Something Working Now Might Not Tomorrow
Most good things take time. Even when everything makes perfect sense, things need real-time adjustments. The plan usually goes off-page. I recently got my shower replaced. A crack appeared a while back, and the patch job I attempted didn't last long. I put a plan in place to get a new shower. I set my budget. I found an affordable option at Home Depot and hired a handyman using Yelp. It all was straight forward. It all made perfect sense. The problem is once you start opening up walls, plans change. It took more money and time to complete the project that was simple in my mind. Regardless, my shower required replacing. I didn't love the six weeks it took, and I ended up having to install parts of the shower myself. I am glad it's fixed now. The process isn't always quick, but good things take time.
A few years ago, I became one of those cord-cutting millennials. I switched to a fully digital and no cable box option with YouTube TV. I have to say I love the user experience. It's fun using Google Home to throw ESPN up on my TV audibly. I already can see my kids getting normalized with audible commands. The change to YouTube TV had some drawbacks. I lost the ability to watch Laker games, for example. YouTube TV isn't a perfect solution for cable replacement, but I did find a workaround to catch NBA games. The main issue is most of these large cable companies are holding tight on their exclusive contracts. Hulu and YouTube TV don't immediately doom DirecTV and others, but the cable companies see the writing on the wall. I believe the future of TV is digital, but it will take time until a fully replicable solution is available. For now, options exist for those willing to endure some concessions. I wish I didn't need to buy NBA league pass and a VPN to watch AD and Lebron this season. Again, good things take time to figure out. The plan usually needs time to adjust, just like my shower project.
It's interesting to look at the adoption rate of cord-cutters. YouTube TV has over a million paying users. They are backed by Google and have the superior digital experience, but still, Comcast's Xfinity cable option has 22 million users alone. How is that possible? Why haven't more people made the switch? The apparent reason is learning a new platform is hard. Most people don't want to endure the change. I've watched this with my grandparents. They don't love AT&T's U-verse, but they aren't up to learning Chromecast. Xfinity gets the job done, but they aren't attracting new users. Cable companies are cashing in those checks, but know the gravy train will come to an end in the next decade. Xfinity's users will age out the next decade or so. We've seen AT&T waver on the purchase DirecTV already. Who wants to own two large cable/satellite companies in 2019? It’s a fading market. Worth a ton more years ago. I was a paying customer of DirecTV for years. They know how to do TV well. The problem was their digital products didn’t work well. The app reflected a cable company building an app and not a software company developing an app for today's world.
Xfinity and DirecTV have more users than YouTube TV, but over the next decade, that will change. AT&T knows this future is real too. Something that works now doesn't mean it will tomorrow. Your switch to a digital approach isn't an automatic win. It has drawbacks. Things need thinking through, but if you don't adjust, you will lose your audience to the grave. Invest time and resources to figure out what your YouTube TV could be. Remember, good things take time.
