For my very first post on this blog, the timing could not
have been more perfect for a topic to discuss. The news of possible merger
between Time Warner Cable and Comcast has been hemorrhaging the Internet. Consumers
from all over the United States have not been holding back their points of
view. From CNN.com,
one gentleman tweeted: "Sweet. We will never have affordable, high-speed
internet in this country," said Allen
Christopher of Winston-Salem, N.C.” These two companies are the two
biggest cable and Internet service providers in the country. Comcast is
currently the biggest shareholder of NBC/Universal and now with this possible
merger, they could have even more control of the industry. What is very
interesting is this strategic move by Comcast to dominate the market. However,
what does this mean for media?
From my
point of view, I feel that in the future television will become a thing of the
past. Ever since the introduction of instant streaming services like YouTube,
Netflix and Hulu, I firmly believe that in the future we will watch everything
through the Internet. Devices like XBOX, PlayStation and AppleTV will replace
our cable and DVR boxes. Already, we are starting to see a huge increase in the
amount of ads that appear through some of these services, YouTube via my
AppleTV especially. According to TIME
magazine, “right now kids’ television is a big sticking point keeping people
tied to their cable providers.” The younger generations are becoming more and
more accustomed to technology and sometimes understand it better than their
parents. The real question here is whether or not the conglomerates will adapt
to this change.
The Comcast
and Time Warner Cable merger could possibly be the deciding factor determining
if we will see a huge increase in cord cutting. Everyday, I talk to many
consumers that have decided to cut the cord and primarily rely on instant
streaming services to watch content. With the increase of original content
appearing on these sites, it is no wonder why this is becoming a huge topic of
concern.
