Investing 102

[GregWeld]

Watching CNBC this morning and all the discussion about “Streaming”.... Apple - Netflix - Disney - Hulu..... everyone wants you to sign up for their streaming service and cut the cable

Why mention this? Because I got to thinking that AT&T bought Direct TV (cable) for growth — and assumed massive debt for the purchase. My millennial children don’t have or want cable - they have streaming stuff.....

Just remembering “fundamental change” in your holdings — and is this one??? The death of a 1000 cuts — or was it a brilliant move? IDK — just saying to pay attention.

[WILWAXU]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Watching CNBC this morning and all the discussion about “Streaming”.... Apple - Netflix - Disney - Hulu..... everyone wants you to sign up for their streaming service and cut the cable

Why mention this? Because I got to thinking that AT&T bought Direct TV (cable) for growth — and assumed massive debt for the purchase. My millennial children don’t have or want cable - they have streaming stuff.....

Just remembering “fundamental change” in your holdings — and is this one??? The death of a 1000 cuts — or was it a brilliant move? IDK — just saying to pay attention.

Yup, as soon as cable internet like speed is available elsewhere, the cable companies are toast.

[SSLance]

I'm a cord cutter...been 2 years now without cable TV. So I'm experienced with that side of this discussion.

I also own AT&T and am a bit upside down in it since the DTV purchase. So also familiar with that side...

What I know now is that streaming ain't all it's cracked up to be. There is nothing free about any kind of good content and what you can stream is getting so filled up with ads that you can't skip that it's frustrating to watch. Hulu, youTubeTV and such are now all raising their subscription fees and the cord cutters are raising heck about it. Not only that but fast internet ISPs are raising their rates largely as well. My 100 mbps Cox connection just jumped from $69\month to $99\month.

I'm still not sure where it's going, but I know having a cable\Sat DVR with the ability to easily record and skip commercials on playback is still the best way to watch ANY TV programming. It's just not worth $200\month to this user. For now the Cable\Sat companies seem to be happy jacking up the rates to the subscribers they have left to keep their profit margins in line, the more subs they loose, the higher they jack rates. At some point one would think they will dial that back to get the Subs back that get tired of the unskippable ads and expensive internet the streamers are stuck with.

I suspect the build out of the 5G network nationwide will dictate the next move on both sides...and this part I'm less knowledgeable about.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Watching CNBC this morning and all the discussion about “Streaming”.... Apple - Netflix - Disney - Hulu..... everyone wants you to sign up for their streaming service and cut the cable

Why mention this? Because I got to thinking that AT&T bought Direct TV (cable) for growth — and assumed massive debt for the purchase. My millennial children don’t have or want cable - they have streaming stuff.....

Just remembering “fundamental change” in your holdings — and is this one??? The death of a 1000 cuts — or was it a brilliant move? IDK — just saying to pay attention.

I've been reading up on this a little too, more specifically who will come out on top in the wireless world... AT&T or Verizon. While AT&T's primary investment has been buying up other Telecom companies, Verizon's main investment has been their network in hopes of being better prepared for the coming 5G signal, which will better support the demand of everyone streaming everything.

Even though I've been a fan/customer of Verizon for many years, they both tell a compelling story in their theories of best growth practices. While AT&T currently has to work through a mountain of debt from all of their acquisitions, if and when they bring that to a zero balance, they could become the top contender if played right. But on the other hand, I think Verizon is poised to run away with the market by shoring up their foundation first. Just my .02 cents.