Consumers Dropping Pay TV Services

IBD's Click ^ | 8/23/2010 | Patrick Seitz

[Slyscribe]

The number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom TV services in the U.S. fell for the first time ever in the second quarter, according to research firm SNL Kagan.

The U.S. multichannel TV market lost 216,000 customers last quarter, vs. a gain of 378,000 a year ago. The total number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom video fell to 100.1 million in the second quarter, SNL Kagan says.

[krb]

Yep, for me it’s NetFlix + free over the air digital TV.

[Sans-Culotte]

Not surprising.
Folks in a financial pinch cut out the non essentials.

That would be my guess. If I lost my job, the first thing I'd drop would be DiSH. I'd make do with off-air programming and my DVD/Blu-ray collection.

[Nowhere Man]

If it weren’t for Fox News, FX, and the Comedy Channel, I would drop it too. Netflix takes care of all movie needs very nicely.

Dittoes. I could get by on broadcast although I would miss Fox News. Most of the TV I watch is on the Retro Television Network (RTV) and THiS-TV. RTV is basically old Universal TV shows although tere are times I like to call it the Stephen J. Cannell, Donald Bellisario and Glenn Larson Network, it seems any TV show they have made from 1970 or so had at least one, if not more, of these producers involved. THiS-TV is mainly movies with some TV shows, usually MGM made. Here in Pittsburgh, I watch RTV-Pittsburgh on virtual channel 11-2 (UHF 48), RTV-Steubenville (OH) virtual channel 9-2 (VHF 9) and THiS-TV on virtual 4-2 (UHF 51).

Despite some problems, one thing I like about HDTV is that you can have subchannels of alternate programming.

[Nowhere Man]

I’m inches away from dumping my dish, after 15 years of service. Over a hundred channels and hardly anything I care to watch. I wish there was a channel that ran exclusively old shows, like “The Fugitive,” “Rawhide,” “Sea Hunt,” and whatnot.

There is, THiS-TV and Retro Televsion Network. They are over the air broadcast on HDTV subchannels, not all areas have them. If you have an HDTV or an HDTV converter box to your old TV (like me), you can do a scann and see what you get. IIRC, "Sea Hunt" is on THiS-TV early in the mornings like around 4 AM or so so if you want to catch it, set your VCR.

[Nowhere Man]

one more thing, “The Fugitive” was on Retro Television Network but not recently but when they shift programs again, they might put him back on. Currently I’m watching “The Bold Ones.”

[Nowhere Man]

You can get a pretty good indoor antenna from Walmart for $30, to watch free digital HD channels. The weather channel on DirecTV sucks, and whenever we have a storm DirecTV doesn’t even work, but the antenna doesn’t have that problem most of the time, and the local free weather station is great.

My best set of rabbit ears is a 1959 set of Rembrandt rabbit ears my parents got as a wedding gift. That set was sold well into the 1960's. It even beats a set of amplified rabbit ears I have. I like to watch WWE wrestling out of Wheeling, WV on one of the subchannels and it pulls it in 90% of the time, the amplifies does not.

[usconservative]

People are getting sick and tired of the bait-and-switch from cable TV.

DirecTV does a nice bait and switch too. Signed up last year for $39/Mo. for the first 12 months, the second year I've seen 3 rate hikes, paying $82/Mo. for the same package I paid $39/Mo. for last year. As soon as this "contract" with DirecTV is up in a few months, I'm shutting it off and going back to OTA TV (Over The Air.)

No cable, no DirecTV, nothing. Sure I'll miss Fox News but beyond that, there's really nothing I watch on TV at this point that I can't stream over the net free or very cheaply. (Burn Notice comes to mind.)

TV is junk food for the brain anyway..

[usconservative]

and whenever we have a storm DirecTV doesn’t even work

Forget storms, it gets even a little cloudy here or a plane flies overhead and the damn' DirecTV signal pixellates and stops for crying out loud. 99.5% availability my a$$.

[rbg81]

I should also add AMC, as they have some good movies and original series, like Breaking Bad. For the most part, however, cable is a wasteland. I absolutely flinch when I see my teenage daughter watching these trashy, reality TV shows on MTV.

[I Drive Too Fast]

http://www.tvshowbase.com/

[I Drive Too Fast]

You can watch Burn Notice at that link I sent you in my previous post. I know another website for watching online including Showtime series "while" they are currently on the air on Showtime. You just have to wait 2 days to see them, but it is FREE and this website has NO COMMERCIALS at all.

Unfortunately, I can't think of it now, but if I do, I will let every one know (although I like keeping that one a secret).

[stboz]

Had Direct TV once. It wasn’t worth it.

[usconservative]

Thanks for that link, bookmarked!

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

What I have is just a flat square, not rabbit ears. Long ago when I actually used rabbit ears, I remember having to move them around a lot to get decent reception. The flat square stays in one place and works fine. The new antennas should be designed to receive digital signals.

[greene66]

No Retro TV Network in my area, unfortunately. I’ve been following the news of it since it first started, hoping it will eventually make it here. Some scuttlebutt that “Sea Hunt” might be next on the horizon with MGM’s manufacture-on-demand dvd’s, if “Highway Patrol” does well.

[Nowhere Man]

What I have is just a flat square, not rabbit ears. Long ago when I actually used rabbit ears, I remember having to move them around a lot to get decent reception. The flat square stays in one place and works fine. The new antennas should be designed to receive digital signals.

I think in some ways, we have been tossed back to 1950 since HDTV became mandatory. We are experimenting with antennas again to see how well we can get the signals ad to see if we can get more. I'm watching the Steelers/Broncos game, since I have to pull something off of this computer and then I'll go to the laptop, I'll move to the living room. In the computer room, I use a 1984 vintage Commodore 1702 color monitor for a TV. I have one of the government issue converter boxes, a Zenith DTT-900 feeding it. We have a 1982 Zenith with the game on in the living room but we will have to go from FIOS to the antenna with a Zenith DTT-901 box so we can change the picture to wide screen. We've been using that set everyday since early 1983.

I've seen those flat square antenna too.

I know if my maternal grandmother was still alive, she'd still be using her 1962 RCA B&W portable, I think it is a 17 or 19 inch. It has no UHF tuner but with the converter boxes we have now, at least she will be able to see UHF now. B-)

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Thanks, very interesting. Is there a forum on FR where you look for this kind of technical discussions?

I'm watching the Steelers/Broncos game

Me too. The picture quality is excellent. It's a damn fine feeling not to have to pay for channels I get commercials on!

[buccaneer81]

I know for a fact that Hulu.com has “Sea Hunt.”
Also try in2tv.com.

[giotto]

There’s nothing TO watch. I’m a night person, which means that it’s usually about 3:00 am when I finally sit down to have a snack and watch TV. Nothing, and I mean nothing but informercials, except for some kiddie crap. I watch Book Notes, Mad Men and the Smithsonian channel, but little else. Even Fox News is rarely worth watching. I’m seriously considering having it shut off.

[Pining_4_TX]

I wonder if you could watch those at hulu.com? It’s free for now, but there are rumors of charging for the service in the future. However, if they do that, people will just stop using it.

I have cable because I love baseball and football. I can’t see any other way to get all the games I want to see, otherwise, I would love to get rid of Cox Cable. We now have a green channel and a homo channel. :-(