Cutting Cable: Companies Losing Customers

CBS News ^ | February 8, 2009

[Zakeet]

Porter McConnell gave up on pay TV last summer after noticing that monthly rates kept creeping up.

Now with no satellite or cable TV, she watches her trusty old TV set with an antenna or she goes online to catch her favorite programs. Once in a while, she buys shows from Apple Inc.'s iTunes service. McConnell also upped her subscription to Netflix Inc.'s movies-by-mail service so she gets two DVDs at a time instead of one, for $15 a month.

"Part of it is, I've got to economize," said the 30-year-old Washington, D.C., resident who works at a nonprofit.

McConnell is the kind of consumer who makes cable and satellite TV operators lose sleep. While a weak economy invariably makes people pinch pennies, this is the first time that viewing shows online has become a viable competitor to pay TV, making cutting the cord easier.

Cable operators are starting to notice. Glenn Britt, chief executive of Time Warner Cable Inc., voiced his concern Wednesday in a quarterly earnings discussion with analysts.

"We are starting to see the beginning of cord cutting," he said. "People will choose not to buy subscription video if they can get the same stuff for free."

[aft_lizard]

I dropped Cox cable a couple of weeks ago. I simply couldn’t justify the amount of programming I was receiving with the amount of money I was paying, not to mention they promised a slew of new HD channels by the end of the year in the Phoenix area and only managed to come up with less than half of the 83+ channels they said we would have.

[redgolum]

TV is to big of a propaganda tool. The State will step in soon to make sure that their favored organs stay in business.

In fact, they already have. The Digital switch over has been delayed, and will be again.