My opportunity idea is to have a cable company that offers individuals the chance to pick the channels and networks that they would like to have, rather than forcing them to have certain channels. Cable today lets you pick channels and networks you would like to add to their already basic lines that they have, making you pay for some channels that you may not want. Thus, this would lower the price that individuals would have to pay for cable. This could be the future of cable because so many people are switching from having cable to not having cable at all with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. Why a company would do this is to get a head start against the other companies that will have to move towards this in the future. It would also attempt to break the monopolies that many cable/internet companies have set up in different areas of the United States.
During my interviews I will ask about the changes that this potential opportunity should make. Along with those changes should come additions to the opportunity. I have some ideas of my own that I believe can be added to the opportunity. These ideas include adding Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc. as partnerships with the programs. This would help the company compete against the other cable companies that have monopolies in certain areas. Along with modifications to the opportunity I will ask basic questions regarding their use of cable, what channels they watch, if they have to pay extra for them, if they would switch to something like this opportunity, etc.
Interview #1: https://soundcloud.com/user-856452611/interview-1
Interview #2: https://soundcloud.com/user-856452611/interview-2
Interview #3: https://soundcloud.com/user-856452611/interview-3
Interview #4: https://soundcloud.com/user-856452611/interview-4
Interview #5: https://soundcloud.com/user-856452611/interview-5
Hey there! I think your opportunity is a great idea! I have also thought the same thing with frustration as I tried to find a cable package that I liked, because I usually would want a single channel that was in a separate package, but didn’t want to have to pay the full price. I think that there will be many problems you will face though, like how there would be a great loss to many networks if people didn’t buy those channels, or the fact that sometimes people would want to watch something different.
ReplyDeleteI do think this is a great idea because I currently have over 1000 channels but only watch about 20 channels. The only downside to this is that cable companies and channels would lose money if they are not one of the more popular channels. If you could figure out a way to make sure that there is some kind of balance this would be a good idea to implement.
ReplyDeleteI actually think this is an amazing idea. I think a solution would almost fall into a category of a company like Netflix. Most cable companies might not be fond of this idea because they try to bundle everything together so they can say you're getting a good deal. They know that average people don't use close to half of the channels they pay for though... I haven't had cable since I moved out from my parents house and barely used it when I had it. Cable needs to get with the new age or go away! You know what bothers me about cable more than anything? COMMERCIALS!!!!! WE AREN'T PAYING FOR TV SERVICE TO WATCH COMMERCIALS! I obviously loathe commercials and have watched less than 10 hours of non-netflix tv in the past year mostly for this reason. I think you are on to something. If I could just pay for one channel, HBO for example, I could watch the shows that I want without paying extra for channels I will never use. Maybe I want to watch the news and a couple other channels. BAM! $2 per channel per month.. idk but something like that would be awesome. I seriously see tv going to crap if something like this doesn't happen soon because young people aren't going to buy into it so once all the old generations start dying/netflixing cable tv will come to an end. Kind of how netflix ended movie rental stores.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I hope you can make this a reality.
I love this idea! I wish I had thought of this, I’m moving into an apartment this fall and one of the things I had to finally do on my own was decide on a cable company, and I came across this exact problem. Channels I wanted were often in different packages, so I had to choose which ones I liked more and it was really annoying. I like how your interviews were conducted and you asked some good questions, could you elaborate if it would be a separate company or an extension of an existing cable company?
ReplyDeleteDaniel, this is a great idea! I have actually thought about this many times. Especially because cable is so expensive and I don't end up watching more than half the channels. Also, a struggle is that in order to get a better deal with the cable company you have to combine services. Cox is always trying to make me get a land-line to "save" on cable and internet, but 1) I don't need the phone, 2) I don't need all the extra channels and 3) it ends up costing more money in the long run. I like the idea of being able to pick the few channels that you actually want to watch.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a great idea. I have two concerns though: if current cable companies see this as an opportunity, why hasn't it been exploited yet? The second concern is how hard it would be for a new cable company to rise up and provide this unmet need to companies, since the industry is so monopolized. If there was a cable company that actually did this though, I think people would flock to it immediately. No one likes paying for services that they never use. It's funny, a friend of mine actually just cancelled his service a few days ago because most of their viewing comes from Netflix, Hulu, and HBO anyway.
ReplyDelete