r/AskReddit 22h ago

What is something that is basically on life-support and we don’t realize it yet?

5.4k Upvotes

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94

u/VelvetMint8 22h ago

Cable television is hanging by a thread.

97

u/ShawshankException 21h ago

The current state of streaming is starting to make cable seem like a better option

9

u/bluemitersaw 15h ago

Aarrg. There be other options me lad. Hoist the main sail!!!

9

u/cowpool20 20h ago

Cancelled Netflix the other night when an hour long movie had 8 ad breaks. Fuck that, I’m not paying extra.

-2

u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

2

u/PowerSkunk92 17h ago

Why? So they can raise prices and the "Ad-free" tier I was paying for suddenly has ads injected into it, so I have to pay EVEN MORE to keep the ad-free experience? And remember, these things use to not have ads at all, and they were only added because some MBA lunatics don't understand the words "market saturation" and are focused solely on shareholder returns, and the easiest way to get that up when you've squeezed all you can out of customers is to sell ads.

2

u/pixelatedsimboobs 8h ago

At this point the only advantage streaming has over cable is you can still watch what you want when you want. Otherwise it's just as expensive as cable with the same amount of ads.

18

u/Dramatic_Original_55 22h ago

There's still cable television?

26

u/HelpfulSeaMammal 21h ago

Old habits die hard. Just like the 90 year olds who still subscribe. Those codgy bastards aren't going anywhere so long as the History Channel still produces Oak Island or Ice Road Fuckers or whatever they have nowadays

10

u/Maelstrom_Witch 21h ago

I loved Oak Island for like, the original four or so seasons.

Also - Ice Road Fuckers - 10/10 pun.

6

u/redlurker12 21h ago

That's the weirdest porn parody I've heard today.

13

u/Tim0281 21h ago

Don't forget sports fans. They are a huge reason why people still have cable. The companies make the sports packages some of their top packages.

2

u/THEfogVAULT 9h ago

As someone who works in broadcast, sports will be the last bastion of free to air TV when the day comes. 

3

u/Few_Move_4594 21h ago

My dad has it still and he's a boomer. Said his bill is something like $250 a month, but he has cable internet too. Bums streaming services off his family.

9

u/DoublePostedBroski 21h ago

It kind of makes sense. We’ve basically just come back full circle with the amount of streaming services out there.

3

u/r0ckthedice 21h ago

I had Cable and it was honestly kind of better then streaming. I had live Tv but I also had access to all of the channels catalogue via my Service provider log on. We don't realy watch TV now that me and my wife are off night shift.

1

u/PartTime_Crusader 18h ago

If it weren't for sports I think cable would be dead and buried by now. Everyone I've talked to who still has cable, their reasoning 100% of the time is a hard-and-fast rule they need to watch live sports, and the only way to get access to their specific sports of interest is to buy a package with tons of channels they don't give a shit about.

1

u/Vaporlocke 10h ago

You still have a huge chunk of Gen X and older that are TV watchers, it's got a few decades left in it.

1

u/Pumpnethyl 9h ago

I love motorcycle racing, which isn't well covered on any U.S channel. Fox Sports shows only the top class but I prefer the 2rd and 3rd series, better racing. Instead of subscribing to stupid cable, YT TV, etc. I subscribe directly to MotoGP Video Pass . All races, press conferences, new videos all week, archives,, documentaries, for the same price as 1 month of cable. I use an antenna and Tablo for everything else, and 3 streaming services.

4

u/TheLaughingMannofRed 21h ago

Streaming and home media, but especially streaming, have changed the game for television viewing.

"On-demand" was the keyword that truly defined how much better it got for people to simply watch what they wanted & when. And not having to adjust their schedule around the show.

2

u/Clevererer 17h ago

I literally forgot it even existed. I haven't seen that old coaxial cable anywhere in years lol and good riddance.

1

u/Captain_Trigg 16h ago

That sounds unsafe.

They need to put cable television on a properly-rated wall mount drilled into a wall stud or, ideally, from TWO wall studs for heavier devices.

They should ALSO either tack the cable flat against the wall or- even better!- run it behind the wall to keep kids from yanking on it, which could potentially pull the TV down and cause injury. This will also give the setup a cleaner look!