DirecTV and Dish 2014 price increase

[REWahoo]

Dish and DirecTV hike prices for 2014 - Dec. 24, 2013

DirecTV's 4.4% average price increase is higher than last year's 3.2% hike...

Dish once again raised prices by more than DirecTV. The No. 2 satellite TV provider said it would hike fees by 5.5% next year following its steep 16.3% price hike at the beginning of 2013.

I've been toying with cutting the [-]cable[/-] dish and this will probably do it for me. We've had DirecTV since moving out here in the limestone hills 15 years ago and we've been paying $800+ per year for a basic non-HD package. Yes, we can easily afford it but I don't think we're getting real value for our money. Most of the TV we watch is regular network programming via our OTA antenna. About all I watch via satellite is college football and an occasional CNN program, and DW has a couple of shows she watches on HGTV and TLC. We both agree we can live without them.

I figure we can upgrade our braodband speed, pay for Hulu+ or Netflix and still come out ahead by $30 to $35/mo. The DirecTV increase hits in February, so I now have my first (and probably only) resolution for the new year.

 

[Midpack]

I hope I can get DW on board to cut the cable/satellite. I'm ready (I could live with OTA & a streaming box), she's resisting mightily even though TV is welcome background noise to her mostly...

 

[Sue J]

The Satellite Guys Forum has a topic with the new prices listed.
New 2014 DIRECTV Prices

Scroll down past the ads in the first post to see the unconfirmed price list.

We have a legacy package called Choice Xtra Classic that is not listed but I'll expect a $2-$3 increase.

 

[F4mandolin]

I switched from Comcast to D-tv in June.....very much considered killing all those companies off. I told Comcast if our bills weren't lowered we were heading elsewhere but they ignore me. So.....when I call to quit THEN they offer me money off....not a brain in their heads. If we are still here when this contract runs out June 2015 I will go internet. Nice to have a couple of local channels, but we only get about 4 through the airwaves. Been watching a bunch of BBC stuff lately which we had missed. Just about to kill of my Verizon cell phones as well and go with something like Tracfone. We don't use our phones much (not smartphones) and $82 for both of our phones is way more than we need.

 

[timo2]

The only reason we have not 'cut the cord' is sports and my geographic location behind a small mountain makes OA TV not good. Maybe when we actually retire and move I can convince DW of the value.

But I'm ready. I have a Roku and a PC tower with an HDMI output, and have learned much from this one Roku Yahoo Group 'roku private channel users group' Yahoo Groups

Also, here is a cut the cord thread from the Roku forum Roku Forums • View topic - Question For Cable Cord Cutters

 

[REWahoo]

The only reason we have not 'cut the cord' is sports and my geographic location behind a small mountain makes OA TV not good.

We're fortunate to live high on a hill with excellent OTA reception of all local stations. But like you, giving up ESPN and the other sports channels will be a sacrifice.

 

[timo2]

The only streaming sports that would be like cable or sat. charges just as much. This site has some examples Cord Cutter Sports | Cord Cutter Guide

 

[ziggy29]

We're real close to doing the same. But we're in a rural area where we don't really have good enough internet to reliably sustain streaming HD video, so until then we may be stuck.

 

[REWahoo]

We're real close to doing the same. But we're in a rural area where we don't really have good enough internet to reliably sustain streaming HD video, so until then we may be stuck.

I'm only at 1.5Mb currently but my internet supplier offers a 6Mb service. I'm going to sign up for a month of that to see how it works before I cancel the satellite...

 

[imoldernu]

OTA only 5 religious channels from Iowa, even with a good antenna.

Stuck!

 

[Rustic23]

Have a little more than a year on Dish, and OTA digital not an option. However Aereo for $8 a month, Hulu + $8, Netflix $8, and Amazon Prime $6.5 (but I use it mostly for shipping), add $5 to upgrade internet, and it all adds up to about $35 a month. That is a lot cheaper than what I pay for dish! Does anyone have any experience with Aereo? It is the one unknown for me.

Edit: Added:
Just checked, Aereo will not fight the cable companies attempt to get a Supreme Court decision. However, Fox and CBS say they will stop OTA and go Cable if the ruling is in Aereo's favor. Could be an interesting year.

 

[MRG]

Sure wish I could get the price that they quote. Receiver charges, fees, and and taxes make it 90% higher.
Guess I'll call around and start complaining.

MRG

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

...Just about to kill of my Verizon cell phones as well and go with something like Tracfone. We don't use our phones much (not smartphones) and $82 for both of our phones is way more than we need.

Speaking of which, on a slight detour from TV to cellphone subscriptions, I did just that earlier this year. (I spoke about this some time ago in another thread.)

After having a flip-phone (not even close to a smartphone) for some three years on Verizon, at around $51/month, and dropping my home landline during that time, I researched other phone options--because I don't "phone call" others that much. I don't use my phone to text, take photos or go on the Internet. I use my phone to speak with others on the phone. That's it! And, particularly since I've ER'd, I use my phone much less than I did when I was w*rking.

My research led me to go the Tracfone route. Last February I spent ~$125 at Amazon.com buying a Tracfone-compatible cellphone, some 90 days of minutes, a life-time triple minute option, and some accessories. Then in July I upped my (triple) minutes for a new one-year period, with some (triple) bonus minutes by buying from the Tracfone Web site for $100, rather than buying at my local grocery store--which also sells Tracfone cards, but with local sales tax the Tracfone site doesn't add.

So, I've spent $125 + $100 so far this year ($225), and I've still got 1750 minutes remaining until I have to renew again in July 2014 for another $100 for another one year and 1,200 minutes or more (depending upon any bonus minutes offered at that time by Tracfone).

That is working out to be under $9/month, compared to ~$50/month.

In my ER, every dollar counts.

 

[easysurfer]

Overall, I'm happy with cutting the cord and going OTA and really like the new OTA DVR as you may have seen on the other thread...

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/i-need-a-new-ota-dvr-again-69664.html

 

[robnplunder]

Yup, my dish bill went up by $5. If it weren't for the golf channel (DW can't live without it), I'd scale it back further. I did scale it back by $15/month after getting Netflix ($8) a few months ago. I think that's the trend and Dish/DTV must raise price to make up for the decreasing subscribers.

 

[bUU]

I told Comcast if our bills weren't lowered we were heading elsewhere but they ignore me. So.....when I call to quit THEN they offer me money off....not a brain in their heads.

To be fair, from what I've learned through my industry contacts, most people who make such threats don't follow through, and there is no effective way for a company to tell the difference between someone who will and who won't unless they wait until the customer takes the chance that the company will call their bluff by turning off service, so they have to play the odds. Most service providers are evidently now offering on-request discounts the first two or three times, but after that many of them are requiring that the customer upgrade to a higher level of service to qualify for a discount.

If we are still here when this contract runs out June 2015 I will go internet.

I've looked into that. It's a non-starter for us. Much of what we watch doesn't effectively make it to "the Internet" as such (i.e., non-premium Internet services), in a format my hearing-impaired spouse can enjoy. And for myself, I'm too much of a fan of how DD5.1 enhances the enjoyment of many of these programs to give that up for a lesser, Internet-based experience.

We've looked into premium Internet services, such as Netflix streaming and Amazon Prime Instant Video, and they're okay as fillers, but their selections are incredibly poor (as compared to Netflix's DVD selection, for example). I need to revisit Roku and see if their selection has gotten any better. I'm looking for a service that has a selection as good as Netflix's DVD selection, with DD5.1 and subtitles.

We have switched to DVD from premium services (HBO, Showtime, Starz), paying $20 for a month of DVDs to catch up on a year's worth of original programming and movies on a premium service. However, I fear that gravy train may end sometime soon. We've got two seasons of one series, and one season of three other series, that have been in our Netflix queue for years. It doesn't look like they're ever going to make it to DVD.

 

[REWahoo]

I took advantage of a deal on a refurbished Roku XD for $40. No time like the present to move forward on my 'cut the satellite' resolution.

 

[Dawg52]

I took advantage of a deal on a refurbished Roku XD for $40. No time like the present to move forward on my 'cut the satellite' resolution.

Thanks for the tip. Will probably pick one up.

When I was in my previous house, I dropped cable and did exactly as you described. I was completely fine with Netflix and an HD indoor antenna. I received 10 channels with that, half in HD. When my mom passed away earlier this year, I moved into her house and dropped cable but did resign as a new customer and got a great deal for 6 months. I did that for college football and golf channels. But when the deal expires in Feb, I will drop cable again. And I can play the game again in a few months because Comcast considers you a new customer(after 3 months, might be 4-6) and I will be eligible for better deals once again. Doubt I will do that though as I do not plan to be in this house full time next year. But will see.

 

[martyb]

I just ordered a Roku 3 from Amazon. I have an Amazon Prime account, which costs $79 a year, but as much as my wife reads (Kindle) & downloads free books from Amazon, it's well worth the cost. I'm figuring that with the Roku, we'll probably end up downgrading or even eliminating cable in the near future. Should have the Roku in a couple of days.

 

[ziggy29]

I took advantage of a deal on a refurbished Roku XD for $40. No time like the present to move forward on my 'cut the satellite' resolution.

Same here: $43 with shipping and tax. Small price to pay to see if it works well enough to sell DW on ditching the dish. We have a smart TV with built in wifi but it sucks and drops connection all the time. We have a PC connected also so we can go to a website (such as Hulu or Amazon Prime video) and play it that way and the wifi is good... but is too clunky for a high "wife acceptance factor". Maybe this will work.

 

[calmloki]

Guys Guys guys - Roku 3 is where it's at: has a youtube channel available and is faster - worth the extra $30-40. Roku 2 doesn't have that channel available and you are gonna save so much $$ you can splurge a bit at the outset. We don't have decent OTA either up north or down here, but am not a sports nut, so when we dropped Dish it was no big loss. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime subscriptions (about $24/mo.) give us way too much tv - add in the free stuff on Youtube and we barely see the sun.

Imoldernu: "OTA only 5 religious channels from Iowa, even with a good antenna. Stuck! "

Geez - I get that you are older, but isn't 5 enough to guarantee your future? Guess I need to start playing catch up...

 

[REWahoo]

I've never considered YouTube to have much to offer when it comes to 'serious' content, but maybe I'm missing something. What does it have in the way of movies or TV programs I can't get from another source (the OTA networks, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, etc....)?

 

[calmloki]

it is more that the content (may be) different. and FREE is always nice. Finding content is difficult, but there are ways... here is a crowd-sourced group of some of the titles available on Youtube.
Full Movies On YouTube

Red Dog is on you tube - prefer cats, but that movie snuck up on me and poked me in the eyebulbs.

 

[ziggy29]

Guys Guys guys - Roku 3 is where it's at: has a youtube channel available and is faster - worth the extra $30-40. Roku 2 doesn't have that channel available and you are gonna save so much $$ you can splurge a bit at the outset.

I don't do much Youtube anyway. This is a "proof of concept" of ditching the dish to present to my wife anyway. If we commit to it and want more/better, we'll look into it. And if we do, I can probably eBay this for at least half of what I paid for it.

As for "faster", we only have about a 3-4 Mbps connection anyway, and has some dropouts to it, so I think "faster" might be overkill for us now.

 

[harley]

What do y'all cord cutters do about internet? Keep it with your cable company and just dump the TV part? I could (maybe) live without cable TV, although we seldom watch OTA TV. We're mostly on Sci-Fi, Discover, History, The Loser Channel (dw's ghost shows), and HGTV and Food. But still, TV is a life-force suck. But there's no way I could live without high speed internet. Even if the business didn't require it, it's my life-force suck of choice. I probably watch an hour or two of TV/day. But I'm on the computer probably 5-6 hours/day. Hmmm...maybe cutting the cable would actually add to my quality of life.