Over the last few months we have seen CEOs like Jeff Bewkes from Time Warner talking about selling directly to consumers. These companies are some of the biggest reason cable is still profitable are looking at ditching cable.
HBO took the first step earlier this year when they partnered with Amazon Instant to greatly reduce the wait time for new seasons and to offer their back catalog free to members of Amazons Prime service.
ESPN has also taken small steps into the cord cutting market by offering ESPN3 content free to select ISPs. They have even greatly increased the selection of content available on ESPN3 over the last few years.
CBS moved heavily into online streaming making most CBS sports events free to stream online this year. Even NFL playoff games and March Madness including the national championship game free to everyone. In 2014 CBS also agreed to make more CBS content available on Hulu.
Even the Super Bowl was free to stream this year from FOX.
Now in just the last few months we have heard from COO and CEOs of major networks talking about selling HBO, CBS, ESPN, and ShowTime directly to consumers bypassing the need for a cable subscription.
Clearly cord cutting is being discussed at the highest levels of the TV industry. When so many different companies start talking about ditching cable and selling directly to the consumer means something big is coming in the next year.
If a major network like HBO or ESPN offer plans to stream their content you should expect smaller networks like Discovery to jump on board.
Even Fox News a long time hold out is now offering a free stream on mobile devices and their website for cable subscribers. With live are the main reason people subscribe to cable still if sports and news was easy to obtain you can expect the number of cord cutters to sky rocket.
With cable subscriber numbers plummeting and all the recent talk from high level executives we would expect to hear some major announcements this year.