"Cord Cutting" re Cable TV Growing

[Virgorising]

I chuckled.

 

[Virgorising]

O!
Just discovered there is a case before The High Court which will impact cord cutting, but FAR MORE.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...l?utm_hp_ref=technology&utm_hp_ref=technology

 

[ultimatebob]

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.

Comcast's "cheap" phone service isn't really all that cheap, either, as all of the bundles require you to get the expanded cable package to get it added at a reasonable price.

I think that the price difference between basic digital cable and internet vs. expanded digital cable, phone, and internet was $89 vs $119 the last I checked.

 

[smackababy]

O!
Just discovered there is a case before The High Court which will impact cord cutting, but FAR MORE.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...l?utm_hp_ref=technology&utm_hp_ref=technology

It sounds like what Aereo is doing is illegal. They are capturing over the air broadcast signals and charging users for access to them. I can't capture local radio signals and stream it online legally.

I suppose they could argue they are merely facilitating a service similar to a DVR, but that is hardly 100% true.

 

[purbeast0]

my verizon cable bill just jumped from $144 to $181 after my 18mo promotional period finished for internet, tv, and phone. it's pretty ridiciulous when i think about it, but i watch a lot of stuff on cable channels and my wife watches a lot of spanish cable channels. the dvr is also a great feature.

but fuck, the $181 bill churned my stomach when i saw it.

 

[sze5003]

my verizon cable bill just jumped from $144 to $181 after my 18mo promotional period finished for internet, tv, and phone. it's pretty ridiciulous when i think about it, but i watch a lot of stuff on cable channels and my wife watches a lot of spanish cable channels. the dvr is also a great feature.

but fuck, the $181 bill churned my stomach when i saw it.

Comcast does the same. I started with a $60 a month internet and cable promotion then it became $79, then $115, now I'm back to $95 a month and this is just regular premium digital package, standard definition and 50mb internet.

 

[smackababy]

my verizon cable bill just jumped from $144 to $181 after my 18mo promotional period finished for internet, tv, and phone. it's pretty ridiciulous when i think about it, but i watch a lot of stuff on cable channels and my wife watches a lot of spanish cable channels. the dvr is also a great feature.

but fuck, the $181 bill churned my stomach when i saw it.

If you don't need the phone for anything, I'd look at dropping that. I pay around $150 for internet, TV + premium channels.

 

[Virgorising]

It sounds like what Aereo is doing is illegal. They are capturing over the air broadcast signals and charging users for access to them. I can't capture local radio signals and stream it online legally.

I suppose they could argue they are merely facilitating a service similar to a DVR, but that is hardly 100% true.

Thank you, I think I jus learned sumthin. Now feeling the foxes are being allowed to run the chicken coop with alacrity/impunity....big Business, esp given the makeup of this Court...I am feelng overwhelmed and, at the mercy of, and that is messing up my brain.

So, were The court to rule against Aereo, without delving calmly, I think I would have gotten depressed.

 

[edro]

I haven't had a cord in years. Don't miss the bills at all. Occasionally miss the sports though.

same

I really wish I could watch basketball playoffs right now, but they without them from broadcast stations until the finals.

 

[MiniDoom]

my verizon cable bill just jumped from $144 to $181 after my 18mo promotional period finished for internet, tv, and phone. it's pretty ridiciulous when i think about it, but i watch a lot of stuff on cable channels and my wife watches a lot of spanish cable channels. the dvr is also a great feature.

but fuck, the $181 bill churned my stomach when i saw it.

yeah my fios triple play bill went from like $125 5 years ago to $220 this year when I finally said fuck it and cancelled. They let me walk without blinking. All good since now I pay 50$ mo to cox for internet and my house it much quieter now and the family talks more.

 

[Virgorising]

same

I really wish I could watch basketball playoffs right now, but they without them from broadcast stations until the finals.

Yeah, well today, Phil, as expected, fired our whole coaching team. Better late than never. As shockingly lame as our franchise has been, and FOREVER, that anyone expected we would make the playoffs this year.......is delusional.

This is NEW YORK CITY. It's so embarrassing.

And Isn't Miami gonna win anyhow? AGAIN. The custom Lebron POD.

And, I agree, the entire thing should be on BROADCAST.

Sorry, jus venting.

 

[purbeast0]

If you don't need the phone for anything, I'd look at dropping that. I pay around $150 for internet, TV + premium channels.

yeah, when i signed up it was part of the triple play deal. i need to just see if i can reprice it and see if i can get a better deal. i'm actually in a chat right now with them and seeing if i can get anything out of it.

 

[purbeast0]

yeah my fios triple play bill went from like $125 5 years ago to $220 this year when I finally said fuck it and cancelled. They let me walk without blinking. All good since now I pay 50$ mo to cox for internet and my house it much quieter now and the family talks more.

i wish RCN serviced my area but unfortunately they don't

their prices are very reasonable.

i may look into comcast.

 

[Leyawiin]

If I lived in a large metro area I'd absolutely go with an HD antenna on the roof and fast DSL. Unfortunately I'm on the edge of town in a community of only 20K about 60 miles as the crow flies from the stations in the nearest city of any size. Kind of stuck with Dish.

 

[smackababy]

Thank you, I think I jus learned sumthin. Now feeling the foxes are being allowed to run the chicken coop with alacrity/impunity....big Business, esp given the makeup of this Court...I am feelng overwhelmed and, at the mercy of, and that is messing up my brain.

So, were The court to rule against Aereo, without delving calmly, I think I would have gotten depressed.

Sadly, I don't agree what Aereo is doing should be illegal, however, since those that can afford to lobby are those that can make the laws, it is illegal.

What will happen if Aereo wins though, is that the broadcasters will lose, but the content creators will sue. The broadcasters have the rights to distribute their content, but Aereo doesn't, which they are doing.

 

[Virgorising]

i wish RCN serviced my area but unfortunately they don't

their prices are very reasonable.

i may look into comcast.

I wish they did for you TOO!:'(

Cept coupla mos ago, my bill went up $19 a month.

But they rock in every way......and, they even went to court to preclude some of why they hadda raise the fees....they lost.

 

[purbeast0]

I wish they did for you TOO!:'(

Cept coupla mos ago, my bill went up $19 a month.

But they rock in every way......and, they even went to court to preclude some of why they hadda raise the fees....they lost.

i used to have RCN for internet back in the day when high speed was new. i think they had it before comcast even, or it was much cheaper. they were known as starpower back then too. they had the best service i've ever had from a cable company in general.

i'm looking at comcast right now and am debating possibly switching to them just because it's cheaper. although, i've really had no issues with fios at all.

 

[Virgorising]

i used to have RCN for internet back in the day when high speed was new. i think they had it before comcast even, or it was much cheaper. they were known as starpower back then too. they had the best service i've ever had from a cable company in general.

Not only do I know first hand, I feel grateful every day for them.

i'm looking at comcast right now and am debating possibly switching to them just because it's cheaper. although, i've really had no issues with fios at all.

Glad SOMEONE don have issues with FIOS!

I am pained by that so many of my brothas and sistas here have to waste lifeminutes scrambling for something normal, decent and affordable.

Not to mention, every single week now, food is rising like mad! And, I mean food STAPLES.

U think I could raise chickens in my apartment?:sneaky:

But even if I could.....I could not kill them. When I buy one and cut it up, I pretend it was never actually alive.

 

[Ichinisan]

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.

Build an HTPC with a remote control and a large capacity hard drive. Record everything...

For a while there, I used 2x HDHomeRun Duals and 1x HDHomeRun Prime for a total of 7 tuners with my cable service. Works great.

 

[Ichinisan]

It sounds like what Aereo is doing is illegal. They are capturing over the air broadcast signals and charging users for access to them. I can't capture local radio signals and stream it online legally.

I suppose they could argue they are merely facilitating a service similar to a DVR, but that is hardly 100% true.

Don't believe what the TV affiliate networks (many owned by larger conglomerates) want you to believe.

1) Typically, over-the-air broadcast stations made their money from advertisement revenue (commercials).

2) A looong time ago, the FCC created a rule allowing local broadcast stations to require local cable providers to carry their station.

3) This meant a local station would not be at a disadvantage when local cablecos neglect to carry their station and choose to carry other local stations.

4) This benefits the station because their signal is distributed for free, with better reception, to far more people.

5) More viewers means more ad revenue.

6) A perplexing clause in the FCC ruling allows the local stations to deny cablecos from carrying their signal.

7) Broadcasters got greedy and decided to negatiate per-subscriber fees from cablecos, even though the cableco was helping them reach more people and increase ad revenue.

8) They still broadcast the same content over-the-air for free at much greater expense with high-power antenna transmitters.

9) The precedent is set. Each year, these stations demand higher and higher per-subscriber fees.

11) Sometimes the fees increase more-than-double.

12) They are mostly being pushed by the affiliated media networks (FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, etc).

13) It's all bullshit.

14) Aereo takes the same signal that's ALREADY GOING OVER THE AIR FOR FREE and allows you to place-shift.

15) It's basically renting a cloud-based Slingbox that is hosted in a redundant regional datacenter.

16) The networks are shitting themselves because they're going to have to go back to their previous revenue model (before they started extorting more money from cablecos and raising costs for everyone).

17) These networks are paying BIG MONEY to lobbyists to make sure they can continue to extort money and keep raising prices.

18) The networks already won a case (unjustly), which is still being appealed by Aereo (last I checked).

19) Aereo is innovative and it's the kind of ingenuity we should all support. I hope they succeed, but I think the deeper pockets of these affiliate networks may ultimately win.

 

[Virgorising]

^ = BRILLIANT (accurate, relevant, important).

Thanks so much for taking the time!

 

[JamesV]

I used to watch TV regularly, but like another poster said, the quality of shows has gone down the toilet, especially on channels I used to love like Discovery and the History Channel. They should rename Discovery to Aliens and Nonsense channel.

I watch 60 minutes, and Jeopardy when my aunt wants to watch it, and that is it. If only we could setup a package of what we wanted and not get charged for all this extra tripe.

If I didn't want a high speed connection, I'd drop cable in an instant. I'd go to the TWC store and just drop all my cable boxes and modem on the floor and leave... bout how well they have treated me.

 

[MrSquished]

It sounds like what Aereo is doing is illegal. They are capturing over the air broadcast signals and charging users for access to them. I can't capture local radio signals and stream it online legally.

I suppose they could argue they are merely facilitating a service similar to a DVR, but that is hardly 100% true.

yeah well cablevision does it legally. they have a $20 a month package where you can connect to basic over the air channels in hd.

i don't see them getting sued in the supreme court for doing THE SAME THING for more money, and no DVR support.

 

[Virgorising]

Update re High Court case; I think they are hearing it today. Aereo founder and CEO Chet Kanojia speaks on the subject. Guy has a cool name, right?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/aereo-ceo_n_5192853.html?utm_hp_ref=technology