Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[Z3Dreamer]

My only choice for high speed internet is Spectrum. I also have them for land line. Two years ago, I decided to get the lowest TV service available-one box. It brought my bill from $78 to $106. A year later, I called to cancel and they sold me on a streaming only product that brought my bill to $125. Had many channels including HBO and Showtime and ESPN.

Yesterday, I received a notice that it was going to about $165. I called and they said that I had been receiving a promotional discount that expired. There is nothing in any bill nor in any discussion I have had with them that discusses a promotional discount that expires in a year. So I asked:"What will my bill go to in a year?" Answer was another $40 or so.

Please note that in the last few years they find a way, every few months to sneak in a few extra bucks. The fee for local stations started at $8.95 and went to $11.95 after a few months. A fee for local stations Are you kidding me? They also required a $2 fee for a cable card that does not fit in any equipment I have.

They also shifted the cost for internet and land line. It started as $30 and $30. Now internet is $50 and land line is $20.

There is a reason I had dumped cable TV for a number of years. While the overall dollars are insignificant to my overall budget, their tactics just.....

Thank you for listening to my rant. BTW, I have OTA antennae, a Tablo OTA DVR, Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video...and a good woman.

Just called and they gave me a loyalty discount, so instead of a $40 increase, I am only getting an $11 increase. I can live with that. Too early for a drink...

 

[REWahoo]

Just called and they gave me a loyalty discount, so instead of a $40 increase, I am only getting an $11 increase. I can live with that. Too early for a drink...

So your $125/mo bill is increasing by almost 9% and you are happy because you avoided a 32% increase? That's some slick price increase marketing!

 

[RonBoyd]

My only choice for high speed internet is Spectrum.

Where are you located that there is a monopoly on Internet access? That is sad.

 

[ncbill]

My only choice for high speed internet is Spectrum. I also have them for land line. Two years ago, I decided to get the lowest TV service available-one box. It brought my bill from $78 to $106. A year later, I called to cancel and they sold me on a streaming only product that brought my bill to $125. Had many channels including HBO and Showtime and ESPN.

Yesterday, I received a notice that it was going to about $165. I called and they said that I had been receiving a promotional discount that expired. There is nothing in any bill nor in any discussion I have had with them that discusses a promotional discount that expires in a year. So I asked:"What will my bill go to in a year?" Answer was another $40 or so.

Please note that in the last few years they find a way, every few months to sneak in a few extra bucks. The fee for local stations started at $8.95 and went to $11.95 after a few months. A fee for local stations Are you kidding me? They also required a $2 fee for a cable card that does not fit in any equipment I have.

They also shifted the cost for internet and land line. It started as $30 and $30. Now internet is $50 and land line is $20.

There is a reason I had dumped cable TV for a number of years. While the overall dollars are insignificant to my overall budget, their tactics just.....

Thank you for listening to my rant. BTW, I have OTA antennae, a Tablo OTA DVR, Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video...and a good woman.

Had a triple-play with Spectrum that started out $100/month...now $175/month after all fees/taxes.

Going to Ooma for phone and internet-only for Spectrum, OTA antenna for my Tivo.

 

[Big_Hitter]

well my kitchen tv took a crap friday and I got a new 55" tcl roku smart hdtv thingy for $350 delivered

so far we are stoked cause we get to watch the astros every day on mlb - however, I haven't quite figured out how to get all the channels DW likes to watch on roku

i'll keep trying

 

[REWahoo]

...however, I haven't quite figured out how to get all the channels DW likes to watch on roku

i'll keep trying

This website might help: https://www.suppose.tv/tv

 

[RobLJ]

Air Yordan has been a beast. I'm a happy user of MLBTV for about 4 years and watch at least 3-4 innings of Astros here in Reno every night. By the way, if you are a T-Mobile subscriber, you can get MLBTV free for the last two years, but the signup is only for a week in April, so you have to be on the lookout.

well my kitchen tv took a crap friday and I got a new 55" tcl roku smart hdtv thingy for $350 delivered

so far we are stoked cause we get to watch the astros every day on mlb - however, I haven't quite figured out how to get all the channels DW likes to watch on roku

i'll keep trying

 

[Big_Hitter]

thanks!

one of my golf buddies was telling me to get a roku box so i could watch the stros but i didn't listen lol

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Where are you located that there is a monopoly on Internet access? That is sad.

I call Verizon and AT&T on a regular basis to beg and plead about getting service to the mountains of north western North Carolina. Otherwise, Spectrum is it. I am on a mountain peak 700 feet above Boone.

 

[ncbill]

I call Verizon and AT&T on a regular basis to beg and plead about getting service to the mountains of north western North Carolina. Otherwise, Spectrum is it. I am on a mountain peak 700 feet above Boone.

Not a Skyline/Skybest customer?

AFAIK they've upgraded most of their network with fiber, though the packages are not cheap.

 

[pb4uski]

I call Verizon and AT&T on a regular basis to beg and plead about getting service to the mountains of north western North Carolina. Otherwise, Spectrum is it. I am on a mountain peak 700 feet above Boone.

While I'm not advocating it, what about HughesNet or Viasat? My BIL has them since where they live they can't get cable or DSL.

 

[kyzymurgist]

For you handy people looking for antenna advice, I suggest building your own. It took me about an hour to assemble a 4 bay bowtie out of scrap wood and clothes hangers.

I have great reception of all my locals. The attached image isn't mine but very similar. I followed these instructions...

https://m4antenna.eastmasonvilleweather.com/

 

[kyzymurgist]

My wife didn't like the DIY antenna looks in the living room. It works great in the attic.

 

[pb4uski]

My wife didn't like the DIY antenna looks in the living room. It works great in the attic.

It looks great in the attic too!

 

[camfused]

I have a Pluto TV question: when you bring up the guide, how do you scroll to the right (or left) in the guide? I scroll up and down through the channels, but cannot seem to scroll through time. I googled this but was unable to find the answer. I am using Fire TV.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

My wife didn't like the DIY antenna looks in the living room. It works great in the attic.

That's interesting. I tried the attic antenna on more than one occasion, and I never saw much of a difference compared to having it near a window. Mt Wilson up above LA is over a mile high and can see over a large area.

The best location of course is to get that antenna up in the air and outside in the direction of the TV transmitters. I know this isn't always possible.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have a Pluto TV question: when you bring up the guide, how do you scroll to the right (or left) in the guide? I scroll up and down through the channels, but cannot seem to scroll through time. I googled this but was unable to find the answer. I am using Fire TV.

I can't either on my fire stick, I think I'll e-mail them and ask.

 

[MichaelB]

AT&T renamed DirecTV Now, it’s new name is AT&T TV Now.

I did not know AT&T was losing so many customers https://arstechnica.com/information...brand-name-as-tv-subscribers-leave-in-droves/

The 946,000-subscriber loss consisted of a net loss of 778,000 subscribers in AT&T's DirecTV satellite and U-verse wireline TV services, as well as 168,000 lost subscribers to DirecTV Now. The losses are much bigger when you look at the past year instead of just the past three months. Including all three services, AT&T's total number of video subscribers dropped from 25.4 million in Q2 2018 to 22.9 million in Q2 2019. DirecTV Now subscribers dropped from 1.8 million to 1.3 million in the past year.

 

[RonBoyd]

AT&T renamed DirecTV Now, it’s new name is AT&T TV Now.

Even worse is they will require that you purchase a "box" … and you need one for each TV in use.

I am (hopefully) fortunate in that, being a Beta subscriber, I was given one for free several months ago. Nevertheless, not having the service available with, say, a ROKU device will cut down even further on the number of subscribers, I suspect. And a separate charge for each TV... well, you know.

 

[Kwirk]

AT&T renamed DirecTV Now, it’s new name is AT&T TV Now.

Sounds like the new name should be AT&T Yesterday.

 

[REWahoo]

Even worse is they will require that you purchase a "box" … and you need one for each TV in use.
....
And a separate charge for each TV...

Sounds like the new name should be AT&T Yesterday.

+1

Or maybe AT&T DOA.

 

[JRon]

There's a new free streaming service called Locast that streams broadcast TV. It's only available in 13 markets, but works pretty well. Networks have sued to stop it. AT&T has donated $500,000 to it. Not sure it will last, but I like it - it allows me to watch local news while I'm traveling.

 

[Cobra9777]

There's a new free streaming service called Locast that streams broadcast TV. It's only available in 13 markets, but works pretty well. Networks have sued to stop it. AT&T has donated $500,000 to it. Not sure it will last, but I like it - it allows me to watch local news while I'm traveling.

I used locast for a while, mainly to watch PBS NewsHour live. Then it became nagware. They started interrupting every 15 minutes to beg for money. The stream terminates after each begging session. So you end up missing 1-2 minutes of live programming every 15 minutes, which makes it unwatchable. There are mixed reports as to whether the begging stops if you agree to pay $5/mo. Some people paid and still got the interruptions.

Then, as you say, AT&T "donated" $0.5M and started pushing subscribers to locast while they negotiate with CBS. That obviously got the attention of the major networks who have now decided to team up and sue locast. Here's a quote from a CNET story yesterday:

"Locast is simply Aereo 2.0, a business built on illegally using broadcaster content," Gerson Zweifach, the broadcasters' lawyer, said in statement to CNET. "While it pretends to be a public service without any commercial purpose, Locast's marketing and deep connections to AT&T and DISH make clear that it exists to serve its pay-TV patrons."

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Even worse is they will require that you purchase a "box" … and you need one for each TV in use.

I am (hopefully) fortunate in that, being a Beta subscriber, I was given one for free several months ago. Nevertheless, not having the service available with, say, a ROKU device will cut down even further on the number of subscribers, I suspect. And a separate charge for each TV... well, you know.

Where do you see the requirement for a set top box? They are going to have two services...the renamed DirecTVNow and a different (but similar service) AT&T TV that will require the box. Nonetheless, with the price increases, glitchy software and now channels being blacked out due to carrier disputes, I am done w/ AT&T "whatever they call their crappy service this week" and cancelled it today.

 

[mpeirce]

Locast got sued by the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) yesterday.

They are seeking financial damages and a permanent injunction that would shut Locast down