Box that gets free cable

If you do cable TV, you’re a renter. You need that set-top-box that connects the cable to your television, and chances are, your cable company won’t let you buy the thing. You’re forced to rent it, paying that monthly fee for years on end, shelling out far more than that box is really worth. But that might change.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission unveiled a proposal that would force pay-TV providers to offer apps that let you bypass set-top-boxes altogether. Instead of plugging a set-top-box into your TV, you could just use cable through a device of your choice, like a Roku, an Xbox, or a Google Chromecast stick. Plus, you could watch on all sorts of other devices, like phones and tablets. If the new proposal passes, you say goodbye to that monthly fee forever.

It may seem a little late to do something about this particular problem, given that analysts say more people are now cutting the pay TV cord. But there are still tens of millions of people paying for the tube, and the average subscriber pays $231 a year for the things, according to the Federal Communications Commission, and cost the country about $20 billion annually.

Under the FCC’s proposal, providers would be required to develop apps for any device that sold at least 5 million units in the previous year, a senior FCC official said during a press call today. The providers will have control over how the apps work, and how they display and store content. But the FCC will require that the apps provide a comparable experience to viewing TV through a cable box, at least so long as customers are viewing from home. The rules will differ for satellite television providers, which can’t necessarily avoid requiring some sort of set-top-box box, but satellite providers will also be required to offer apps. Large providers would have two years to comply with the new regulations, and smaller providers would have four.

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