I cut the cord with cable a long time ago. It’s been a great experience for me, and an amazing money saver to boot. I wrote about how to cut the cord with cable and how I’m using my Roku and PlayOn TV to watch the shows I want to see. While it isn’t perfect and doesn’t cover every network and every show, it covers everything I care about except some sports. Not anymore. The online streaming of ABC changed on January 6, and now you need to sign in to your cable provider to watch new shows via the ABC app.
I have a major philosophical issue with this, as ABC is network television and meant to be free tv. When you stream ABC on the abc.go app, you have to watch commercials. In fact, you watch a lot of commercials. There are at least six commercial breaks in an hour long show, one before the show starts and five throughout the episode, and you cannot fast forward through them or change apps on your tablet or phone to avoid them. You’re pretty much forced to watch them, unlike when I used to use my VCR to tape show or even my DVR where I could fast forward.
Apparently ABC has decided that they aren’t making enough money from the commercials, and now you have to have an affiliation with an approved cable provider to use the ABC app. Whether it’s because they can’t charge enough per viewing of the commercials online or their shows cost too much to make and license or some other problem altogether, address that root cause. This is not the answer. Within two days, the abc.go app already had over 3,000 one star reviews. They updated it to fix some (not insignificant) bugs, and already there are almost 1,500 1 star reviews compared to 14 five star reviews. That should tell you something there.
My personal opinion aside, this is the reality at the moment. ABC follows the trend set by Fox and CBS in making this change, as Fox has long required you to provide your cable provider to watch recent shows (but I’ll be honest, there aren’t any Fox shows I watch, so I sort of hadn’t cared). CBS has been late to the game in providing online streaming, and again there aren’t any CBS shows I’m interested in watching primarily because they haven’t streamed shows in the past. While CBS doesn’t require you (yet) to have a cable subscription, they simply don’t load shows to their app until a week has passed, which is essentially the same result. NBC, however, still keeps free tv as free tv for all, not just those who are (over?)paying for cable with select providers. For now. You know it’s a matter of time, right?
ABC? If you’re listening, I have a message for you. There are some shows that I’m willing to wait to watch, but not many. And those are only the shows that I currently watch and love, which is down to four (yep, just four) right now. Three I’ll wait to watch, but the fourth? Nope. So that means you just lost a viewer.
When they go off the air, I won’t be searching for new ABC shows to replace them. I’ll find other ways to spend my time, and that’s fewer eyeballs you’ll have anywhere. You can’t stop the tide of change. People simply don’t sit down on a Thursday night to watch live television anymore. More and more of us are cutting the cord with cable for a variety of reasons. If you want to retain a fraction of your viewership, this is a decision you need to seriously revisit.
So what’s up with the new ABC app? I’ve been exploring and testing and playing with it for awhile, and I at least have some answers to what you can and can’t do.
ABC App FAQ – what you can and can’t do with ABC.go
Can I just not update the abc.go app and keep watching my shows?
Nope. When you open the app anytime after January 6, you receive the message that this version of the app is no longer supported and that you have to update the app. You can either choose to not update it and simply not stream ABC anymore, or you can update it with the new restrictions.
If I don’t have cable, can I watch nothing?
Fortunately, no. I have a feeling there would be some regulatory involvement if the networks made all their shows pay only. Shows are available for select cable subscribers the day after they air. They are then available to everyone one week after they air. So if you’re up for watching Grey’s Anatomy seven days after it airs, you can still do so.
How do I know what I can view if I don’t have an approved cable plan?
When you open the app and view the television shows, episodes that are in their “protected period” will have a bar across them “VERIFY TO VIEW.” If you click on one, it will ask you to sign in with an approved cable subscription. These shows will also list how long until the protected period expires so you know when you can come back to watch it without a subscription.
The show I want to watch is expiring soon. That’s not fair!
From what I can see, shows will be uploaded for streaming twice. The protected period upload will have the one week countdown and the verified requirement. Once that period has passed, the episode will be pulled and reuploaded with for streaming accessible to everyone. Those shows will have no notifications on them, and they don’t state when they will expire. Typically, five episodes (including the protected viewing episodes, if any) are available at any given time, but sometimes there are fewer or (rarely) more.
If I have cable, am I set to watch just like I did before?
Only if you are lucky enough to live where the cable provider has partnered with ABC. Right now, only some providers are participating, though this may change going forward. For ABC, if you have a cable subscription with AT&T U-verse, Charter, Cox, Google fiber, Midcontinent Communications, Optimum, Verizon FiOS, or Xfinity, you are set. If you have any other provider, you’re out of luck. That includes major cable providers like Time Warner, as well as Dish and Direct TV.
How do I log in if I have a subscription with one of the participating cable providers?
Click on any episode that has VIEW TO VERIFY on it. That will take you to the list of cable partners. Select your cable provider, which will open a new page where you enter your credentials. Once you’ve signed in, it should take you back to the show you wanted to view and keep you logged in going forward. That said, it doesn’t (yet) work perfectly. You may need to close the app and reopen it before it accepts your login.
If I stream television via Roku or Apple TV, can I watch ABC protected view episodes?
Yes… and no. If you had access to ABC streaming to your television via a third party provider previously, you may be able to. Hulu+ subscribers can still watch the recent episodes part of the subscription, for example. If you watch them using Hulu without upgrading (which I do – or did), you can sign in to your AT&T U-verse, Cox, Optimum, or Verizon and watch current episodes. Not that Comcast’s Xfinity is not on that list, though it is a partner with the Watch ABC app, which means that I’m out of luck. PlayOn TV does not currently have a way to provide a username and password for a cable provider to allow you to access those channels, though that coding may change going forward. There are other channels where PlayOn TV already allows login access.
If I don’t have an approved cable subscription, can I still watch my daily shows?
Here lies a big flaw in the setup. ABC protects daily shows like The View or General Hospital for seven days, just like other shows. And typically, they only retain five episodes at a time. If you don’t have a cable subscription, ABC deletes episodes are completely before the protected period ends, and you simply can’t watch them.
What if I want to watch ABC live on the ABC app?
Do it on your television, or set up your old-fashioned VCR to record. If you want to watch ABC live on your device, you must have a subscription to a cable partner. Otherwise, you’re out of luck.
The message? Television is currently trying to maintain the status quo. They want people to watch shows live. They want the current cable empire to continue as is. That isn’t where the world is moving. ABC’s online streaming is just the latest fallout as networks and other companies navigate the constantly changing landscape. Will this stick? I sincerely hope not, but it’s what we have to deal with today.
Want change? Speak up. Talk to ABC. Email to regulators. Call your cable company. Make noise and make your voice heard. So many people simply deleted the ABC app and won’t watch the network at all. Those actions speak loudest because they affect companies in the pocketbook. When they don’t get ad revenue from the eyeballs that don’t watch their streaming shows, that hurts them.
i am most upset with cbs, I ‘watch’ many shows on CBS. However, due to a busy working and living schedule, I dvr most shows and watch them later. cbs is now going to charge a monthly fee to view shows. i will not be held hostage. I now have cable but am being nickeled and dimed to death it seems. Heading to retirement i cannot justify the $210/mo I am now paying. Ridiculous! I am unable to switch to DirectTV because I cannot get adequate reception where i am. I read a lot; NOW I will read even more! LOL
“I have a major philosophical issue with this, as ABC is network television and meant to be free tv.”
Wrong. You’re confusing content with the method of distribution of content. ABC content is NOT meant to be free, nor is it free. By law, over-the-air broadcasts are free because such broadcasts use the public airwaves. But that does not mean that ABC can’t charge you to watch online broadcasts of the same content that it broadcasts free over the air.
The good news is Directv and Disney have reached an agreement and soon Directv subscribers will be able to access WatchABC.
That’s a great add. I’m always happy to see contracts that give more access to more people. Thank you so much for adding that tidbit!
I just downloaded the app today and I’ve been trying all afternoon to watch an old episode of an ABC show as streaming isn’t available in my area. this may sound stupid, but the instructions instruct me to sign in and I can’t find any place to sign in and I have looked everywhere. can anybody provide me with some direction ? I’m using an Android phone, & I don’t have access to internet or cable at home
If it isn’t a verify to watch show – one from the past week – you should be able to watch it. I haven’t encountered a request to sign in via mobile except when attempting to watch one of the more recent shows, and a screen automatically pops up. I wish I had a better answer for you. Good luck!
It is all about the advertisements and the commercials many, many networks have us watch. Anybody who has been following the many lawsuits that were launched against Dish Network and their latest DVR called the “Hopper” know that many owners can simply skip right through those commercials and it is why this is a big deal to them. I too am a cable/satellite ex-owner and stream everything I watch. I do believe it is only a matter of time before we too will be made to pay whether like Dish’s new Sling TV or via a-la-carte. There was a day when satellite TV was free to big dish owners and that is no longer the case with high power DBS like Dish and DirecTV. I simply think one way or the other we’re going to be made to pay like what CBS has recently has done similar to the Hulu model. One day it won’t be free unless you have some tech knowledge and opt for Kodi formerly XBMC.
The key to watching television now is to move away from channel surfing. We have been brought up to mindlessly keep changing the channel until we find something that catches our eye. Once I became MINDFUL of what I wanted to see, it was easy to find it and watch as many episodes of that show for as long as I wanted. There are so many great series out there that I’ve never seen – Dexter, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, etc. I can always start watching a new show any time and not have to be a hostage to ABC, NBC or any of the other pirates out there. So even though Scandal is a great show, they’ve lost me on a weekly basis. Thanks to the magic of Netflix or a number of other internet fixes, I can watch it in the future if I choose. I’m no longer a slave to their nonsense. Life is good.
Good news if you are a Directv subscriber, the Watch family of apps; ABC, ABC Family, Disney, Disney Jr, Disney XD, ESPN are now supported by Directv. More streaming options on computers and mobile devices.
There is over 4000 5000 6000 of people that are watching abc family shows on demand dvr Netflixs and online abc family is not fixing their raitings on their programing shows their are numerous of people that are really upset at tom ascheim because he’s not looking into how many people are watching abc family shows on On Demand DVR Netflixs and online
My problem with this new philosophy is three fold, aside the points you already pointed out:
1) If I did want to watch the shows live and I missed a show, I then get stuck and can’t catch up. My favorite show is OUAT and I feel like you miss a lot if you watch them out of order. Sundays I have family time with my in-laws out of town. Sometimes we are home by the time the show runs, most the time we are not. I have sat down a few times thinking oh, I can watch OUAT and then I realize that I am a week behind, so I turn it off so I don’t get spoilers. I am not planning my life around this show, so I won’t try to make it home early because frankly me having a life is more important than a serialized drama. But it would be nice if I had the ability to catch up with these shows before the next one airs in case I am at home when it airs and I want to watch it.
2) Today I was watching a show on CBS (good thing it wasn’t ABC) and a special report broke in for near 90 minutes because of tornado warnings in the area. I am glad they broke in because that is emergency information we need. However, by the time the tornado information went off the air, the show I was watching was long over. Luckily, I can watch it online tomorrow. But what if it was ABC? Lets say I did sit down and watch the show on a regular basis with me cutting the cable cord. Well now I am stuck constantly being a week behind because I want to watch the show in order and can’t get back to watching it live. It kind of seems like they are shooting themselves in the foot there.
3) These channels are supposed to be free broadcast channels, as you mentioned. With the change to the digital antennas, I can no longer pick up NBC. I would love to watch “The Voice” when it airs and be part of the voting process, but sadly I can’t because I can’t pick up this station no matter what I do. I also live in the middle of the city, not in the middle of the country, so it is not a matter of living supposedly out of range. I can watch NBC the next day and there are days when I don’t have work in the morning that I will watch it and still catch the end of the voting period, but those are rare. But if it was ABC, I wouldn’t be able to even do that. If it was a show like “The Voice” where the results are posted online after they air for eliminations, why would I invest myself in a new artist that I know will get eliminated at the beginning of the episode. This could be said of any reality show. You would push away a part of your demographic because my rabbit ears for my TV just happens to not pick up a signal that I was able to receive prior to the digital switch.
If your are not a cable subscriber just boycott TV channels Like ABC, this is the only way that public TV will be free again.
Lobo… public TV IS free. Go buy a digital antenna. I’m serious… the picture / sound quality is an UNCOMPRESSED signal from the station itself. It’s BETTER than cable or satellite (which compresses the signal to NO END). If you do this, you will see what I mean… it’s even more reliable than streaming TV live on a box like an Apple TV or a Roku or Chromcast. TV is free… you just have to get past all of the marketing that TV providers claim you need in order to watch TV. All you need is a digital antenna…. THAT’S IT! FREE!
Mike is absolutely correct. The picture quality of uncompressed, over the air broadcasts, received with a digital antenna is better than anything I had with my satellite provider. And as Mike pointed out, it is FREE. If you are cutting the cord and still want to watch programs on demand, invest in a DVR to record over the air broadcasts from ABC (or any other network). There is a monthly fee associate with the DVR but it is no where near what someone pays for cable or satellite service.
so I am devastated. we are also getting rid of dish and just getting Netflix. I figured I could watch Grey’s Anatomy and How To Get Away With Murder on abc.com, but it is telling me to verify.. I am assuming that it will be available seven days after it airs? is this still a thing? I don’t want to quit watching!
Laura
This is still a thing. You will have to sign in to watch. Or wait the 7 days…
ABC Family channel requires a 15 day wait. Two full episodes have to air BEFORE you can see the previous. SO Frustrating!!! Since we are mandated to watch the commercials, why does it even matter?