More Reasons You’ll Be Cutting Your Cable TV Cord Next Year

More Reasons You’ll Be Cutting Your Cable TV Cord Next Year

The past decade has seen an explosion of new ways to watch TV shows and movies, challenging the old cable television model. But 90% of American households still pay up. And less than 5 million U.S. viewers rely solely on services such as Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu, according to the Convergence Consulting Group. But cable haters rejoice, there will be even more reasons to clip that cord over the next few years.

“We’re in a radically changing period – there are a lot of disruptors in the marketplace,” says industry veteran Kay Koplovitz, who headed USA networks in the 1980s and launched the Sci -Fi Channel (now Syfy) in the 1990s. Cable networks won’t be disappearing entirely — they still have too many shows people love, not to mention live sports and news. But the options for those who want to opt out are multiplying, she says.

More original fare

Pretty much since Tony Soprano first picked up his baseball bat on HBO, premium cable channels have dominated the market for critically acclaimed television shows. This year, Time Warner-owned (TWX) HBO nabbed 108 Emmy nominations for original series ranging from "Game of Thrones" to "Girls." The total topped that of any network and was more than old-school networks NBC and CBS (CBS) had combined. Want to watch HBO – even on the Internet? You still have to spring for cable.

Niche channels about everything

Tired of watching what everyone’s watching, a lot of young people are watching what nobody’s watching. Jenna Mourey, known as Jenna Marbles on YouTube, has more than 10 million subscribers to her personal video blog series focusing on beauty and relationship advice. Machinima grew out of a gaming-focused website, and its Youtube channel has almost 9 million subscribers. That's sending a strong signal to many other content providers.

Anthony Wood, CEO of the set-top box maker Roku, predicts a lot more homemade channels covering everything from tech gadgets and video gaming to cooking and food will proliferate. Some channels will aggregate small video bits, like a micro news service that plays one clip after another.

That’s not to say there’s no room on the Internet for somewhat more mainstream fare that’s closer to what cable channels provide today. Music video “channel” Vevo is available online, on phones and tablets and through Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox or Roku. The ad-supported music station shot into the top 10 most watched Roku stations almost instantly after being added at the end of last year.

Boxes, dongles and doohickies

It seems like most cable boxes are stuck back in the dark ages, but Silicon Valley is working hard to build ever-better TV controllers for Web services.

Google (GOOG) got every would-be cord cutter drooling on Wednesday when it announced its new Chromecast dongle. The tiny, plastic device plugs into the back of a TV set through an HDMI port and connects to the Internet over Wifi. Users pick what they want to watch on a laptop, phone or tablet and the Chromecast pulls down the video to the television set. Initially, the dongle works directly with Youtube and a few other providers, though it can also connect with a browser to watch most other Web video.

Competitors such as Apple TV (AAPL), Roku and Microsoft’s Xbox are no doubt already revving their next versions to compete with Chromecast. Many are expected to copy the Chromecast model that allows viewers to search for content and select it using the touch screen of their phone or tablet while watching playback on a big TV screen.

Moving beyond pokes and taps, users will be able to control the upcoming Xbox One with voice and body gesture commands.

“We all have way too many remote controls, and [channel guides] can be very confusing,” says Kay Koplovitz. “I’d rather say ‘let me see what’s on the Discovery Channel,’ or ‘where can I find the Australian Open?’”