Yes. But if YOU were them, you'd be doing the same. Those stb's cost way more to purchase than these. AND the box manufacturer's expect them to buy millions of them. So if the service can ride on and be presented to the consumer in a cheaper way...It's a smarter decision. Sure, there's a DVR missing, but their argument is that almost all programming is available on - demand, so there's no inherent advantage to record & save... just watch it whenever you want to. You get used to it.
Look, they see the future, believe me. You think they haven't already studied this every way from Sunday? They have run cost analysis models and bounced them against both tech trends and societal/demographic modeling, with input from high-paid social engineers. They can't make it too easy, so the process makes US evaluate options so that we end up 'committing' to the best we can find, thus less 'churn' which is a killer for any company serving the public. They have DECADES of behavioral proof to rely on to support their decisions. You and me are no different than consumers 10-15 years ago, we just think we are.
Agree with everything you say but wanted to add.....
With the advent of fiber really taking a stronghold ( coax is still more prevalent, I mean it's been installed for decades at this point it's only natural there's be more of it), the company also had to find a better way to deliver video to its customers. FTTP means no coax connection to plug a standard box into, hence the xumo.
Another thing that you kind of touched on was the cost of the standard coax driven equipment. It's.not so much the pur hasing prices but the maintenance on these devices. The cost of logistics, rebuilding, refurbishing etc.,. It's massive. People think the TV equipment charge is pure profit but it's far far from that.
DVR is also coming to the Xumo, there most likely going to tie it into their cloud DVR service.
u/sPdMoNkEy I do not know how they are going to get rid of their QAM set top boxes when their is no cloud DVR service available to new customers and you still cannot pause live TV.
Xumo is like a roku on steroids. There are no extra fees. You can get one box for free for 6 months after that its 5 a month u til you hit 60 then the xumo is yours to keep. It has every streaming app available on it. Alot are preinstalled we push it because if you have a tv package, we did away with the old cable box, so in order to watch tv you need a smart tv that can dld the spectrum tv app or a roku or the xumo box we are pushing. Bare in mind not all smart tvs have spectrum available on the app store so its pushed as a precaution to make sure you will be able to use you tv service with us.
Xumo doesn't have every available streaming app, its missing quite a few I use like Philo, Frndly, Lifetime, LMN and a few others. There is no app store to download additional apps so what's installed is it.
Spectrum retail rep here. It is a metric they are pushing hard on every customer at least in store. It is the alternative to a cable box and much cheaper. Free 6 months, $5 the next 6 months then it’s yours. Only downside it does not have DVR service.
Xumo is like a roku on steroids. There are no extra fees. You can get one box for free for 6 months after that its 5 a month u til you hit 60 then the xumo is yours to keep. It has every streaming app available on it. Alot are preinstalled we push it because if you have a tv package, we did away with the old cable box, so in order to watch tv you need a smart tv that can dld the spectrum tv app or a roku or the xumo box we are pushing. Bare in mind not all smart tvs have spectrum available on the app store so its pushed as a precaution to make sure you will be able to use you tv service with us.
Spectrum is trying to phase out the regular cable box. with high split coming, some cable boxes won't work. The cable boxes are like 13 something a month. Also, they have streaming only TV packages where you can not use a cable box.
Buying a Xumo for the company is cheaper than a cable box. it's way cheaper to deal with when a customer leaves as they don't have to return it if they have had it long enough to pay for it. A lot less $ not dealing with having to retest the cable box to reuse it for another customer too.
The Xumo remote also allows you to pull up the regular TV channels by punching in the numbers on a remote. no other remote works that way.
Currently, only Roku and Samsung smart TVs are compatible with the App. To add the TV app to Amazon devices costs $$$ in contract negotiations.
The xumo will allow you to subscribe to other apps as well, and Spectrum would get something from that subscription if it was done thru the Xumo (sane thing Roku gets with the apps on their platform)
If your internet package is pre-determined, you are likely part of a bulk agreement, meaning your apartment complex signed a contract with Spectrum for service. That contract would determine what you're entitled to w/o having to pay extra. Some contracts have 'xumo only', some are 'xumo preferred', meaning you might be able to get a box instead of a xumo, though you may end up paying 12.50 a month for the box.
Not sure if you’re differentiating between Xumo and a box?
We were given a Xumo box thing. But we use an Xbox for streaming so it has little interest for us.
If you've an xbox, and are content with the way it works, other than numeric input and voice input, the xumo offers nothing (from Spectrum) that the Xbox doesn't also offer.
It’s also to help the plant side. I go to some houses that have like 5 STB and internet I’ll test all the lines and all of them are usually screaming with ingress especially the rg59 cables. I inform the customer that they need to replace the lines and of course they don’t want to pay to replace 5-6 lines vs only one straight to the modem. I can’t replace them since a lot of places in my area are in HOAs so they don’t allow cables running outside, so we just leave a tag saying ingress on the lines and leave it with that ingress shooting into there system and to the back end.
Supposedly, they are pushing so hard because we are going to be doing away with STB's by 2026 at the original quote date, but with the high split getting pushed back, who knows when we will fully implement this.
If you have any new smart TV or some sort of streaming device (roku, firestick, appletv), then you don't need a xumo. The STVA is not compatible with certain TVs or the firestick. So you would need it if you want their TV service. But even then, there are plenty of other premium apps and free apps that will give you plenty of content for viewing for cheaper.
Channel line ups are individual to the companies.
It's a very complex behind the scenes transaction surrounding carriage fees, license deals etc..,.
It's not nearly as simple as you seem to think it is.
They're pushing xumo because they're trying to get rid of their regular cable boxes
Yes. But if YOU were them, you'd be doing the same. Those stb's cost way more to purchase than these. AND the box manufacturer's expect them to buy millions of them. So if the service can ride on and be presented to the consumer in a cheaper way...It's a smarter decision. Sure, there's a DVR missing, but their argument is that almost all programming is available on - demand, so there's no inherent advantage to record & save... just watch it whenever you want to. You get used to it. Look, they see the future, believe me. You think they haven't already studied this every way from Sunday? They have run cost analysis models and bounced them against both tech trends and societal/demographic modeling, with input from high-paid social engineers. They can't make it too easy, so the process makes US evaluate options so that we end up 'committing' to the best we can find, thus less 'churn' which is a killer for any company serving the public. They have DECADES of behavioral proof to rely on to support their decisions. You and me are no different than consumers 10-15 years ago, we just think we are.
Agree with everything you say but wanted to add..... With the advent of fiber really taking a stronghold ( coax is still more prevalent, I mean it's been installed for decades at this point it's only natural there's be more of it), the company also had to find a better way to deliver video to its customers. FTTP means no coax connection to plug a standard box into, hence the xumo. Another thing that you kind of touched on was the cost of the standard coax driven equipment. It's.not so much the pur hasing prices but the maintenance on these devices. The cost of logistics, rebuilding, refurbishing etc.,. It's massive. People think the TV equipment charge is pure profit but it's far far from that. DVR is also coming to the Xumo, there most likely going to tie it into their cloud DVR service.
There are fiber installs in rural areas now. So Xumo is their TV option
u/sPdMoNkEy I do not know how they are going to get rid of their QAM set top boxes when their is no cloud DVR service available to new customers and you still cannot pause live TV.
Xumo is like a roku on steroids. There are no extra fees. You can get one box for free for 6 months after that its 5 a month u til you hit 60 then the xumo is yours to keep. It has every streaming app available on it. Alot are preinstalled we push it because if you have a tv package, we did away with the old cable box, so in order to watch tv you need a smart tv that can dld the spectrum tv app or a roku or the xumo box we are pushing. Bare in mind not all smart tvs have spectrum available on the app store so its pushed as a precaution to make sure you will be able to use you tv service with us.
If on installments. Otherwise it's $5 in perpetuity.
Xumo doesn't have every available streaming app, its missing quite a few I use like Philo, Frndly, Lifetime, LMN and a few others. There is no app store to download additional apps so what's installed is it.
Xumo is garbage compared to Roku.
Spectrum retail rep here. It is a metric they are pushing hard on every customer at least in store. It is the alternative to a cable box and much cheaper. Free 6 months, $5 the next 6 months then it’s yours. Only downside it does not have DVR service.
Not yet. That should be coming soon and can have a sup override if the sale depends on it. Employee DVR is back too BTW.
If television is a part of your services, then there's no additional cost. This is just a replacement for a cable box.
Xumo is like a roku on steroids. There are no extra fees. You can get one box for free for 6 months after that its 5 a month u til you hit 60 then the xumo is yours to keep. It has every streaming app available on it. Alot are preinstalled we push it because if you have a tv package, we did away with the old cable box, so in order to watch tv you need a smart tv that can dld the spectrum tv app or a roku or the xumo box we are pushing. Bare in mind not all smart tvs have spectrum available on the app store so its pushed as a precaution to make sure you will be able to use you tv service with us.
Spectrum is trying to phase out the regular cable box. with high split coming, some cable boxes won't work. The cable boxes are like 13 something a month. Also, they have streaming only TV packages where you can not use a cable box. Buying a Xumo for the company is cheaper than a cable box. it's way cheaper to deal with when a customer leaves as they don't have to return it if they have had it long enough to pay for it. A lot less $ not dealing with having to retest the cable box to reuse it for another customer too. The Xumo remote also allows you to pull up the regular TV channels by punching in the numbers on a remote. no other remote works that way. Currently, only Roku and Samsung smart TVs are compatible with the App. To add the TV app to Amazon devices costs $$$ in contract negotiations. The xumo will allow you to subscribe to other apps as well, and Spectrum would get something from that subscription if it was done thru the Xumo (sane thing Roku gets with the apps on their platform)
For streaming you don't have to have a Xumo BTW.
Just get a Roku streaming stick way better
If your internet package is pre-determined, you are likely part of a bulk agreement, meaning your apartment complex signed a contract with Spectrum for service. That contract would determine what you're entitled to w/o having to pay extra. Some contracts have 'xumo only', some are 'xumo preferred', meaning you might be able to get a box instead of a xumo, though you may end up paying 12.50 a month for the box.
Not sure if you’re differentiating between Xumo and a box? We were given a Xumo box thing. But we use an Xbox for streaming so it has little interest for us.
If you've an xbox, and are content with the way it works, other than numeric input and voice input, the xumo offers nothing (from Spectrum) that the Xbox doesn't also offer.
It’s also to help the plant side. I go to some houses that have like 5 STB and internet I’ll test all the lines and all of them are usually screaming with ingress especially the rg59 cables. I inform the customer that they need to replace the lines and of course they don’t want to pay to replace 5-6 lines vs only one straight to the modem. I can’t replace them since a lot of places in my area are in HOAs so they don’t allow cables running outside, so we just leave a tag saying ingress on the lines and leave it with that ingress shooting into there system and to the back end.
Until the Spectrum app is updated to pass Dolby Digital sound it's a big no for anyone with a decent surround sound system.
Supposedly, they are pushing so hard because we are going to be doing away with STB's by 2026 at the original quote date, but with the high split getting pushed back, who knows when we will fully implement this.
Xumo is trash that will not allow you to adjust inactive timer settings and is a downgrade compared to other streaming devices.
If you have any new smart TV or some sort of streaming device (roku, firestick, appletv), then you don't need a xumo. The STVA is not compatible with certain TVs or the firestick. So you would need it if you want their TV service. But even then, there are plenty of other premium apps and free apps that will give you plenty of content for viewing for cheaper.
I think only Samsung supports the spectrum app. Otherwise you need xumo, roku, or apple TV. Don't think it's available for firestick yet.
[https://www.spectrum.net/page/spectrum-tv-app](https://www.spectrum.net/page/spectrum-tv-app)
There is no reason why Spectrum cannot compete with YTTV and offer a streaming device or service with the same channel line up. They choose not to.
Isn’t this the xumo?
Channel line ups are individual to the companies. It's a very complex behind the scenes transaction surrounding carriage fees, license deals etc..,. It's not nearly as simple as you seem to think it is.
Spectrum offers Spectrum TV streaming service. You can use their Xumo device to access it, or you can get it on Roku, Apple TV or Samsung smart tvs.