TV shows.

Any cord-cutting effect, if there is to be one, won’t manifest for almost a decade, Leichtman said. “It will be six to twelve years before this group is actually making decisions for themselves on whether or not they subscribe to a TV service – that they never paid for before, so it’s not really a cord cutting – so the impact of this group, accounting for about 9% of all in the US, could possibly be felt several years from now.”

Ivan Vakarelski at the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences in Singapore realised that coffee stains could point the way to a cheaper alternative. Spill coffee and the evaporating liquid drives coffee particles to the edges of the spill - which ultimately produces the circular stain. The coffee granules are being "assembled" by the varying evaporation and convection rates in the fluid. Vakarelski and his colleagues figured that if they could mimic the process in a controlled fashion, they could create a pattern of granules of other materials to form a nanoscale conductive coating.

Instead of coffee, they started with a suspension of gold particles, each about 20 nanometres across. The suspension was left to dry on a glass plate covered with closely packed latex microspheres, each about 50 to 100 micrometres in diameter.

Ivan Vakarelski at the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences in Singapore realised that coffee stains could point the way to a cheaper alternative. Spill coffee and the evaporating liquid drives coffee particles to the edges of the spill - which ultimately produces the circular stain. The coffee granules are being "assembled" by the varying evaporation and convection rates in the fluid. Vakarelski and his colleagues figured that if they could mimic the process in a controlled fashion, they could create a pattern of granules of other materials to form a nanoscale conductive coating.

Instead of coffee, they started with a suspension of gold particles, each about 20 nanometres across. The suspension was left to dry on a glass plate covered with closely packed latex microspheres, each about 50 to 100 micrometres in diameter.

The BBC and ITV, along with BT (British Telecom) will now work together on opening up the infrastructure to all, including Channel 4. This will mean a new open standard for online video could be on its way in the UK.

The BBC iPlayer is a brilliant service, offering an excellent interface, great connection speeds, and the whole library of BBC-made content. If the iPlayer was opened up to all, then the UK could potentially lead the world in offering TV catch-up services.

The BBC and ITV, along with BT (British Telecom) will now work together on opening up the infrastructure to all, including Channel 4. This will mean a new open standard for online video could be on its way in the UK.

The BBC iPlayer is a brilliant service, offering an excellent interface, great connection speeds, and the whole library of BBC-made content. If the iPlayer was opened up to all, then the UK could potentially lead the world in offering TV catch-up services.

The proposal, known as Project Canvas, is a joint bid between the BBC, ITV, and BT to develop a shared set of parameters by which catchup and on-demand services such as the iPlayer and ITV Player would be delivered via Freeview and Freesat.

The new set-top boxes, which the BBC forecasts will cost between £100 and £200, could create a service in which viewers would be able to browse the iPlayer in the same way as they flick between television channels.

The three parties believe that the service could be achieved with a broadband connection of 1.6 Mbps. Although BT is the only internet service provider on board at the moment, others will be invited to join, and are likely to create special “Canvas tariffs” for consumers to sign up to, with guarantees that they will get a connection that will allow a good service.

The proposal, known as Project Canvas, is a joint bid between the BBC, ITV, and BT to develop a shared set of parameters by which catchup and on-demand services such as the iPlayer and ITV Player would be delivered via Freeview and Freesat.

The new set-top boxes, which the BBC forecasts will cost between £100 and £200, could create a service in which viewers would be able to browse the iPlayer in the same way as they flick between television channels.

The three parties believe that the service could be achieved with a broadband connection of 1.6 Mbps. Although BT is the only internet service provider on board at the moment, others will be invited to join, and are likely to create special “Canvas tariffs” for consumers to sign up to, with guarantees that they will get a connection that will allow a good service.

CBS Mobile has released TV.com, a free new mobile application that allows iPhone and iPod touch users to watch full episodes of select CBS shows and other programming over WiFi or 3G mobile networks.

The new app (Free, App Store link) is the first example of an iPhone application providing free TV content directly from a TV studio in the US; the BBC already streams its free content to iPhone users in the UK using its iPlayer app.

TV.com currently offers a selection of CBS shows, including CBS News and CBS Sports programming and episodes of "Late Show with David Letterman, "Star Trek: the Original Series," "CSI," and "The Young and the Restless," among many others. The mobile application also serves up a selection of shows from the CW including "Smallville" and "90210," a half dozen shows from Showtime including "The L Word" and "The Tudors," and a variety of CNET and GameSpot podcasts.

CBS Mobile has released TV.com, a free new mobile application that allows iPhone and iPod touch users to watch full episodes of select CBS shows and other programming over WiFi or 3G mobile networks.

The new app (Free, App Store link) is the first example of an iPhone application providing free TV content directly from a TV studio in the US; the BBC already streams its free content to iPhone users in the UK using its iPlayer app.

TV.com currently offers a selection of CBS shows, including CBS News and CBS Sports programming and episodes of "Late Show with David Letterman, "Star Trek: the Original Series," "CSI," and "The Young and the Restless," among many others. The mobile application also serves up a selection of shows from the CW including "Smallville" and "90210," a half dozen shows from Showtime including "The L Word" and "The Tudors," and a variety of CNET and GameSpot podcasts.

While TV.com boasts thousands of videos from CBS, as well as partners such as MGM, Sony, Showtime, Endemol, and PBS, the international initiative will only allow international audiences to view clips of Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Star Trek, MacGyver, and Love Boat. CBS News programs such as 60 Minutes and 48 Hours will also be made available.

Anthony Soohoo, senior vice president of CBS Interactive's Entertainment and Lifestyle division, says that for now, the assortment of content is limited to short-form clips, but that as time goes on the company will look to make more long-form content available internationally.

"Our goal is to make as much content available online as possible," Soohoo says. "We were able to get the international rights of these clips. At this point, we're learning to walk before we can run."

The announcement comes just a week after NBC Universal and Fox Broadcasting Co. joint venture Hulu LLC pulled its content from TV.com, citing contractual rights.

While TV.com boasts thousands of videos from CBS, as well as partners such as MGM, Sony, Showtime, Endemol, and PBS, the international initiative will only allow international audiences to view clips of Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Star Trek, MacGyver, and Love Boat. CBS News programs such as 60 Minutes and 48 Hours will also be made available.

Anthony Soohoo, senior vice president of CBS Interactive's Entertainment and Lifestyle division, says that for now, the assortment of content is limited to short-form clips, but that as time goes on the company will look to make more long-form content available internationally.

"Our goal is to make as much content available online as possible," Soohoo says. "We were able to get the international rights of these clips. At this point, we're learning to walk before we can run."

The announcement comes just a week after NBC Universal and Fox Broadcasting Co. joint venture Hulu LLC pulled its content from TV.com, citing contractual rights.

... the nation's largest cable operators are in talks with media conglomerates to take back control. They would create a platform to release cable TV shows online, but exclusively for paying subscribers. ...

Cable operators and the networks have to walk a fine line between preserving their business without standing in the way of the online video revolution.

About 34 percent of adults who go online at home watch videos over the Internet at least every week, up from 25 percent two years ago, said a survey released Monday by Leichtman Research Group.

People aren't yet cutting the cord en masse -- the Leichtman survey found that people who watch recent TV shows online every week are not more likely to give up TV service than other people. But the industry is heading off what could end up as a troubling trend. After all, the availability of free content online has befuddled other media industries, from music to newspapers.

Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and Fox that streams free TV shows and movies, already has felt pressure from content providers. It recently ended access to its shows from Boxee, a startup's free program that lets viewers watch online shows easily on their TV sets. Industry executives say Hulu is losing money, but Hulu declined to comment on its financial status.

... the nation's largest cable operators are in talks with media conglomerates to take back control. They would create a platform to release cable TV shows online, but exclusively for paying subscribers. ...

Cable operators and the networks have to walk a fine line between preserving their business without standing in the way of the online video revolution.

About 34 percent of adults who go online at home watch videos over the Internet at least every week, up from 25 percent two years ago, said a survey released Monday by Leichtman Research Group.

People aren't yet cutting the cord en masse -- the Leichtman survey found that people who watch recent TV shows online every week are not more likely to give up TV service than other people. But the industry is heading off what could end up as a troubling trend. After all, the availability of free content online has befuddled other media industries, from music to newspapers.

Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and Fox that streams free TV shows and movies, already has felt pressure from content providers. It recently ended access to its shows from Boxee, a startup's free program that lets viewers watch online shows easily on their TV sets. Industry executives say Hulu is losing money, but Hulu declined to comment on its financial status.

Parents who complain about their kids spending too much time on the computer might want to check their own online time. Kids and young adults age 12-24 spent roughly 13 hours a month on the Internet. But adults age 35-55 spent roughly 36 hours in that same time.

What’s more, the Internet video audience also skews older. More than half—55%–of Internet video is consumed by people age 25-54.

Seniors also have their place in these figures. People age 65 and old spent an average of 207-and-a-half hours a month watching television—almost seven hours a day. They also spent 26-and-a-half hours a month on the Internet, nearly as much time as some of their younger counterparts.

Parents who complain about their kids spending too much time on the computer might want to check their own online time. Kids and young adults age 12-24 spent roughly 13 hours a month on the Internet. But adults age 35-55 spent roughly 36 hours in that same time.

What’s more, the Internet video audience also skews older. More than half—55%–of Internet video is consumed by people age 25-54.

Seniors also have their place in these figures. People age 65 and old spent an average of 207-and-a-half hours a month watching television—almost seven hours a day. They also spent 26-and-a-half hours a month on the Internet, nearly as much time as some of their younger counterparts.

Online video is cutting into television, albeit slowly.

People are watching more video than ever on every type of screen -- television, the Internet and mobile devices -- according to a report on the nation's viewing habits to be released Monday by Nielsen Co.

Nielsen found that during the fourth quarter of 2008 the number of users and the time spent watching each of the three screen media rose from the previous quarter. "If people like video, they like it wherever they can get it," said Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen. ...

For the first time in the Nielsen study, people ages 18-24 spent nearly the same amount of time -- roughly five hours -- watching Internet video each month as they did watching DVR programs. Other age brackets watched half as much or less Internet video than they did DVR video.

Online video is cutting into television, albeit slowly.

People are watching more video than ever on every type of screen -- television, the Internet and mobile devices -- according to a report on the nation's viewing habits to be released Monday by Nielsen Co.

Nielsen found that during the fourth quarter of 2008 the number of users and the time spent watching each of the three screen media rose from the previous quarter. "If people like video, they like it wherever they can get it," said Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen. ...

For the first time in the Nielsen study, people ages 18-24 spent nearly the same amount of time -- roughly five hours -- watching Internet video each month as they did watching DVR programs. Other age brackets watched half as much or less Internet video than they did DVR video.

All of this is part of something I call the coming online video backlash. It’s going to take this whole year, and it’s going to inspire a lot of hasty moves on the part of TV executives to pull previously available content. And consumers are going to hate it.

I don’t envy Hulu’s position in this. It has to keep the lines of access open to the providers of top TV content, but it has to make good on its promise of serving viewers. So far, it has done a great job, but at some point, it’s going to be forced to do something that will begin to tarnish its brand. I don’t personally think the Boxee removal qualifies — only a few tens of thousands of us are nerdy enough to have hacked our Apple TVs — but sometime soon, somebody at Viacom or Fox or Sony Pictures will recall content that was previously available. Expect it to happen around sweeps weeks or the season finale weeks. It’s gonna get ugly.

All of this is part of something I call the coming online video backlash. It’s going to take this whole year, and it’s going to inspire a lot of hasty moves on the part of TV executives to pull previously available content. And consumers are going to hate it.

I don’t envy Hulu’s position in this. It has to keep the lines of access open to the providers of top TV content, but it has to make good on its promise of serving viewers. So far, it has done a great job, but at some point, it’s going to be forced to do something that will begin to tarnish its brand. I don’t personally think the Boxee removal qualifies — only a few tens of thousands of us are nerdy enough to have hacked our Apple TVs — but sometime soon, somebody at Viacom or Fox or Sony Pictures will recall content that was previously available. Expect it to happen around sweeps weeks or the season finale weeks. It’s gonna get ugly.

The living room of the future could be coated in the revolutionary paper that turns it a television screen, thanks to the efforts of researchers at Toshiba.

As well as being able to turn entire walls into a screen, the flexible paper can be adjusted to show images that fit the homeowner's mood.

Instead of the traditional geometric designs or dull one-tone colours, the new wallpaper can instead take the resident into space, beneath the oceans or to a sun-kissed tropical paradise. ...

The problem that the scientists have had to overcome is increasing the efficiency of existing OLED devices, such as televisions that use the reduced-energy material. To achieve that, the wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles, said Kaori Hiraki, a Toshiba spokesman.

Another key advantage, the company points out, is that OLED uses a fraction of the energy required for an LCD or plasma television. ...

Despite the breakthrough, Toshiba said that its television wallpaper project is still in the research stages and is several years away from commercial production.

The living room of the future could be coated in the revolutionary paper that turns it a television screen, thanks to the efforts of researchers at Toshiba.

As well as being able to turn entire walls into a screen, the flexible paper can be adjusted to show images that fit the homeowner's mood.

Instead of the traditional geometric designs or dull one-tone colours, the new wallpaper can instead take the resident into space, beneath the oceans or to a sun-kissed tropical paradise. ...

The problem that the scientists have had to overcome is increasing the efficiency of existing OLED devices, such as televisions that use the reduced-energy material. To achieve that, the wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles, said Kaori Hiraki, a Toshiba spokesman.

Another key advantage, the company points out, is that OLED uses a fraction of the energy required for an LCD or plasma television. ...

Despite the breakthrough, Toshiba said that its television wallpaper project is still in the research stages and is several years away from commercial production.

Television viewing continues to set records in the U.S. with the average American watching an astonishing 151 hours of monthly programming – almost 5 hours a day.

Consumption of video on the Internet and on mobile devices is on the rise as well, with average monthly viewing reaching 2 hours and 53 minutes and 3 hours and 42 minutes, respectively, in the fourth quarter.

Time-shift viewing, where programs are recorded on a digital video recorder, also increased to 7 hours and 11 minutes, according to a new Nielsen study.

The study underscores the notion that while video consumption on the Internet and mobile devices is increasing, it so far hasn’t detracted from traditional viewing on the home’s big screen.

Television viewing continues to set records in the U.S. with the average American watching an astonishing 151 hours of monthly programming – almost 5 hours a day.

Consumption of video on the Internet and on mobile devices is on the rise as well, with average monthly viewing reaching 2 hours and 53 minutes and 3 hours and 42 minutes, respectively, in the fourth quarter.

Time-shift viewing, where programs are recorded on a digital video recorder, also increased to 7 hours and 11 minutes, according to a new Nielsen study.

The study underscores the notion that while video consumption on the Internet and mobile devices is increasing, it so far hasn’t detracted from traditional viewing on the home’s big screen.

Nielsen’s fourth quarter A2/M2 Three Screen Report reports that the average American watches more than 151 hours of TV per month, an all-time high. They are also watching several hours of video on other devices: those who watch it on the Internet consume another 3 hours of online video per month, and those who use mobile video watch nearly 4 hours per month on mobile phones and other devices.

“The American fascination with television and other video content is not easing up, as consumers keep turning to TV, Internet and Mobile at record levels,” said Susan Whiting, Nielsen’s vice chair. “Viewers appear to be choosing the best screen available for their video consumption, weightinga variety of factors, including convenience, quality and access. It is clear that TV remains the main vehicle for viewing video, although online and mobile platforms are an increasingly important complement to live home-based television.” ...

# Men continue to watch video on mobile phones more than women, and women continue to watch video on the Internet and TV more than men.
# The work day (M-F, 9am to 5pm) continues to be primetime for Internet video.

Nielsen’s fourth quarter A2/M2 Three Screen Report reports that the average American watches more than 151 hours of TV per month, an all-time high. They are also watching several hours of video on other devices: those who watch it on the Internet consume another 3 hours of online video per month, and those who use mobile video watch nearly 4 hours per month on mobile phones and other devices.

“The American fascination with television and other video content is not easing up, as consumers keep turning to TV, Internet and Mobile at record levels,” said Susan Whiting, Nielsen’s vice chair. “Viewers appear to be choosing the best screen available for their video consumption, weightinga variety of factors, including convenience, quality and access. It is clear that TV remains the main vehicle for viewing video, although online and mobile platforms are an increasingly important complement to live home-based television.” ...

# Men continue to watch video on mobile phones more than women, and women continue to watch video on the Internet and TV more than men.
# The work day (M-F, 9am to 5pm) continues to be primetime for Internet video.

The report compiled by Research company Knowledge Networks, showed that a fifth of Internet users surveyed aged 13-54 view full TV shows on the net. And 2 in every 3 say the now ‘expect’ their favorite TV shows to be available online for watching on any device including mobile phones, settop boxes and other mobile devices. Surveyed were over 1900 people aged between 13-54.

Titled ‘How People Use TV’s Web Connections’, the report also revealed the sharp rise in popularity of online tv and catch-up tv websites. Visitors of the premiere TV website Hulu have more than doubled between 2007-2009. Now over 28% of the internet using demographic are watching Hulu. Still more popular however are Youtube and the networks’ websites. The networks are the first place people look for catch up tv episodes.

The report compiled by Research company Knowledge Networks, showed that a fifth of Internet users surveyed aged 13-54 view full TV shows on the net. And 2 in every 3 say the now ‘expect’ their favorite TV shows to be available online for watching on any device including mobile phones, settop boxes and other mobile devices. Surveyed were over 1900 people aged between 13-54.

Titled ‘How People Use TV’s Web Connections’, the report also revealed the sharp rise in popularity of online tv and catch-up tv websites. Visitors of the premiere TV website Hulu have more than doubled between 2007-2009. Now over 28% of the internet using demographic are watching Hulu. Still more popular however are Youtube and the networks’ websites. The networks are the first place people look for catch up tv episodes.

And more importantly, since when did our industry start thinking that the viewing experience on a computer is the same as the one on TV simply because the content is the same? That seems to be all you hear people say, the fact they can get the episode online instead. Ok great, but in what quality? Talk about the experience instead of just focusing on the content.

Earlier I mentioned the recent cable subscription numbers and in the fourth quarter of this year, the cable companies signed up more TV subscribers than they did for the same period last year. Craig Moffett, an analyst at Bernstein Research analyst said that in the fourth quarter AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Charter, Time Warner and DirecTV signed up 441,000 subscribers. That's nearly 50,000 more than they signed up a year ago at the same time. Now how many of these are subscribers who are switching from one carrier to another is not known, but the point is the numbers are not going down.

As a FiOS customer, I love my service and think the price is fair. I pay $95.99 for a 20Mbps connection, unlimited calling and a TV service that has the best picture around, not to mention more HD channels than any other company. If I were to cut my TV service out of the triple play package, I'd save about $30 a month, which is not a lot of money.

And more importantly, since when did our industry start thinking that the viewing experience on a computer is the same as the one on TV simply because the content is the same? That seems to be all you hear people say, the fact they can get the episode online instead. Ok great, but in what quality? Talk about the experience instead of just focusing on the content.

Earlier I mentioned the recent cable subscription numbers and in the fourth quarter of this year, the cable companies signed up more TV subscribers than they did for the same period last year. Craig Moffett, an analyst at Bernstein Research analyst said that in the fourth quarter AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Charter, Time Warner and DirecTV signed up 441,000 subscribers. That's nearly 50,000 more than they signed up a year ago at the same time. Now how many of these are subscribers who are switching from one carrier to another is not known, but the point is the numbers are not going down.

As a FiOS customer, I love my service and think the price is fair. I pay $95.99 for a 20Mbps connection, unlimited calling and a TV service that has the best picture around, not to mention more HD channels than any other company. If I were to cut my TV service out of the triple play package, I'd save about $30 a month, which is not a lot of money.