Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad
Finance
(1)
Market Currents

Cord-cutting is a real and growing phenomenon, says Verizon (VZ) exec Maitreyi Krishnaswamy,...

  • Friday, September 7, 2012, 6:59 PM ET
    Cord-cutting is a real and growing phenomenon, says Verizon (VZ) exec Maitreyi Krishnaswamy, even if some don't think it's a big deal. She adds Verizon's FiOS division, like some rivals, has been "looking at" offering a la carte TV services, which would allow consumers to subscribe to channels individually and doubtlessly make many cord-cutters happy. But this would require an overhaul of Verizon's contracts with TV networks, and the networks seem to prefer the status quo.
Track new comments on this story

This news story has 6 comments:

  •  
    I don't know how they could offer al a carte tv without gouging people. Most people I know only watch about 10% of the channels they have available. You can bet their bill wouldn't go down 90%, or Verizon wouldn't make any money.
    7 Sep 2012, 07:05 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Cord-cutting involves those, who already have cable, to cut it. But many people, including young twenty-somethings who never had cable to begin with, simply are forgoing the service. Cord-forgoing is much worse than cord-cutting.
    7 Sep 2012, 08:07 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Let's hope VZ does provide a la carte TV. We're now required to pay for the production of a host of channels we never watch, everything from televangelists to porn. When we go to the store to buy bread and milk we aren't forced to pay for artichokes and anchovies, in order to support the production of those foods!
    7 Sep 2012, 08:14 PM Reply Like
  •  
    Basic service should continue to increase. The "free" spectrum is quickly drying up. Soon there will be none left. Much additional internet activity will start to depend on fiber networks with the home/office as the major node for most people. The major problem facing VZ is competition from the cable companies and GOOG now piloting a fiber network in Kansas City.
    8 Sep 2012, 05:46 AM Reply Like
  •  
    More of a TV use comment rather than an investing message, and not associated with VZ at all, but I ended my cable service about a year and a half ago. One of the better moves I ever did. My family didn't like the decision at first. But life without TV has proved much richer, to the point where even my teenager acknowledges now that "TV kinda sucks" - comment made just a couple weeks ago when flicking through channels on a hotel TV.

    Obviously we still have internet and we have a DVD player for movies. But those are conscious choices rather than what we and I would suppose most people experience with TV, when it becomes the easiest, laziest default activity.

    As for investment trends, I am wary now that others might just figure out the same thing so shy away from TV providers.
    8 Sep 2012, 10:55 AM Reply Like
  •  
    We did away with Cable 1 year ago and we are happier. Paying for 300 channels and watching 15 at the most, is to me the definition of insanity, no matter how much the programming providers would prefer it.

    Going a la carte would in my opinion go a long way to getting rid of all of the terrible programming that floods the cable channels today.

    We will never go back to cable unless they offer a la carte channel selection.
    8 Sep 2012, 07:45 PM Reply Like
LATEST|
TODAY SO FAR|
YESTERDAY
Other date
DJIA (DIA) S&P 500 (SPY)

TECH ETFs IN FOCUS

Latest Tech Articles
More Latest Articles »