By Tali Arbel, Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --As more people watch TV over the internet, the entertainment industry has "to get on board with it," said Roger Lynch, the CEO of Sling TV.
Sling, which is owned by satellite TV company Dish Network, was one of the first services to offer packages of popular cable channels over the internet, threatening cable's dominance. Prices start at $20 a month for a core group of channels including ESPN and AMC; packages with other channels cost extra. By comparison, the average cable bill is $100, according to research from Leichtman Research Group.
Even as fewer households pay for traditional TV services, new internet-TV options could help major TV networks add back some lost subscribers. DirecTV is expected to launch a service this year and Hulu has one coming in 2017.
In an interview, Lynch talks about how streaming TV is going mainstream and why he couldn't do "a la carte" TV – paying only for the channels you actually watch. Questions and responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Q: How has the market changed since Sling launched in February 2015?
Lynch: There are about 21 million homes without pay TV. Of those, 16 million are cord-nevers (people who have never signed up) and 5 million are cord-cutters. We were focused on those markets. What we've seen since then is a dramatic shift. Consumers are leaving traditional pay TV at much higher rates. We see that shift as a large opportunity for us.
Are TV channel companies like NBCUniversal, Disney and Fox looking at you differently?
Lynch: When we first started talking to programmers, there was skepticism. There was concern about whether it would cause cord-cutting. What's happened since then, they've accepted it's really the future of pay TV. Consumer behavior is changing.
Why can't you let viewers choose just the channels they want – an "a la carte" model – rather than creating a system of mini-bundles and add-ons?
Lynch: That would be ideal. But that doesn't work for programmers. That undermines their business model. Truly a la carte wouldn't be enough revenue for programmers. It is a bit of a compromise.
Can you do more to let people pick their own channels?
Lynch: I don't think there's a whole lot more. We've created extremely flexible options within the bounds of what I know is achievable, given the structure of the industry. Gee, wouldn't it be nice if I can just sell individual channels? I know the economics won't work so there's no point in trying to push for that.
Do you face increasing competition from channels like HBO and CBS coming out with their own services?
Lynch: Our objective has never been to be the entire video service. We want to be a piece of that puzzle. They might take us with an antenna or Netflix. That's fine.
Do consumers watch on TV or outside the house?
Lynch: Over 40 percent of our customers watch on mobile phones. Previously we know that most of that was being watched on Wi-Fi networks.
Is that changing with more phone companies promoting unlimited-data plans?
Lynch: I expect what we'll see is an increase in mobile viewing overall.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More