Former network programmer cuts cord
For Garth Ancier, it’s about the portability
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – For decades, Garth Ancier decided what you would watch, and when.
As the head programmer for NBC, Fox, Turner, BBC America and the CW (then known as the WB), Ancier put Bart Simpson on Sundays and The West Wing on Wednesdays, gave Anderson Cooper his prime-time time slot and, in a move that actor Seth Rogen will never forgive, canceled Freaks and Geeks.
So when Ancier says he finally cut the cord on cable, you take notice.
Ancier just ditched his $145-amonth cable package for $40-a-month YouTube TV, which offers live TV and access to 50 channels, as well as subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, CBS All Access, HBO Now and Showtime. Even with paying more for faster Internet, he figures he saves about $40 a month.
For Ancier, it’s the ease of finding shows and the portability. “I love that I can watch all of this anywhere on any device,” he says.
Some 22 million people ditched cable and satellite TV in 2017, up 33% from 2016, researcher eMarketer says. Accelerating a trend that’s pushing companies such as Fox and Disney to start their own streaming services, viewers swapped cable bills for an amalgamation of Netflix, Hulu and Internet subscriptions, connected to their laptops, tablets, phones or TVs.
Making it easier for some cord-cutters, the pay-TV companies themselves got in the game in a big way last year. AT&T’s DirectTV Now kicked off the offerings of “skinny bundles,” with cable TV alternatives offering fewer channels and a lower monthly fee, to watch Internet-based programming. DirecTV soon was joined by SlingTV, YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV.
Originally, the lineups were missing many channels. But in recent months, the “cable alternatives” started beefing up their offerings substantially.
YouTube and Hulu added more functionality by adding the broadcast TV networks, making the cutting-thecord concept an easier sell. Before, when consumers ditched cable for an Internet service and wanted to tune into one of the legacy broadcast networks, they were asked to buy an antenna and connect the old-fashioned, precable way. Now, all viewers need is an Internet signal and a streaming player such as Roku or Amazon Fire TV, or a smart TV.
For Ancier, 2018 was the year when an offering such as YouTube had enough channels (it recently added the Turner collection of CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network and TNT) to the lineup to make it so he wouldn’t miss anything without pay TV.
But there are pros and cons to each service. YouTube has the best selection of channels but isn’t available on Amazon’s Fire TV streaming player, due to a corporate spat between the etailer and YouTube-owner Google.
Sling TV has the lowest price, by far, but it’s also missing the most channels. And if you like PBS, you won’t find it in any of the offerings — it doesn’t appear in the program guides, although programming is available within the PBS app.
Here’s how the top providers differ:
❚ YouTube TV: For $40, YouTube offers live channels (local CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox affiliates plus sports) and has more accessibility than when it launched in 2017. Then, it could only be viewed via the Google Chromecast device. Now, it plays on Apple TV and Roku as well but is missing in action from Amazon’s Fire TV.
YouTube TV lets you watch on tablets, phones, computers and TV and record as many shows and movies as you’d like to its DVR. Live channels missing: PBS, the Discovery offerings (Discovery Network, Animal Planet) and the Viacom channels — Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon.
❚ Hulu Live TV: For $40 monthly, Hulu’s Live TV offering also includes the broadcast networks, the originals from Hulu’s $7.99/$11.99 (ad-free) service, such as the Emmy-winning The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as the library of shows, such as the complete sea- sons of ER and Seinfeld.
Hulu Live TV is available on more devices than YouTube TV — Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV. You can record up to 50 hours on its DVR or spend $15 monthly extra for more storage. Live channels missing: PBS, Discovery and the Viacom channels.
❚ Sling TV: It starts at $20 for a handful of 25 networks, (CNN, ESPN, TNT, Food Network) or $40 for 50 channels, with additions such as FX and National Geographic. The DVR offering costs an extra $5 monthly.
Sling has more top missing live channels than others. From the full package: Fox News. MSNBC, USA Network, Nickelodeon, Discovery and PBS.
❚ DirecTV Now: It starts at $35 monthly for 60 channels and is available on Roku, Apple, Chromecast and Apple TV but doesn’t currently offer DVR service, so viewers are stuck watching live TV only with commercials. The DVR service, however, will be introduced in the spring, the company says. The channel offerings have all of the top 10 mostviewed channels except for Discovery, and it also is missing PBS.
❚ PlayStation Vue: The service is named after the video game platform from Sony, but you don’t need a PlayStation device to watch. Vue is available on Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and others. Vue has 40 channels starting at $39.99, including top broadcast networks, save for PBS and Discovery. Missing in action from the top 10 most-viewed channels: Viacom channels (MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon) and the History Channel.
Ancier, now an industry consultant, acknowledges the irony of the network programmer ditching cable but says it makes sense. If he liked to program shows then, why wouldn’t he want to program his own schedule at home?
Besides, “this is how people watch TV today,” he says. “It’s a different era now.”