Cable TV Prices Continue To Rise At Over Four Times The Rate Of Inflation

[Dawg52]

I had 3 mbps with Comcast a little over a year ago before being bumped up to 25 with a promo. I had Sling TV/Netflix at the time and both streamed fine. Prior to that I had DSL and only had 750 kbps and it streamed SD Netflix fine. Not sure how low one can go to get the job done. Probably depends on location and what you want to stream.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 It will be very interesting what Comcast tried to throw at me when I really do leave, but I won't take it. If you were willing to take less money for the services I was getting you should have charged me less- don't make me call and fight for it.

+1.

I tried to work with Dish several times over the past few months, no luck at all on any concessions - discounts, newer equipment, faster internet, etc. But when I finally called to CANCEL, and fully planned to follow through, all of a sudden they instantly cut our monthly cost by 47% without any stalling or haggling on their part! Unless something changes drastically, we'll cut the cord in 6 months or less, even if Dish offers to extend the big discount. Their service hasn't been bad, but their prices and $ increases are just too much.

[Mulligan]

After running through the gauntlet of layers of phone personal, I finally an offer of $50 off for a year, or $30 off for 2 years. I took the two years as I need an extra year break from doing this again. But... It is just a bonus savings as I am not dropping. I enjoy it too much. Though I am thinking of dropping my Netflix as I do not use it much.

[Hyperborea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB My last contract with AT&T (18 months ago) they offered fiber, the tech admitted it was DSL, and in the following visit admitted it was really ADSL. One issue most of us would encounter is when there are multiple devices simultaneously online competing for limited bandwidth. Video quality suffers greatly in that case.

Just about always the fiber offered by the phones companies is fiber to the neighbourhood and DSL from there to the home. That way the DSL run length is very short meaning that it can be faster. DSL speed is inversely proportional to the distance to the switching station. None of the phone companies are running fiber to the house.

I'm got Comcast but fortunately it's a Comcast Business line to the house and they are a completely different organization to work with. I had an issue with the line last year, called in the morning about it, and they sent a tech around that afternoon with a short appointment window. I had this set up from the last company I w*rked for before retiring and they reimbursed me for the cost. I've kept the account since them because of the speed and service. The cost isn't that much more than a consumer line but that's probably because it was part of a very large contract for home service.

[frank]

MARITA40 Which cheap target antenna do you use? just curious as the one's I have tried did not do much. thanks

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissMolly We cut the cord this past weekend. We now use an antenna for OTA which pulls in the major networks, PBS and some minor channels - about 21 in all. We put Roku sticks on all the TVs which gives us access to tons of free content. We have Amazon Prime and share our son's Netflix account. We tested for one month going without cable - just using the antenna and Roku, etc. Discovered we were able to access everything we needed/wanted. Bye-bye big cable bill.

This describes exactly what I did about 2-3 years ago. I still pay the cable company for internet access, but no more cable tv for me.

I remember when I cancelled cable tv there was an initial period where I missed having 24/7 news channels like CNN or CNBC and others, but after a while I got over it and now I am glad that I did and I do not miss it. Most of what they call "breaking news" is just not that important after all, or at least not so important that I have to be glued to the tv to see it in real time everyday...and don't get me started about the constant barrage of commercials...I did not realize how intense it was until I got away from it. For example, I sometimes see cable tv news when I am in a waiting room or a restaurant somewhere, and I can now see how pervasive the commercials are and how much they ramble on and on about the same piece of news with a never ending parade of talking heads and I am amazed that I used to watch that stuff everyday.

Most of my tv watching is now on Netflix or Amazon Prime or PBS or BBC, and I have access to more high quality shows that I have time to watch...without commercials! It is hard for me now to watch shows with commercials.

[MissMolly]

We used this antenna https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and put it in the attic. We had planned to mount it outdoors, but it works fine in the attic and is out of the weather.

Regarding access to CNN - Roku has a YouTube channel which we use to watch live CNN. We also loaded Channel Pear to the Roku and picked CNN as one of the 5 free channels to use on that. It is live 24/7 CNN.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious I remember when I cancelled cable tv there was an initial period where I missed having 24/7 news channels like CNN or CNBC and others, but after a while I got over it and now I am glad that I did and I do not miss it. Most of what they call "breaking news" is just not that important after all, or at least not so important that I have to be glued to the tv to see it in real time everyday...and don't get me started about the constant barrage of commercials...I did not realize how intense it was until I got away from it. For example, I sometimes see cable tv news when I am in a waiting room or a restaurant somewhere, and I can now see how pervasive the commercials are and how much they ramble on and on about the same piece of news with a never ending parade of talking heads and I am amazed that I used to watch that stuff everyday. Most of my tv watching is now on Netflix or Amazon Prime or PBS or BBC, and I have access to more high quality shows that I have time to watch...without commercials! It is hard for me now to watch shows with commercials.

Great description! I think you do have to get away from it for a while yo really see what an incredible time and emotional energy waste it all is.

[Which Roger]

Cable prices might actually be reasonable for a family with kids where everybody is watching something all the time on multiple devices at home and away from home. But not for the typical ER couple. Latest Comcast bill jacked up the price $20 per month, and they would not budge when we called them. So will disconnect the TVs and take the boxes to the Comcast store and cancel and just say know if they offer a last-ditch price cut.

[RetiredGypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Which Roger Cable prices might actually be reasonable for a family with kids where everybody is watching something all the time on multiple devices at home and away from home.

Going from 2 devices to 4 with downloading videos on 4 more phones or tablets changes Netflix's monthly plan from $9.99 to $11.99/month.

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious Most of my tv watching is now on Netflix or Amazon Prime or PBS or BBC, and I have access to more high quality shows that I have time to watch...without commercials! It is hard for me now to watch shows with commercials.

I know. You can breeze through a 30-minute show in 20 minutes. I love that! DVR watching with the cable company was an improvement but you still had to Fast Forward through commercials.

[RetiredGypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 I know. You can breeze through a 30-minute show in 20 minutes. I love that! DVR watching with the cable company was an improvement but you still had to Fast Forward through commercials.

I noticed when I went to Netflix that almost universally any 30 minute show on cable was 22 minutes, and any 60 minute show was 42-44 minutes.

That's an insane amount of commercials to have to sit through.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious I remember when I cancelled cable tv there was an initial period where I missed having 24/7 news channels like CNN or CNBC and others, but after a while I got over it and now I am glad that I did and I do not miss it. Most of what they call "breaking news" is just not that important after all, or at least not so important that I have to be glued to the tv to see it in real time everyday... <snip> how much they ramble on and on about the same piece of news with a never ending parade of talking heads and I am amazed that I used to watch that stuff everyday.

John Dickerson who hosts CBS's Face the Nation had this to say the other day when talking about how the press ruined their own reputation:

Quote:

a lot of hysterical coverage about every little last thing that doesn’t warrant it.

I use my Tivo to record the news and news-like shows. So last night when one station had two opposing political operatives giving the usual party-lines, I just FF through them. Alas, even the talking-heads were too similar. All from the D.C - NY corridor, same type of thinking, God Forbid they have somebody from Des Moines, Tucson, Boise or Lexington sharing their thoughts. FF again - no point in hearing the same opinions from four different people.

I did manage to watch my recording of Mercy Street from a week ago. There is still some good TV on the air. And the NOVA episode on train wrecks promises to be very interesting. Thank you Tivo.

Free, OTA TV is great with a good DVR!!!

[Sojourner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredGypsy I noticed when I went to Netflix that almost universally any 30 minute show on cable was 22 minutes, and any 60 minute show was 42-44 minutes. That's an insane amount of commercials to have to sit through.

Daytime TV is even worse. A one hour show has almost 22 minutes of commercials, which leaves around 38 minutes of actual "show". 38 minutes! Considering the value of time, it's mind boggling to think about actually sitting through the entire hour just to see those 38 minutes.

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by W2R Not for me! Like several others here, I am spending $0.00/year on television since I cut the cord. I love having that extra $110/month or more to spend as I wish, or to soften the pain from other increased expenses.

To amplify...

After a few years of not having cable TV, I find TV to be less and less enticing and more and more of a bore. I haven't been trying to wean myself off of it, but that has been happening with zero effort on my part. I think the only "draw" it had for me was that I was paying for it, so I assumed it had some value which it really does not have.

I don't watch TV most days because there are SO many other things I want to do. It's the "problem" that many other retirees here have described, of not having enough time to do everything and wondering how we ever had time for work.

If anyone is interested, here are some of the free or nearly free entertainment options that keep me busy without TV: reading books, video games, iPad jigsaw puzzles, podcasts, youtubes, reading and writing on several forums, helping with the moderation on this forum, keeping my house clean and pleasant and habitable, exercising and counting calories, keeping track of finances and portfolio, online shopping and browsing, conversations with F, pleasure drives, and so much more.

And if these activities weren't enough, now it's Carnival season too with parades every night between now and Mardi Gras next Tuesday.

I just don't have the time for TV. Most TV shows bore me anyway because they are either inane, or else they are designed to terrorize us - - when the hugely scary music begins to play and/or multiple killings are depicted, I feel like I am subjecting myself to intentional psychological manipulation and I resent that. So, I turn off the TV. There are enough scary things in real life without having to look for them on the tube.

I have access to Amazon Prime (which I have for the shipping), and to Netflix (which F subscribes to and shares with me). But honestly, I do not watch shows on either one except when he comes over and wants to watch TV.

So, the activities described above are what I do instead.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sojourner Daytime TV is even worse. A one hour show has almost 22 minutes of commercials, which leaves around 38 minutes of actual "show". 38 minutes! Considering the value of time, it's mind boggling to think about actually sitting through the entire hour just to see those 38 minutes.

DVR?

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious This describes exactly what I did about 2-3 years ago. I still pay the cable company for internet access, but no more cable tv for me. I remember when I cancelled cable tv there was an initial period where I missed having 24/7 news channels like CNN or CNBC and others, but after a while I got over it and now I am glad that I did and I do not miss it. Most of what they call "breaking news" is just not that important after all, or at least not so important that I have to be glued to the tv to see it in real time everyday...and don't get me started about the constant barrage of commercials...I did not realize how intense it was until I got away from it. For example, I sometimes see cable tv news when I am in a waiting room or a restaurant somewhere, and I can now see how pervasive the commercials are and how much they ramble on and on about the same piece of news with a never ending parade of talking heads and I am amazed that I used to watch that stuff everyday. Most of my tv watching is now on Netflix or Amazon Prime or PBS or BBC, and I have access to more high quality shows that I have time to watch...without commercials! It is hard for me now to watch shows with commercials.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Great description! I think you do have to get away from it for a while yo really see what an incredible time and emotional energy waste it all is.

+2. Exactly the minor epiphany in progress in our house. Live streamed non-local/non-major network programming is broadly available. Live major networks is was the last stumbling block for us. But about half our prime time major network viewing has been DVR, so live isn't really that important, on demand is fine. DW likes to "watch" (more listening really) local morning news, but when pressed, weather forecast is her priority - how to dress. As dumb as it sounds, she's finally realized that's not worth $82/mo when we can just look at our phones for weather 24/7.

And now that PlayStation Vue has all the live channels we care about, including major networks where we are *** with cloud DVR - cord cutting has become a no-brainer for us. Cuts our cost to less than half, with viewing on way more devices.

The only loss we need to do something about is PBS. We may have to settle for limited on demand streaming from the PBS app to get our This Old House, A Chef's Life, Nova, Frontline, etc. fixes.

** just recently realized how lucky we are, only available in 7 metro areas so far.

[Cobra9777]

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Originally Posted by MichaelB ... My last contract with AT&T (18 months ago) they offered fiber, the tech admitted it was DSL, and in the following visit admitted it was really ADSL ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hyperborea Just about always the fiber offered by the phones companies is fiber to the neighbourhood and DSL from there to the home. That way the DSL run length is very short meaning that it can be faster. DSL speed is inversely proportional to the distance to the switching station. None of the phone companies are running fiber to the house ...

I read that some newer neighborhoods with AT&T U-Verse are getting fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Also, I have Frontier FiOS (formerly Verizon), which is also FTTH. But yes, most "fiber service" like U-Verse has a short ADSL leg over copper for the final run from the neighborhood node to the house. Speed varies based on the length of that copper run, but bandwidth is generally on par with cable or better. Certainly nothing like traditional DSL, which is copper wire all the way to the CO and comparatively slow by today's standards... and usually "borderline" for streaming HD video. My son has U-Verse (FTTN) and gets 45/5. He seems to be quite happy with the bandwidth as well as the stability and reliability.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredGypsy I noticed when I went to Netflix that almost universally any 30 minute show on cable was 22 minutes, and any 60 minute show was 42-44 minutes. That's an insane amount of commercials to have to sit through.

FWIW, Tivo how offers 'skip mode' on most prime-time network TV shows. Record the show then wait about 15 minutes after the show is over. You can usually hit one button on the remote and skip over the commercials. No need to FF.

[Chuckanut]

I can't really claim to have 'cut the cord' since I still have a 'cord' bringing FIOS into my home. But, it's much cheaper than full blown cable TV/Internet.

If I ever have 5 hours a day to watch TV, either I am very sick or my life has taken a sharp turn in the wrong direction.