Small Businesses Cutting The Cable Cord in Atlanta

Is Cutting the Cord Right for Your Small Business?

I've found that small businesses (generally speaking) are more efficient by nature than Global 2000 companies.

When you run a small business, profit is a primary concern. You watch every penny, measure every expenditure against the potential for profit. Every service you use is carefully considered before you decide to invest. Television services are no different.

Broadcast television, once the only way to receive television, slowly surrendered its reign to cable providers. Now, in the modern age, cable is being inched out by streaming services. Many consumers have already cut the cord and opted for online providers over the more traditional cable providers.

Today, many small business owners are considering switching from traditional forms of television to streaming services. Keep in mind, some streaming services have a disclaimer stating that they are for non-commercial use. It depends on the type of commercial use, business, and provider.

Before even considering the change, you should be aware of the offerings of each platform. Here, we’ll look at three popular streaming services and compare what they offer to a traditional cable provider.

Traditional Cable Services

Often cable providers reel you in with the promise of a discounted price. When you see your first bill, you are likely to experience sticker shock though, particularly with business customers.

Cable services offer approximately 100-125 channels including local television and news broadcasts. Television service alone starts at around $85 a month for consumers, $200 for most businesses. There are charges for cable box leasing and each additional box adds another charge. This makes a relatively basic cable service cost just over $100 a month… just for consumers.

With traditional cable, there are also installation fees that streaming services don’t add. A box is required for viewing on additional screens as well. You don’t always have the option to watch on mobile devices on the go as you have with streaming services. While a Roku might be a nice add-on, it’s not required with most modern televisions.

HULU

HULU is a streaming service that offers 4 basic service plans. They offer additional services like availability for unlimited screens, cloud DVR, sports packages, and a Spanish streaming package at an additional charge. Some of their add-ons are only available with the Live TV package.

Their least expensive ad-supported basic streaming plan starts at approximately $7 a month. They offer a no-ad streaming plan for about $13 a month. They have an ad-supported bundle that includes DisneyPlus and ESPN+ along with HULU Live TV for around $70 a month. For about $6 more you get that same bundle with no ads except on the Live television channels.

HULU offers a selection of premium add-ons that are available with any plan. These include HBOMax, Cinemax, Showtime, and STARZ. These additional services require an additional monthly fee.

Feature add-ons with HULU are only available if you have their Live TV service, much like the other providers. These include unlimited screens, enhanced Cloud DVR service, or you can bundle those two features for one discounted price. These add-ons have an additional fee of approximately $10 a month or $15 for the bundled features.

Network add-ons only available with the HULU Live TV service include a Spanish television package, an entertainment package, and a sports package. These additional services start at approximately $5 a month and increase depending on the package.

fuboTV – The Sports-First Streamer

Fubo was originally began as a soccer-based subscription service. As such, it still operates primarily as entertainment for sports enthusiasts. However, they have added many more channels in recent years. There are still some popular channels missing from their lineup, but fuboTV is trying to carve out the most popular sports.

FuboTV's starter package includes 111 channels, 250 hours of Cloud DVR, and the ability to stream on three devices. Their pro package is next. It includes the same number of channels, increases DVR capability to 1000 hours, and offers 10 simultaneous devices for streaming. The Elite package includes the basic 111 channels plus the Fubo Extra package, which adds 43 more channels to the lineup

Fubo offers a variety of package add-ons that include everything from premium movie channels to international sports channels. Each package add-on also adds additional charges to your monthly subscription price. Available channels and packages are dependent upon your location, so you may not receive some of your favorites.

YouTube TV

YouTube was once simply a music platform. Now it has expanded to include television services. YouTube TV offers upwards of 85 channels. The basic package includes live television and starts at about $60 per month.

YouTube TV offers unlimited DVR space. You are allowed to stream on 3 screens at the same time. This service also offers the ability to upgrade to 4K streaming capabilities.

Like other streaming services YouTube TV offers programming add-ons for an additional charge. They offer premium movie channels, sports packages, and other network add-ons such as Hallmark Movies Now.

A Visual Comparison

Conclusion

Before deciding if cable or streaming services are appropriate for your business, you should consider cost, channel availability, and legalities. Please reach out to Carmichael Consulting if you'd like to discuss.