In the past, the music industry was shaken to the core by the internet, the newspaper industry is going through a similar thing. And now the cable companies have been getting a little tightness in the pants which are turning to frequent toilet visites. In a NY Times article there was talk of a rising anti-cable group, viewers have been cancelling cable subscriptions and using the internet instead.

The reasons? Free is a good start, and choice is another. Hulu for example is already, at a young age, the second largest provider of video content on the net, they provide a massive choice all (currently) for free. Even if the rumors of a subscription service being rolled out for premium content, it still kind of looks better (and cheaper) than cable.

Rumors are also abound that YouTube is getting into the cable market and has been researching different monetary solutions. Choices include a number of subscription models and an plan modeled after iTunes charging a fee per episode, sort of a rental business. Google’s also looking to get into the act, wanting to offer a streaming alternative.

Of course the cable companies are starting to fight back. Comcast have renamed the beta ‘TV Everywhere’ as Fancast Xfinity TV, a catch up tv on-demand service that has around 2000 hours of content. The content is being provided by 30 cable networks, and includes full episodes hit tv shows and movies. They have modelled it around iTunes with a limited number of authorized computers to view the service on.

At present, you need to be a subscriber of both Comcast’s cable and internet service to access the service. There’s no extra charge for the service. Comcast hopes to expand Xfinity to mobile devices, but it’s unlikely that will take place any time soon. This is a smart move by cable, but it still doesn’t address the question of high subscription fees. The main reason people are flocking to online tv is down to costs. If we can see a full episode of a show on Hulu for free, why pay extortionate fees to Comcast and other cable companies. Even if Hulu and YouTube to start to charge, you can bet the price will be low and that cable will continue to lose subscribers at a massive rate.

It may well be that cable needs to go through the same painful lessons of the music industry. CD’s can be purchased now at a much lower price than ten years ago. The lesson of iTunes – Sell it cheap and sell it big may be a route that cable reluctantly must follow.

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4. Cable companies offering internet TV for free!
5. Cable TV Cannot Compete With Internet TV. So Its Joining It Instead.