Big Cable Now Markets "Cord Cutter" & "Cord Never" Packages - A Watershed Moment

Remember those days when major cable companies rejected OTT video streaming services and the prospect of "un-bundling" pay TV packages?  Yes, those days were so long ago ... except they weren't.  "Those days" -- in fact -- were much less than one (1) year ago!  That bygone "traditional cable company full bundle" era began to really unravel last September (only about 7 months back) when several major media companies, including HBO, announced their stand-alone OTT and "unbundling" ambitions in rapid succession.  I called this the "Great Unbundling of 2014" -- and it only accelerated since then.  The floodgates opened ...

... and now this -- just last week Cablevision not only accepted this OTT/unbundling new world order, it openly embraced it.  In a remarkable turn of events, Cablevision CEO Kristin Dolan announced new stripped down, affordable OTT programming packages targeting both "cord cutters" and "cord nevers" (yes, she used those terms -- as did the official Cablevision press release).  With that one announcement, Cablevision acknowledged -- on behalf of the entire cable/satellite television world -- that the times have changed ... and will never be the same again.  Make no mistake, Cablevision's announcement is a watershed event -- absolutely, positively, full stop.  Just think about how much has changed in such an incredibly short period of time.  THAT's what this represents.

And, amidst Cablevision's "cord cutter"/"cord never" announcement, its press release left a subtle -- yet hugely important -- strategic clue about how the company (and other major cable companies) now think of themselves amidst this reality.  Specifically, Cablevision defined itself -- its words -- as being "a connectivity company."  Not a content/programming services company -- rather, a "connectivity company."

Why is this important?  Because it represents an open acknowledgment that Cablevision recognizes that its future (and present) business model is broadband-focused -- rather than content-focused.  And, that's not all bad -- in fact, it can be quite good/smart -- because broadband services generate significantly higher margins than content/programming pay TV package services.  In other words, providing the "pipes" in which that content flows can be -- and is -- extremely lucrative, especially when the thirst for ever-broader "pipes" is accelerating in this increasingly video streaming and hungry world.

The times, they are a changin' -- and already have changed -- indeed!