"Cord Cutting" re Cable TV Growing

[KlokWyze]

I think the programming rocks.More fine options than anyone could find the time to enjoy. Even in basic cable. And, with DVR, you watch things when you have time and want to.

Strongly disagree there. Whenever me or the wife "watches" TV we spend way to much time flipping. DVR costs more money.

We do top tier internet. Hulu, Netflix, Redbox and download (STEAL!) anything that takes too long to come out. Really just Game of Thrones & Walking Dead.

 

[Virgorising]

I've watched some old shows on Netflix where the episodes were 25-27 minutes long. Back then, only 6 minutes per hour, or 10%, now it's 33%.

And, not like the Superbowl where many people watch FOR the Super commercials. Esp when the game is as lame as the last one..

 

[ch33zw1z]

I think the programming rocks.

You know that's not true, think of all the channels and companies that would go under if a la carte was an option. edit: Sure, there's a hit show here and there that interests me. But overall it's just garbage. When I did have cable tv, much of the shows I would get into were cancelled.

More fine options than anyone could find the time to enjoy. Even in basic cable.

more options than anyone reasonable person would find time to watch. couch potatoes will watch anything.

And, with DVR, you watch things when you have time and want to.

Sounds like what I do now with Netflix, Amazon, etc...

I watch it when I want.

 

[Virgorising]

Strongly disagree there. Whenever me or the wife "watches" TV we spend way to much time flipping

I don't flip. Nor does my BF. We like very specific shows/series and watch them consistently. Well, DVR them. We are not couch potatoes, but point taken, am sure they abound.

And yes, absolutely, DVR does cost . But I think it's very neat, hugely pragmatic technology.

Remember, we are each unique!

 

[ch33zw1z]

And, not like the Superbowl where many people watch FOR the Super commercials. Esp when the game is as lame as the last one..

I wouldn't know. Haven't watched the superbowl in at least a decade.

 

[Virgorising]

I wouldn't know. Haven't watched the superbowl in at least a decade.

Now THAT.....is IMPRESSIVE! My BF watches, if I am present, I check out the half time and the commercials.

I am not into watching decent guys, many of whom feel they gotta juice in some way....sustaining brain damage. That is now a known phenomenon and ubiquitous in the sport.

Not to mention all professional sports are increasingly all about obscene money.

Not to meander, but, while Phil Jackson retired with Impressive, BEYOND WELL DESERVED assets, and, when we dug him out of retirement the other day, to work to make all our highly paid players a little less PATHETIC tho as President he can't coach anymore....even with the 60M they are paying him, his assets no way will come even close to those of most players. Not only LeBron.

I recommend, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success. I do ebooks.

 

[marmasatt]

They do that here too, and I don't mean Verizon. It's like they want you to keep switching to other telecom companies year after year like some stupid game. A few months back, there was a deal for internet for new customers only. People were saying that if you TOLD them you were an existing customer, you could be denied, but if you cancelled your service, they'd give it to you immediately or weeks later to win you back. What the f....?

It's asinine. I hate it. When you really do leave, they almost inevitably call you or send you a letter a few weeks later (this time it was an email from verizon) saying they want you back or they miss you or something. But they don't really give a crap because they would have worked with you to keep you. You just have to call their bluff I guess.

And I realize it's a numbers/enrollment thing - but nonetheless, new contracts should not count for squat if old customers are just walking out the back door at the same time. But somehow it works for them. It's all smoke and mirrors because it's the way it's worked for a good 8-10 yrs - at least around here anyway.

 

[techs]

I am still in bed with Verizon. But platonically. And I am on the verge of hooking up with someone else.

I chuckled.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

According to how the site figures it, 6.5 percent of people have "cut the cord".
I think this spells trouble for people who are still on cable tv as the cable companies will want to raise rates on those who still have cable tv.

Or else raise rates on internet service. And that raises the question of what will happen if they start raising internet rates to make up for lost tv revenue. Many people know that cable companies have monopolies but are only starting to understand that the internet portion of their bill is unregulated and people may start asking why a company with a government provided monopoly has no regulation.

This is exactly what will happen - internet rates will just increase.

I had the Bright House combo of phone, Internet, and TV. I got fed up with the bill and dropped phone in favor of Ooma. The sales drone basically said there was little to no savings doing that, as their "bundle" effectively made the phone free. I'm not done arguing with them yet, but this is what they're going to do if people just subscribe to Internet - they'll raise the rate sky high and probably strictly enforce bandwidth limits too.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I haven't had cable for years and thinking of getting it again. I miss the channels like Food Network, DIY, HGTV, Discovery, and TLC.

To add insult to the ever-increasing cable price increase injury, the quality of programming has gone way down on the "standard" channels like TLC, Discovery, and History. History Channel only has one redeeming show at this point - Vikings.

I'd drop cable TV tomorrow if I could but the wife won't let me. I let her pay that bill as a result.

 

[sze5003]

I need to call Comcast every 6 months and ask for the retentions department. They ask why I'm cancellling my cable only and I tell them fios will give me a better deal. Even though fios isn't in my apartment building. After sometime they give me some deal.

Right now I pay $93 a month for 50mb down, digital preferred, and 6 month of hbo and show time. I don't even have an hd box because it costs more per month. I only keep cable because my gf is over on weekends and she watches the tv if I'm busy doing something else.

 

[Murloc]

I never watch TV plus most people just watch the free channels around here (mainly public broadcasters and the local ones), but I don't care about sports. It's mostly people who care about sports that get subscription services (be it over the internet or satellite in the case of sky) because public broadcasters don't always show the event you want to see.

 

[TXHokie]

I haven't had cable for years and thinking of getting it again. I miss the channels like Food Network, DIY, HGTV, Discovery, and TLC.

I've cut my cable for four years now. I missed those channels too...but I'd miss my $100/mo more. Make that $1200/yr. Or $4800 since. Come to think of it, I've actually had time to cook and do stuffs around the house instead of just watching it.

 

[88keys]

Two Words:


Net Neutrality.

 

[Mermaidman]

The best benefit of cutting the TV cord is watching less TV. I spend less time vegging on the couch surfing channels.

 

[BUTCH1]

What's dangerous is that they recently got rid of net neutrality, so guess what the cable/internet companies are going to start doing, they will make the internet work like TV.

With the base package, you get Google and a couple news sites, then you pay a premium for other stuff. Things like Netflix will be very high priced, because they don't want one of their products (the internet) to compete with their other product (cable).

They've already found a solution for that issue, throttling. Cable Co.'s will either throttle your connection to the point where netflix/Hulu suck to use or set data caps so your limited to how much you can use without paying a surcharge, in the end the consumer gets bent-over, again,

 

[MrDudeMan]

The best benefit of cutting the TV cord is watching less TV. I spend less time vegging on the couch surfing channels.

Winner.

I share internet with a friend across town and neither of us pay for TV in any capacity. We have DSL and cable modems, so we bounce between comcast and centurylink every 6 months. My internet bill comes out to $16/mo. I know it's 'wrong' and I simply don't care. Normally I ride a pretty well cared for high horse, but the pricing has gotten so out of control that I'll gladly be a hypocrite in this case.

We each bought one of these for $65. The connection has been rock solid for over a year through torrential downpours, blizzards, high wind, and everything else mother nature has thrown at it. We're able to reliably get 200 Mbps at 2.1 miles apart in a suburban area. I've been testing a point to multipoint configuration to get a third friend connected. His house is approximately 31 degrees south of my other friend, so I can get them both with a single antenna. I've been on both ends of the link and the bandwidth and latency feel like a wire-connected network.

 

[SheHateMe]

Just switched to internet only with FiOS. No need for a cable box and subscription when I have the Internet. Just did Ethernet runs throughout the house. I have wallplates and a patch panel on order from monoprice. I also have a rack on order from newegg. Switch and verizon router ready to go.

I'm set.

 

[MrSquished]

I work for a cable company. I didn't bother reading the article because the premise is common sense, and there have been countless articles the last couple years that basically say the same thing.

I'm optimistic because consumers will have some control over the cost of content. The current system is manipulated by media conglomerates like Viacom to force us all to pay for channels we don't want in order to get the channels we do want. There's still a place for cableco's as the high-speed telecom will still be used to get our online content.

Yep. The huge entertainment companies basically tell the cable companies - you want to carry ESPN? sure, but you gotta carry these other 10 channels or forget it.

I moved 2 months ago and went internet only - Roku 3 with Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime (which is also used for 2 day shipping)

I haven't missed tv at all. Only issue is my apartment is ground floor and I get piss poor HD antenna reception. Tried 3 different powered ones.

I just want it mainlyl for football games and I wouldn't mind watching Jeopardy or 60 Minutes sometimes - though I haven't even checked if those shows are on Hulu yet.

However, Cablevision has a $20 a month basic broadcast add-on. You get all the local channels in HD. I guess if I don't find a way to work with the landlord/condo association to get an HD antenna on the roof, I'll just pay the $20 extra from Sept unil the superbowl.

can watch redzone online using my parents log in as they have cable. not so bad.

 

[HOSED]

Never paid for Cell phone or TV. I pay 50/month for 15/5 FIOS and phone. I did splurge about 1 year ago for an HD Homerun and outdoor antenna, now I get ~40 watchable channels, and can watch/record on my notebooks anywhere in the house.
I do enjoy some sports like ice hockey (GO FLYERS) but only listen on the radio.

 

[rpanic]

Cut the cord two months ago with Time Warner. Was hardest for my wife but she got over it. Pay for Netflix and Hulu, and I still get basic channels over cable line since I still have broadband thought them and they didn’t cut the line. So nice not having the constant sound of the TV on the background from my kids and wife leaving it on. Had a bunch of family over this weekend and I think a few of them are going to do the same after I showed them my setup using Roku 3. Saving $70 a month.

 

[Genx87]

I cut the cord in 2009-2011. But my fiancee and I moved in together in Aug 2011. She watches the foodnetwork. So I reluctantly subscribe to the lowest package possible. If the entirety of Foodnetwork was available through the net. The TV package would be gone.

 

[T9D]

My internet for 35/5 is $45.

My phone is with page plus and I try to google voice at home on wifi when I can. So my phone bill is only like $10 a month on average or less.

I get movies and shows on amazon prime which I already have for shipping stuff, use regular hulu, watch a lot of other stuff on the TV channels websites too. And have a TV antenna for HD TV over the air. And free grooveshark for music, That's plenty of content for me.

So for $55 a month I get all the TV I need and internet, and cell phone, and music. That's a hell of a savings and bargain.

 

[Kaido]

The best benefit of cutting the TV cord is watching less TV. I spend less time vegging on the couch surfing channels.

Definitely. Although I do spend entirely too much time mindless scrolling through Netflix My strategy now is to research movies online & queue them up so I have interesting stuff to watch (or just look stuff up on my phone).

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Definitely. Although I do spend entirely too much time mindless scrolling through Netflix My strategy now is to research movies online & queue them up so I have interesting stuff to watch (or just look stuff up on my phone).

Try instantwatcher .com for looking up good Netflix stuff.

As far as cutting the cord I've been living on my own since about 20 years old. I'm 33 now and have had pay tv for 3 of the 13 years of living on my own. I don't even have Netflix instant anymore. Tv is pretty much a waste of time. I can find other things I like to do besides waste my life away in front of a pretty screen.