Why do all those apps ask you to log in with your DIRECTV (or DISH) account?

Because they can.

So, you know what I’m talking about here. You have all these great apps on your phone, tablet or streaming box like ESPN, ABC, CNN, FXNOW, all of those that let you watch recent shows for free and even stream live. The only problem is that you need a current cable or satellite subscription or they don’t work. Sometimes they let you watch a very small number of shows but mostly they’re useless.

These apps would be a cordcutter’s best friend if only they could be used without a pay-TV subscription. And look, I know that some of you are “borrowing” someone else’s login to make these apps work for you, and I don’t want to hear about it. Here at Solid Signal we’re all about following the law. So the law is, you don’t have a pay-TV subscription, you don’t get these apps.

And yes I get it, it’s really a drag that these apps would be perfect ways to ditch the cable company… if you didn’t need the cable company to use them.

So let me explain in case you haven’t figured it out – this is a money grab plain and simple. The content providers like Disney and Time Warner created these apps so they could build up demand for their own shows, and along the way they actually charge your cable or satellite company so they can be provided to you. The cable or satellite company is happy with this arrangement and they’re happy to pay because they know that if they didn’t, you would get all this content without paying for it and they’d be out of business.

Before you call this a dirty rotten conspiracy, though, consider this: the stuff on those networks costs money to make. If everyone got it for free without a lot of commercials (like over-the-air TV is today) then the networks would go out of business and the pay-TV companies would too. Then there would be any programs at all. There would be a massive collapse and all you’d be left with was Netflix, Hulu and that crowd… and without revenues from pay-TV, studios would jack up the fees they charge to streaming companies. Before you know it you’d be paying $100 a month for Hulu and no one wants that. So yeah, it’s a little bit of a conspiracy but it’s more like a bunch of companies working together to find the least heinous way to keep things from falling apart. It’s the good kind of conspiracy, I guess.

So what of those apps like NBC that still have commercials? Yeah, that’s a little smarmy I get that. It’s like how you pay for satellite TV and all the channels still have commercials. Same thing… they all claim that without the commercials that your bills (no matter if you pay them to Hulu or DIRECTV or someone else) would all be higher. I’m not sure I buy that but at least the commercial breaks are usually under a minute.

At some point the whole system of pay-TV as we know it is going to change mightily and when that happens you’ll see a whole new way of paying for the content you want. That’s coming, I’m sure, but I for one am not so anxious to see it come in the next few months. I’d rather it happen slowly so we can all figure out what we’re doing before the whole thing falls apart and we’re left with nothing.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet