[kromike]

Agreed.

I haven't subscribed to cable since 1992, for two reasons:
1) I don't watch nearly enough TV to justify the monthly expense, and
2) I resent the legal extortion perpetrated by cable/satellite companies which suggests that I have to "pay a reasonable fee" for broadcast channels.

I'm gonna utter a little blasphemy here...there's more to life than TV.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

You’re absolutely right, but for general info I’ll detail what my Mom did. It may be the only scam she’s ever pulled in her life!

Where we are there is practically zero TV reception sans cable or dish. We’re not far from civilization, but we’re behind hills from the nearby urban areas where broadcasts originate. So without an antenna, we get maybe 2-3 channels so weakly that the TV intermittently blanks them or just plain loses them. Unwatchable.

Meanwhile, “basic” cable has crept up from $20 to $40. Mom decided it wasn’t worth it. So, she actually called the cable co and said she wanted to cancel because she just didn’t get the use out of it.

Cable co ended up giving her some kind of ultra basic rate that’s actually not listed on their rate sheet = $18 or $19 a month! Obviously, the wire is in place and they’re $18 better off getting $18 than nothing! She lost only a thin tier of maybe half a dozen “above basic but below premium” channels. For most, that tier is History-CNBC, maybe a few others. Yeah, I like the History channel, but after you learn about every stinking rivet on a B-17, you’re pretty much covered.

[Psycho_Runner]

I’m gonna utter a little blasphemy here...there’s more to life than TV.

I turned off the TV on June 15, 2006 and this was one of the most empowering things I have ever done. I read alot more and I don’t receive the “lack and garbage” programming that goes through the airwaves and cable.

I read alot on personal development and also on postive attitude.

[cgbg]

there's more to life than TV

Now that we have DVDs with our favorite stuff on them, yeah. :-)

[Thermalseeker]

I resent the legal extortion perpetrated by cable/satellite companies which suggests that I have to "pay a reasonable fee" for broadcast channels.

I have Dish Network. Seems like hardly a week goes by when they aren't soliciting the off air networks. Not worth having, IMO.

I resent having to pay for other channels that I don't care for like the home shopping network or Al MSNBC, Al CNN, etc.

[Mark was here]

2) I resent the legal extortion perpetrated by cable/satellite companies which suggests that I have to "pay a reasonable fee" for broadcast channels.

As twisted as it seems, local stations were demanding that Comcast pay them for their signal that Comcast was carrying on the cable.

It is like they were saying you are bringing more viewers to our advertisers, so we want to punish you for it.