2015 was the best year to ditch cable, and it's only going to get better
We're in the midst of a new golden age of television, and there are more ways than ever to watch great TV without paying a cable or satellite company for a TV subscription.
Case in point: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association recently announced the nominations for the 2016 Golden Globes, and every show that was nominated in the category of Best TV Comedy is available to watch on a streaming service, exclusively in many cases.
Indeed, 2015 saw brand new standalone streaming services from HBO and Showtime, two premium networks that until this year were only available if you paid for a bundle of channels.
Nickelodeon, NBC, and Verizon also launched their own streaming products, and Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, both of which allow you to watch live TV over the internet, debuted in the last 12 months.
Comcast even began testing a service that allows some of its own internet subscribers to get HBO and broadcast networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS, for $15 per month without renting a cable box.
Netflix had a host of new hits this year, like "Jessica Jones," "Daredevil," "Narcos," and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." Amazon's streaming service, which comes as part of a $99 per year Prime membership, also had its best year, with shows like "The Man in the High Castle," "Red Oaks," and the second season of "Transparent."
Hulu dropped nearly $1 million per episode to get all nine seasons of "Seinfeld" and started offering a commercial-free plan for $11.99 per month.
"This year was sort of a watershed moment when it comes to the availability of TV programming on digital channels," Paul Verna, a senior analyst at the research firm eMarketer, told Tech Insider in an interview.
These new, continually improving services come at a time when an increasing number of people are choosing to forgo a traditional TV subscription and instead cobble together their entertainment from a host of streaming services.
According to eMarketer, there are currently 4.9 million homes in the US that used to pay for TV but no longer do, and the firm says that number will jump more than 12% next year.
For years, TV networks stood idle while Netflix got millions of people accustomed to watching whatever they want, wherever they want, on whatever device they had with them.
And this was finally the year the networks responded.
Broadband speeds are getting faster, and companies like MLB Advanced Media have built businesses around delivering high-quality videos online for a variety of niche - and not so niche - companies, like Sony and Disney-owned ESPN. Powerful and inexpensive streaming devices from Roku, Google, and Apple make it easy for anyone to stream movies and TV shows on the biggest screen in their home.
And if you thought this year was a good year to be a cord cutter, it's only going to get better.
Apple is working on a streaming service to rival cable, even though recent reports say the company has put those plans on hold. But its new Apple TV has an open App Store, like the iPhone, so there's nothing stopping services like Sling and PlayStation Vue from making apps for the new streaming box, which would allow more people to sign up for its service.
Netflix said earlier this month that next year it will double the number of original shows it releases. Amazon also said this week that it's renewed "The Man in the High Castle" for another season.
Verna said that he wouldn't be surprised if ESPN offered a standalone streaming service in the next few years, and he expects big TV networks to increasingly license their content, whether that's to existing services or new ones that don't even exist yet.
"I think we're going to see more options for the consumer," he said.
And more options, especially in terms of who to pay for TV, is not a bad thing.