With cable and satellite television currently in a slow-motion death spiral, America’s left-wing entertainment titans are hoping they can fool us into subsidizing their rigged business model, even as we move online. The launch of Philo TV shows that the free market is beating these corrupt titans.

Why cut the cord, why cancel your cable or satellite package only to pay for Sling TV, which falsely advertises itself as a la carte TV, when it is just a smaller, cheaper version of cable TV. Same with DirecTV Now and Sony Playstation Vue. In all three cases, you are still paying too much money for a bunch of networks you will never watch.

Moreover, these streaming services are still hustling you. Just like with your cable or satellite package, whether you watch or not, you are still forced to subsidize leftwing networks like ESPN and CNN, still forced to fund your own destruction through your monthly bill.

Which means that a just-released streaming TV package called Philo, is a big step in the right direction.

Before we go any further, I am not a Philo customer. I have no self-interest in Philo. I do not know anyone nor have I been in contact with anyone at Philo. This is not an endorsement. All I am doing here is observing, is looking at a new product launch and talking about what it might mean for the future.

For a mere $16 a month, Philo offers 37 channels, including A&E, AMC, BET, CMT, MTV, HGTV, OWN, History, VH1, Comedy Central, and IFC. For another $4 a month you can add nine more networks for a total of 46. Basically, this is a service little different from cable TV, where you watch these channels live. The only difference is that you are streaming them over the Internet.

What makes Philo’s launch so noteworthy is that this is the first pay TV package of this sort (that I am aware of) that does not force you to pay for sports and cable news. There is no ESPN, no CNN or MSNBC.  These are entertainment-only networks.

Yes, you are still subsidizing left-wing garbage like MTV and Comedy Central. But for the first time you can enjoy cable-like television without making CNN’s serial-liars and ESPN’s social justice warriors rich.

What this means is that the market is working. People are disgusted with obnoxiously expensive cable packages that offer 492 channels they never watch and 8 channels they do (with 20 minutes of punishing commercials every hour). And a big part of that expense is ESPN, which it seems as though you can never escape from.

For my money, the ultimate streaming TV service will be a $10 a month package that allows you to choose the 20 or 30 networks you want, including your local affiliates. Eventually, I believe, the market will force this, or even something better. Considering all of the freakin’ commercials, it would not surprise me if someday many of these networks are forced to offer themselves up for free, just to get the eyeballs. This only happens, though, if we cut the cord and force their hands. Because as of right now, many of these corrupt networks do not need eyeballs to make a fortune. That fortune comes from you, straight out of your cable bill, whether or not you watch.

Therefore, Philo holds no interest for me. Whether it comes through my cable or internet, TV pretty much sucks. Moreover, I am not going to subsidize Comedy Central and MTV, and I simply cannot handle all of those commercials.

As of now, and for less than $20 a month, I am perfectly happy with Netflix and Amazon. For free I also have seven over-the-air networks through my roof antenna, Pluto TV, YouTube, and an unlimited number of streaming channels that, with only a few commercials, offer all kinds of free movies and TV shows.

As far as news and sports?  Well, all the news you could possibly ask for is available online for free, and the NFL can die in a fire.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.