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NPD: Cable bill to average $200 per month, soon
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The following comments relate to this news article:
article published on 12 April, 2012
A new report from the NPD Group today claims the average cable subscription will increase to $200 per month by the end of the decade.
Nomura Equity Research says don't blame the cable companies, however. The research firm says program suppliers have increased their fees by 8.2 percent over the last year, alone, and those kind of increases are expected every year going forward.
Of the ... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
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JAYMES71
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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13. April 2012 @ 09:32 |
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Cable TV? What's THAT?? You dummies go ahead and pay these crooks. I don't watch it at all. It's all propaganda of some kind or another anyway. If I watch, I watch Netflix (all the cable I have is internet and they charge me almost $70/mo for it!) or I tune into my DTV antenna for FREE.
I remember when I was a kid and cable first came out. It was COMMERCIAL-FREE. Then they start putting ads on some of the channels a little bit at a time until now you're paying through the nose for what USED to be free when our parents were kids. DUMMIES DUMMIES DUMMIES! Stupid Americans can't live without being programmed by the one-eyed hypnotist in the corner of the room. You're getting what you deserve :D
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Jeffrey_P
Senior Member
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13. April 2012 @ 09:52 |
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Originally posted by JAYMES71:
Cable TV? What's THAT?? You dummies go ahead and pay these crooks. I don't watch it at all. It's all propaganda of some kind or another anyway. If I watch, I watch Netflix (all the cable I have is internet and they charge me almost $70/mo for it!) or I tune into my DTV antenna for FREE.
I remember when I was a kid and cable first came out. It was COMMERCIAL-FREE. Then they start putting ads on some of the channels a little bit at a time until now you're paying through the nose for what USED to be free when our parents were kids. DUMMIES DUMMIES DUMMIES! Stupid Americans can't live without being programmed by the one-eyed hypnotist in the corner of the room. You're getting what you deserve :D
Sorry Mr. elitist. Guess some of us dummies would prefer to watch current programming and sports.. That is anything but soccer. ;)
DTV is not free so you must pirate it. Notty, notty! Over the air digital does not have multichannel audio.
You get what you pay for.
Snotty little Brit.
Jeff
Cars, Guitars & Radiation.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. April 2012 @ 09:56
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Senior Member
1 product review
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13. April 2012 @ 10:34 |
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Originally posted by hearme0:
Actually......it's a tinge over 42 minutes since you felt compelled to henpeck Mr_Bill over a minute.
You're going to argue with someone who's been in the radio & television industry for 40+ years? I gave an average. Between local amateur hour idiots re-editing re-run shows in order to throw in even more local adds, to the bible belt literally editing 'on the fly' any material they deem 'unfit', it can be from 44, which is the customary 22 minutes per 30 minute broadcast or doubled for an hour broadcast; actual productions are built/edited to the 44 minute time frame.
The only reason this could be less is if the format is less 2 minutes for the European format, which I didn't work in. Thus, I'm not commenting for, so the 'biting' can commence...
Doing a Google search & going with what the happy masses 'think' is the right answer don't make it so. Accordingly, what you saw as hen pecking, I was intending as simply a bit of 'insider information'. You, on the other hand, seem to want to inflate yet another deflated sack as king atop that pissant mountain of 'right'.
Take up a more righteous cause than that so radical as 'honor police'. Moan & complain about the cable companies as the article dictates instead of roaming like cattle off on a tangent. Mr_Bill is a big boy, if he was angered I'm sure he'll let me know.
As usual, all I've seen you do in here is brow beat & belittle people for they do/don't have or chastise them for a particular situation they may find themselves in. A little empathy goes a long way. Hubris sir.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. April 2012 @ 10:48
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2012 @ 10:35 |
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Originally posted by Semperfipal:
My sat bill is almost $70, and we are thinking of dropping that in favor of an old fashioned roof mount antenna, plus viewing videos on Netflix streaming/dvd and hulu. We only watch maybe 10 different channels on the average. Alacarte would be nice, but the greedy cable/sat company's won't even think of that. If enough people drop them because of pricing, maybe something positive will happen for consumers for a change, wadda ya think?
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2012 @ 10:49 |
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They're predicting $200/month by the end of the decade for watching tv?
All I can say is EXCELLENT!
Why, because I love seeing these greedy corporate scumbags kill themselves off. They've lost site of the fact that THEY need US, and not the other way around.
The way streaming is taking off now, by the end of the decade "cable programming" should be nothing more than a joke that's told while sitting around at the bar.
And satellite is right there behind them.
They keep their customers locked in to paying for "blocks" of channels because what other choice does the customer have. There is none. It's not like you can dump one cable company for another who'll let you choose your programming. They all use the same format.
But now we, the customers, are at a turning point. We have the options for picking and choosing what we want, when we want, via the web.
And it's only going to get more and more popular as more and more of the general population find out how to cut the cord.
I dumped cable tv ages ago and went with sat. And as sat. continued to climb, I dumped paid tv all together.
I bought an o.t.a. hd antenna for locals and everything I want to watch I now stream at my own leisure.
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duke8888
Junior Member
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13. April 2012 @ 10:50 |
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SOON! I am already paying over $200 for cable and internet what a joke they have you by the short hairs so you have to pay what they are asking or it's back to living in the dark ages.
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2012 @ 10:59 |
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Originally posted by duke8888:
SOON! I am already paying over $200 for cable and internet what a joke they have you by the short hairs so you have to pay what they are asking or it's back to living in the dark ages.
Bullshit.
Take the leap, brother. Speak with your wallet. Drop the cable tv. There really is so many better options.
Honestly, I did have that "/deep breath/ Am I sure I want to do this?" moment when I first picked up the phone to call the satellite company to cancel my subscription.
And it was a weird change for a few days. All the sudden it wasn't sitting down at 7 to watch this or that.
These days the wife and I are doing a lot more besides planting our asses on the couch. And when we do sit down to watch tv, we actually have more choice.
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Senior Member
1 product review
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13. April 2012 @ 11:13 |
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OK... Several of you guys are touting a 'cable free' lifestyle & all the comforts, but lets get a few things straight first...
1. Where are you living? If it's near a metropolitan area, you can still get all your locals. Some of us hillbillies aren't so lucky.
2. What is your ISP. I really don't think a dinky 3Mb DSL is going to cut it with 4 people hitting it looking for entertainment at the same time during the evening.
3. Not that I'm inept, but let's face it, there's a lot of folks that don't know the first thing about looking up all the entertainment options out there on the net, are you guys using a 'one stop shop' for all your choices or are you selective?
I know about XMBC & there's obviously Netflix & paid Hulu, but other folks would cower in the corner liked greased sheep to a twisted slobbering herder on the whole subject.
I mean, it's nice to tell a guy "just do it!!!!", but when you still have to go to cable for the hi-speed ISP & possibly a lengthy (dare I say more $s) set up for your show, it gets a bit daunting.
What say you folks that made the break?
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elementx
Newbie
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13. April 2012 @ 12:18 |
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Looks like there's a correlation in the bill and the weight of the average American, both keep rising. get off your duff's and go outside and DO something. I wonder how many who complain they can't afford health insurance are paying $200 for cable?
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2012 @ 12:22 |
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LR,
I'm one of the "old timers" around here (nearing my mid 40's), so I'm not as technically advanced as many of these young guys.
But if you can read then you have no excuse for, at least, not trying.
For me, all it took was a discussion exactly like this topic. I, too, was one of the many who were growing more and more tired of corporation's grasp on my wallet.
I seen mention of "set top boxes", "htpc", "xbmc", "streaming", etc. etc. and that's all that got me Google-ing. While reading up on one topic, I came across a whole new slew of options.
The more you read up, the more you say to yourself "why haven't I been doing this years ago".
For your locals, read up on hdtv antennas. You'd be surprised on the reach some of them have. I'm about 25 miles from the city so I was able to get away with a cheap hdtv antenna. But there are some that will pull in a signal from 100 miles or more.
Programming; right now we just record/download the few shows we like and watch them at our convenience. There's shows my wife likes which I don't, so she'll watch them when I'm busy. And the same for my shows.
As for internet, I just have a 10mb line and it's MORE than enough for my wife to browse the internet AND talk on the phone (voip, I use an OOMA) while I'm gaming online (loving BF3) and using Teamspeak.
So yes, everyone should take the leap. Really, what's the WORSE case scenario? The cable companies will still be there if it doesn't work out.
And if it work out then there's one more convert to help pass on the knowledge.
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AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
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13. April 2012 @ 13:06 |
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Cable/Satellite? No thanks. But then I have no internet cap! When I have paid for such a service, I still had trouble finding something worthwhile to watch. Commercials, multiple channels airing the same thing! Not to mention a strong percentage of sports channels! I'm not into sports :p The internet is evolving rapidly. If the cable/satellite companies don't evolve with it, they may find themselves left behind ;) Most people seem to be wising up. Quite frankly, we've become a rather lazy race anyhow. I suppose sitting at my computer for hours on end is lazy too though :p But at least I'm working to accomplish something.
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bratcher
Senior Member
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13. April 2012 @ 13:40 |
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I cut the video part of cable off 3 years ago & just have cable internet service. Still my bill (for internet) runs $70 a month which is better than twice that for digital preferrred (from Comcast) plus the internet service they offer. With all the movies I recorded off cable TV, bought & converted into DVD's from internet downloads + Netflix? Who needs cable with the box? I sure don't!! And oh yeah I watch 5 out of about 70 channells over the air with an antenna for free if you count all of the digital subchannells.....
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Senior Member
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13. April 2012 @ 14:14 |
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I'm sorry but none of the internet crap is a good solution nor is there a one stop shop. Plus a lot of the streaming still comes with commercials and you can't fast forward through them either like you can on a set-top box, the quality just isn't there.
I use Pandora for music on occasion but the sound quality is horrible, so as background music it is fine but if I'm going to enjoy what I'm listing to I have to go back to CD/DVD/Blu-ray music or extremely high quality MP3/WMA rips.
Streaming A/V is even worst and takes a lot of bandwidth plus there are a lot of bad feeds/rips too.
You can't get live sports on the net without special subscriptions to each provider typically for each sport.
@Russ, Was it necessary to squabble over a minute when in fact it varies on the broadcast channels and some are worst than others? That was really pretty petty I think.
@Kevin, You need to play with your mini-MAC more. :) LOL Although you are absolutely right that even with 300+ channels these days you still can't find something good to watch.
Sports would be the biggest thing I would miss in dropping pay TV but I would also miss TCM. News and other crappy TV I could careless about the quality so the Internet, that Al Gore invented (LOL), would suffice, MAYBE.
Years ago when I moved to pay TV it was to get away from COMMERCIALS, but now they double dip as I'm getting paid commercials in the TV content and from the reselling providers in their Guides and overlapped on the original broadcast. To me that is unacceptable but most think nothing of it so here we go. And this is why they get away with what they are doing. At some point we will have to drop them to put them in their place but until then they will continue on the path, much like Netflix did until everyone fled them on poor decisions.
Originally posted by bhetrick:
I'm one of the "old timers" around here (nearing my mid 40's), so I'm not as technically advanced as many of these young guys.
You're still a young pup. :) The LordRuss and I have you beat for what it is worth by at least a decade as Russ is getting really old. LOL And actually both Russ and I are technically savvy considering our old ages. :0
@Russ again,
Your 3+ point is pretty much right on in my opinion.
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Senior Member
1 product review
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13. April 2012 @ 14:17 |
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Originally posted by bhetrick:
LR,
I'm one of the "old timers" around here (nearing my mid 40's), so I'm not as technically advanced as many of these young guys.
But if you can read then you have no excuse for, at least, not trying.
For me, all it took was a discussion exactly like this topic. I, too, was one of the many who were growing more and more tired of corporation's grasp on my wallet.
At the risk of becoming crotchety, speaking for myself, I already know the how's & where's, I was speaking more in reference to folks that truly don't know or are too scared to make the leap.
Simply passing the buck & telling them to read isn't going to cut it. That's why other corporate manufacturers come along & try to whip up a solution like Boxee & SlingBox ect... as a 'supposed' cheaper solution, only to nickel & dime you to death later down the road.
I'm perfectly capable of self educating, as well as you are, but you can't tell me that at 60:1 (not in our favor) individuals want a turnkey solution. This is why corporate America has everyone by the nuts & then the 60 want to know what happened.
I'm sure you still change the oil in your cars too, but on occasion I'm sure you get the notion to just let someone else do it for a change as well. Or better still; how about when you went to get information on how to change the oil for the first time? What if some smart ass up & told you to get a book?
Sans the ethical implications about doing for ones self, I believe we're trying to touch on a more global implication here. I'm certainly not making excuses for the sheep. Ignorance is absolutely excusable. Stupidity should be punishable.
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Senior Member
1 product review
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13. April 2012 @ 14:28 |
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Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
@Russ, Was it necessary to squabble over a minute when in fact it varies on the broadcast channels and some are worst than others? That was really pretty petty I think.
Like I was saying in the blathering "idiot monologue" I was trying to divulge a little insider information. I can't be as animated in print as i am in real life so Arial font looks like 'pissy old fat bastard'.
I guess I'll just have to take my lumps as they come...
Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
@Russ again,
Your 3+ point is pretty much right on in my opinion.
Get some right, get some wrong... I've thought about doing stand up for a while, but then there was this dangerous cross breeding into politics as well...
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. April 2012 @ 14:29
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3rdgen
Newbie
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13. April 2012 @ 14:39 |
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I have yet to ever buy cable and im 31 years old. Just dont see a need for it. I never even had a converter box. Cable is not air. Home phone is not air. Let me teach, and you can learn. Any show is on the internet just look around. Free. Internet $40 a month. Magic Jack $104 for 5 years and comes with free long distance, Caller ID, Call waiting, Voice mail. What more could u want? Movies. I go to the pawn shop when they have sales once a month and buy like 20-60 at a time. Buy two for $4 and get the third for free. Cheaper then cable, and resell able. TV 52" bought from a repair shop for $250 works like new. Stop being a slave sheep and you will still have what you want, and tell the crooks to kiss off.
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Senior Member
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13. April 2012 @ 16:05 |
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Yes, I must agree that there is no "easy" solution.
I absolutely refuse streaming because I just cannot handle the quality, nor the inability to FF / RW...
And a commercial makes me flip channels, so if I get a commercial in my STREAMING show and am unable to change channels or FF ... well, you get the idea.
The reality is, though, that while there is no easy solution, there are CERTAINLY solutions that are not so easy.
That means that the not so easy should eventually become easy, so keep your eyes open.
Yes, you'll probably have to change a few viewing habits but in the end it will be significantly better.
Currently I am able to watch all the currently running shows I want, (including most any sport I want if I don't mind watching it delayed). The show appears automatically in my X Box Media Center XBMC and it requires very little management.
No, it's not for everyone. It requires forethought, time, and patience but... the fact that it is doable now with these tools means that it will/should soon be available to all.
This is why I am so frustrated. I know what is possible. I know how easy it is. I know how AWESOME it is to have a full season of a show before I start watching it.
And I know that the media companies could do it for everyone if they would just quit being so GD greedy.
Oh, Im sorry... Did the middle of my sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?
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Member
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13. April 2012 @ 18:57 |
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If we got to "choose" our channels, how else would the cable companies be able to rob us?
If it did happen I'd only need three channels,
Movie, Sports, News or Cartoons. Can't believe the amount of shyt they put on the damn channels nowadays.
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getanacct
Junior Member
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13. April 2012 @ 22:33 |
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I'm at the point in which I'll think about soon cutting off the Cable TV and just have the internet (I'd rather read books or surf the 'net anyway.)
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3rdgen
Newbie
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13. April 2012 @ 23:20 |
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Originally posted by getanacct:
I'm at the point in which I'll think about soon cutting off the Cable TV and just have the internet (I'd rather read books or surf the 'net anyway.)
Ya lol, or fill the car over halfway.
Hey take it easy
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bykaholic
Newbie
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14. April 2012 @ 01:20 |
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NJ has no TV Services to Cardboard boxes thanks to the Big CC...[/
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ehvbadboy
Newbie
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15. April 2012 @ 09:04 |
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i have 100mb glasfiber internet fup policy and 85 tv channels from wich are 15 hd channels .i pay apox $90 usd for it .i can use op to 4 tvs in my house .
and i thought europe(the netherlands ) is expencive .
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hearme0
Senior Member
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16. April 2012 @ 13:52 |
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Originally posted by Mysttic:
Originally posted by hearme0:
Originally posted by Mysttic:
Quote:
As far as I'm concerned, get rid of Disney & ESPN & that could easily knock $40 of my bill right away. But nooooo, for some gyotdamn reason we can't choose? They give us a means to purchase any movie, at any time, for any price, or any freebie tv show under the same circumstances, but now all of the sudden we can't get rid of channels we don't want & tailor a bill to our satisfaction?
That's the thing that TICKS me off about all cable companies. Why can't we pick and choose the stations we want? At one point my bill got as high as $300/month, so I said enough of this and dropped all HD channels and went to the very most basic package I could get. Now I pay $200/month which is still a ripoff considering what I don't get. Its almost to the point where I gonna drop cable altogether.
I do have to ask.......WTF country are you in that cable is running 300/month???
Ain't no cable bill that high anywhere in the U.S. unless, by chance you subscribe to EVERY LAST SINGLE PREMIUM CABLE CHANNEL ................. PLUS.........stuff like AsiaNet. Seriously.....you need to be a more conscientious consumer!
Canada. Our cable companies have to pay US cable companies for the rights to air their shows in our country. That cost in turn gets deflected to us Canadians. The more channels you have the higher the charge for those rights to view those stations. Add on top your regular charge, your service fees, your HD fees, etc. It's ridiculous in this country.
I only have 1 box, and 2 TVs that were getting basic cable without the box at $10 extra on my bill. I also live in a backwater town where its more expensive to cable to your house. Still the price is outrageous even after I lowered it. My internet bill is tied in with my cable bill btw, that was $100 a month now its $60. But still it's very costly in our country which is why we download or stream a lot here.
We are talking CABLE BILLS here people......not "internet + cable". They are two different services and this article is regarding the expense of CABLE only. Please stay on track my friends.
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SProdigy
Senior Member
5 product reviews
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16. April 2012 @ 14:37 |
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I'm sorry everyone, but I don't see how you can have such cheap bills unless you are paying for VERY basic cable/satellite or have an intro/promo offer, such as being a new customer, where they obviously give you the world and screw over the existing customer base.
For instance, I have DirecTV, which BTW, I love. Yes, I have some perks. 4 HD boxes, HD package, DVR, HBO and Showtime. After FTC and other baloney taxes, my bill easily exceeds $140.
Now, it is my choice to pay and continue to pay for this service. I used to have Time Warner, which was one of the worst choices I had ever made and will never go back to TV that goes on the fritz, or jumps out of HD or even color! What I can't understand is how some of those posting can survive off of barebones TV. Afterall, this is Afterdawn, home of techno junkies, right? Do we not have bleeding edge home theater setups, yet we'll get by with OTA TV and streaming video? That sounds a bit off.
Personally, I can get how some are able to get by. If you're not into sports, there's one reason you wouldn't need to stick with cable/sat. Let's be honest, outside of local NFL (and sometimes not even that) NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, college, just go down the line, they're not on regular TV. DVR kills it for me too, because I can't record my OTA, unless I want to use some clunky setup or pay (extra bill) for TIVO.
Hulu isn't great either. Okay, it solves the DVR issue IF you can stay current within a few weeks of most shows. Even then, lots of content is tied to "PC only" and not mobile devices or Roku style set top boxes. (I ditched Hulu after the trial personally.)
Netflix can get you by. I personally like it and use it. But as someone said above, when you have a full household, it's much more difficult to make these decisions.
In the end, it's still your personal choice and TV is still a luxury. Oh and please don't respond with illegal solutions to obtaining these shows or movies. That's not a logical replacement plan for most of us. But I would like to hear more of what people are watching when they do cut the cord as I've always been intrigued.
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Senior Member
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16. April 2012 @ 16:29 |
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It's the avid book readers that cut the cord since they hate TV anyway.
However if sports continue to get worst and hollywierd continues to put out shat for movies I could see myself cutting the cord too as I'm tired of paying for commercial TV, that is just stupid really.
I use to watch all sports my favorite being pro hockey which was by the way the first sport I gave up due to poor refereeing and changing rules. Then basketball went to shat in the 90's and now the NFL is too, with baseball coming up next. Soccer use to be good too but has gotten horrible as well. I'm only left with college hockey, NCAA64 basketball, and MLB maybe.
I've had DirecTV for over a decade now and although I still like them they have gotten worst not better and now their system is plagued by commercials in the guides, the system is slow and has gotten more mickey mouse as they have expanded over the years. Plus they continue to cost more for essentially less. I have 4 HD boxes which two are DVR's, one of which I own and still pay the leasing/service expense for even though. My monthly bill was around $170 with HD service, all movie channels, and the basic sports package but we complained and now I'm paying $135/mo. For most of the decade I've been with them it has been around $115/mo but in the last 3-4 years it has gone up quickly and since Tivo was banished the service hasn't been the same, even with the new BS they provide now in their own DVR boxes.
If there was an alternative that was better I would change but Cable totally sucks and Dish isn't a good alternative either. Besides I hate those HOOPER commercials even if the box is a good deal. LOL
Such is life, times are getting worst.
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