The distant dream of a la carte television has never seemed closer to reality. On Thursday, just a day after HBO said it would launch a new online streaming service that doesn’t require a cable TV subscription, CBS announced the launch of CBS All Access, a service will let users watch unlimited CBS content, including some live television, on multiple devices for just $5.99 a month.
It’s still too early to proclaim the death of the traditional cable TV bundle. And yet, the two announcements signal a drastic shift in the way both cable companies and networks—so often adversaries of internet TV services like Netflix and Aereo—now view the changing television landscape. Tech savvy consumers and cord cutters have been urging these companies to unhinge themselves from the traditional cable package for years. But now that they are, the question is: are consumers really ready for it?
Dispatches From The Front 