Posted on 11/05/2010 7:13:51 AM PDT by Zakeet
Edited on 11/05/2010 7:16:50 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Cable companies have been losing TV subscribers at an ever faster rate in the past few months, and satellite TV isn't picking up the slack.
That could be a sign that Internet TV services such as Netflix and Hulu are finally starting to entice people to cancel cable, though company executives are pointing to the weak economy and housing market for now.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
DirecTv doubled my bill without asking - from $29 to $65. For a basic package and no HD.
I called and they told me that I was out of the “offer” period. Nothing they could do.
Then they mailed me, emailed me, ran online and TV ads telling me Directv was $29 a month.
I called again and was told “not for you.”
I cancelled and don’t regret it. Been off cable for 2 years. Even FoxNews is about a day behind the news I get in print online. Why pay a premium for it?
Lower rates might help.
Look at googleTv. It’s a cable killer.
If it's not on Netflix, I can always pick it up on PirateBay.
My biggest problem with TV is actually the commercials more than anything else: they're too surreal and leave me feeling creeped out.
That nails it. No more need be said.
It’s a combination. Cable is expensive, and their customer service is horrible. If you need something fixed, you’re just as likely to get it fixed with chicken bones, feathers, and dried blood as you are with the incompetents that the cable company sends out.
My son, he’s 27, dropped cable. He downloads entire series of programs from the internet and watches them, and movies on his home media center, (he built a linux based media center).
The only thing he misses is live sports, and he can either come over to my house or go to a bar. He’s pretty happy with the alternative to cable.
It’s not the internet. The change to digital screwed a bunch of people. It requires running new coax through most older houses. plus, cable keeps going up a few dollars every couple of months.
I’m hooked on Netflix; love watching old shows like Have Gun Will Travel, Route 66, Peter Gunn. Cable/satellite are dead unless they unbundle. Why pay for 256 channels of shopping shows and skank reality if you only watch Fox, football and financials?
If I could figure out how to get baseball games online, I would cancel too. MLB.com wants too much money to watch games on it’s site.
ping
I am seriously thinking of dropping cable. I can now access almost anything I want via an Apple Mac Mini computer hooked via HDMI to my TV. The graphics are tons better than cable, so I suspect I will drop cable soon. I was an early adopter of cell phones and have not had a land-line phone in seven years and I am perfectly satisfied.
Where to begin.
Might I suggest:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx
Type in your address, and it will tell you what over-the-air channels are available in your area, and what type of antenna you will need. In my area, I get over 30 local stations, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and others.
Occassionally you can find a USB TV tuner on Woot.com for $50 that turns your PC into DVD, so you can record games, shows and movies and then stream them across your home network.
Now, with Netflix, I get unlimited streaming of movies.
And, finally, with Hulu - I can get the various series I want to watch, when I want to watch them.
The Apple iTV module connects to your TV, and enables your TV to tie into your home network for the cost of $95.
So, tell me again why I should be paying Dishnetwork and/or Comcast cable $65/month for stuff I can get for nearly free?
Cable had gotten up to $125/month when I canceled. It wasn’t remotely worth the money. The box rental fee was really terrible. $3.50 for a normal box, an additional $7.50 since it was a digital cable box and another $7.50 for the DVR feature. ...and add $1/month for a cheap remote that you had to have since they would shut off the remote control feature on the box if you didn’t rent a remote. Then you add sales taxes and franchise fees on top. It was nearly $25/month just for equipment.
I put three digital tuners in my computer and use Windows Media Center as a DVR connected to my Xbox. It’s a better DVR solution than the cable box. Xbox now has Netflix and ESPN programming. Hulu is coming after the first of the year.
The few cable shows I care about can be seen online or purchased through Amazon on Demand.
The only things I have missed are NASCAR and NFL games, which aren’t available on the ESPN streaming service.
You should be able to watch all sports at channelsurfing.net
My wife still wants to keep it, but I’d just as soon cancel: Nothing but trash. Simply freak show, degrading, poorly produced trash. I’d be all for keeping the service if I could just pay for maybe three to five channels of my choosing.
It’s like a flat rate buffet where 90% of the food tastes horrible, and another 8% is actually spoiled or toxic.
It’s become like airplane travel has become.
I spend more time streaming Netflix movies/tv programs than watching regular tv/cable.
Main reason: regular tv/cable has too many damn commercials and Netflix has ZERO.
There are not many ‘local’ channels accessible over-air or even in the ‘basic’ cable line-up. And I have cable internet, which is less expensive than area DSL or satellite or mobile. So, I have to keep cable and the cable requires a minimum of ‘basic’.
I do add the extended plus HD box, so my cable tv + internet is moderately expensive.
1. In hard economic times, cable is not a necessity, it is an expensive luxury;
2. The programming substandard on most channels.
3. Service is poor - and their attitude is worse. "We'll be there between 2 and 6, so take a half day off work and cool your heels - you're lucky we even deign to respond."
4. Internet alternatives such as Hulu, or watching shows on DVD provide alternative.
Newspapers, magazines, over-the-air TV, and now cable TV are feeling the effects of their empty words and programming coming back to haunt them.
American’s don’t want fluff anymore and it shows with the way they are voting with their wallets.
I’ve thought about canceling since everyone streams their shows a fe days after first airing anyways. But I really don’t want to go without Sox/Celtic/Bruins coverage, which is all local cable. If there was a way to get around that Id’ leap in a heartbeat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.