Cable Networks Believe Movies Stop Cord Cutting

An article in today's Paid Content states that today's basic cable networks believe that movies on their network help to keep viewers from dropping their cable subscription.    And while I love a good laugh, I don't see any logical correlation between the two.  Here's the quote "As basic cable original series prove to be important product differentiators for over-the-top services like Netflix, some of the networks that produce these shows are actually relying more on high-priced theatrical movie acquisitions to maintain or increase their subscriber counts and drive ad revenue."  

Movies are indeed a comfort staple on TV.  Put a compelling one on and sure enough viewers will stop  and view; it may bring ratings, it may bring ad revenue, but it is not the stickiness that keeps consumers subscribed to cable.  With many of these same titles available uncut and commercial free elsewhere, viewers are not subscribing just so they can see an ad every 5 minutes or a constant bug in the corner of the movie promoting your channel, or worse, a pop up announcing that a new show is coming up next.  Those in fact make me consider dropping cable to find the same movie without interruptions or distractions.

What does keep consumers from cutting the cord, live programming, especially sports, that are not available easily on the web.  Exclusivity of a show not yet available online.  Differentiation is key and movies are not differentiated especially when they are available on so many other platforms.