During the boxing fight dubbed as “The Event”, where Manny Pacquiao clearly beat Joshua Clottey, I purportedly did not pay for a pay per view viewing subscription. Like Pacquiao’s previous fights, I was thinking I could watch it online for free.
First, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth undercard bouts, I thought that I could literally see it for free. But sooner, during the final two undercards, I could no longer see the fight live. I did have a hard time finding another free live streaming of the sport. It reached to a point where I would be redirected to the main free live streaming site where they would ask you to pay a certain fee.
Truly, if you think online TV will be free forever, think again. The cable companies have a plan to keep control and stick you with your bill. Once upon a time, a bunch of small companies in Silicon Valley thought the future of television was theirs. Soon the thinking went, TV would be everywhere by just browsing through your laptops and smart phones you can easily watch your favorite stations.
Although the network suits well, the cable guys just didn’t have the detail chops to make it happen. But today, fueled with venture money tech companies with names like Boxee, Roku, and Sezmi pursued their dream of untethering viewers from their TV sets—and owning a piece of the advertising revenue.
As the big picture comes into focus though, it looks like the cable guys are playing the lead roles, using the $32 billion they pay content providers each year as leverage. The alphabet soup of newbies is still waiting in the wings for a moment that might never come. But still, viewers can watch shows for free, but only if they’re cable subscribers first.