Cutting the Cord: Net TV grows in quantity and quality

Streaming TV has already made a mark, but it could be about to hit its tipping point.

For starters, just look at the awards and talent that Amazon and Netflix have captured recently.

At last week's Golden Globes, Amazon Studios snagged two awards — one for best TV musical or comedy series for Transparent and another for the star of the dark comedy, Jeffrey Tambor, who plays a divorced father who has begun his transition to a woman.

It followed the lead of Netflix, which became the first non-TV network to win an award at the Emmys back in 2013 with three wins for House of Cards — including best director (David Fincher) and best drama cast.

At the Golden Globes, House of Cards star Kevin Spacey won for best actor in a TV drama, beating James Spader of NBC's The Blacklist and Clive Owen of Cinemax's The Knick, as well as Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) and Dominic West (The Affair), stars of two Showtime series.

Two days after the Golden Globes, Amazon made more news with the signing of Woody Allen to write and direct a comedy series for its Prime Instant Video service, part of the online retailer's $99 annual service that includes streaming video along with free 2-day shipping of products.

Allen's arrival builds on Amazon's burgeoning roster of original shows including Alpha House, a comedy from Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, the first series to emerge from Amazon's test of several pilots in 2013.

Amazon's new season, which began Thursday, includes 13 new series such as The Man in the High Castle, executive-produced by Blade Runner director Ridley Scott and Point of Honor written by Lost's Carlton Cuse.

Three more series are due this year, including one from director Steven Soderbergh.

For its part, Netflix is adding new series, too, including Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, produced by Tina Fey, Marvel's Daredevil and Sense8, a sci-fi series from the Wachowskis (The Matrix).

Also in the works: a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and the first of several movies from Netflix's exclusive deal with Adam Sandler.

And that's all on top of House of Cards and Netflix's most popular series Orange Is the New Black, which got shut out at the Golden Globe Awards — much to the chagrin of my wife and other fans, I'm sure. (Last year it did earn three Emmys out of 10 nominations.)

Hollywood talent now considers Net TV services as true outlets for their creative work. "Adapting books for television, especially in uncharted territory like classical music or transgendered characters, can be tricky," said Blair Tindall, author of the 2005 memoir Mozart in the Jungle that served as the basis for another new Amazon series.

"With Amazon Studios' resources and vision, my show was allowed limitless creative freedom and the creators the tools to attract A-list talent in all departments," she said. "I'm ecstatic about the resulting series, and how accurately my book is represented."

Now as so-called over-the-top video programming has made massive strides in quality, its subscriber base could get a boost in quantity, too. The arrival of Dish Network's Sling TV later this month could tempt more consumers to cut the cord and experiment with non-traditional TV offerings.

Sling TV will cost $20 monthly for about a dozen live Net-delivered TV channels, including ABC Family, Cartoon Network, CNN, Disney Channel, ESPN and ESPN 2, the Food Network, HGTV, TBS, TNT, The Travel Channel and Adult Swim.

And customers can add more channels via news, sports or kids extra packages ($5 monthly). "It's designed and targeted for millennials, who we see are not choosing traditional pay TV nearly like the previous generation," said Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch.

Already 55% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to a streaming TV service, according to Parks Associates.

As consumer adoption of streaming has boomed and some pay TV customers are trimming — and a few cutting — the cord, content providers such as HBO and Showtime have stand-alone services in the works. And Sony is testing its own Net TV service, too.

However, Sling will be pivotal to "see whether it can benefit from digital changes in consumer behavior," says Forrester analyst James McQuivey. "In the end, if Sling TV works it will come down to providing the one thing that millions of people can't live without: access to ESPN. Because despite all the talk of technology and business models, what viewers care about is simple: Can I watch what I want to watch, where and when I want to watch it."

"Cutting the Cord" is a regular column covering Net TV and ways to get it. If you have suggestions or questions, contact Mike Snider via e-mail. And follow him on Twitter: @MikeSnider.