Sounds malicious.
The FCC and the media are the problem. Government is the problem not the solution.
FCC and media : you stay the hell out of our lives, out of the free market , and out of America!
From what I’ve been reading lately, the cable box is a dinosaur that cable providers want to kill off.
ROKU!
Cut the Cable.
I constantly find myself scrolling through 150 channels looking for something tolerable to watch.... and it’s getting harder and harder to do so. Last night I settled on what was billed as an inside look at the behind the scenes look at the perks of being president, and it turned out to be an hour of hearing about how great and different a and sincere, etc. Obama is compared to all who preceded him.
Cox Cable recently forced customers to have at least a mini-box ($2/month, after 1 year free).
The trouble is, the mini-box doesn’t get all the channels one subscribes to. It only picks up the basic and first tier. No premiums. No additional tiers. No On-Demand. The onscreen TV guide does not allow for pre-selecting.
Cox’s solution? Rent a big set-top box ($8.50/month).
Mini-boxes are not available for purchase.
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The cable companies can still exercise a lot of control because even 2nd party boxes require a cablecard.
Yep, $17 bucks a set from Verizon, with no option to purchase. Oh, for the good old days of TCI when I could run a coax from the wall to the back of my TV with a loop to the VCR.
Unlike the exploiter class, I have no problem with monopolies and duopolies being regulated.
It is hilarious how the cable company is always sending me deals I can get for cable TV. They list one price but in the fine print is says “Does no count taxes a equipment fees”. Now when those fees add up to another 40-50 dollars a month then it is not something to overlook.
I bought my own cable modem to save the rent that Time Warner was charging. They increased my bill in coming months to match what they were losing then raised it again and again till I quit their cable.
Much cheaper solution:
Roku along with $20/month for Sling TV that gets you several cable channels, Netflix for $9/month, OTA antenna for FREE tv with better reception and many tv stations you thought were only on cable, external hard drive to copy your tv shows and movies to then plug into the tv. Amazon Prime for tv/movies as bonus for buying stuff thru them. Plex TV.
Internet is $35/month from Time Warner for 50mbs.