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One In Eight To Cut Cable and Satellite TV In 2010

Posted by Soulskill on from the cue-panic-from-the-cablecos dept.

r0k3t writes "It looks like people are finally getting sick of overpriced, ad-infested cable and satellite TV. I had predicted that by 2005 we would mostly be using the net for video — seems like I was a few years off. From the article: 'A cutting-the-cord trend has been the subject of speculation for some time, as networks have increasingly made television programming available for free on the Internet. But a combination of other factors, including a growing number of battles between cable companies and networks, soaring Internet video viewings, and an increase in connected TVs and devices, suggest the trend is finally upon us. ... The biggest reason why customers will cut the cord, according to the study, is the growing cost of pay-TV service. Cable and satellite viewers pay an average of $71 per month, and they receive an average annual price hike of 5%, according to research firm Centris.'" How many of you have made the switch to Internet-only TV, or are considering it? Any regrets?

13 of 502 comments (clear)

  1. Also, don't underestimate the TV antenna. by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you live in a city and invest in a decent antenna, you will get enough HDTV programming to cover your typical urge to just be a couch vegetable for a while. The internet and Netflix is a great supplement to this, leaving you with more to watch than ever before.

    1. Re:Also, don't underestimate the TV antenna. by King_TJ · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, yes and no. When things first moved to HD, I was excited by this proposition myself. (Hey, for the one time cost of putting up a decent antenna on my roof, I can watch hi-def broadcasts, AND receive a bunch of new stations to boot, because the networks tend to put additional programming on sub-carrier channels like 9.2, 9.3, etc.? Cool deal!)

      In reality, it didn't work out that well. For starters, without an antenna rotator (and those motorized contraptions break down every few years too!), it's not possible for me to tune in all of the local stations at one time. The digital broadcast towers are *mostly* in the same general direction from my house, but a few broadcast from a completely different direction. To make matters worse, we have a big water tower down the road from me, which I'm pretty sure causes the digital OTA broadcasts to bounce off of it in various directions - meaning you're often just tuning in a reflected signal instead of the primary one.

      Additionally, I still wanted a fast Internet broadband connection, since that's what I really spend most of my free time using, vs. vegging out to TV shows. Well, I already had a big fight with our local cable company at my previous residence, and swore I'd never sign back up with them again after the billing errors they made and subsequent disconnection of my service due to THEIR mistake. (They refused to even hook me back up without paying a big reconnect fee, despite it being their fault!) So cable broadband was right off my list. That left me with DSL, which tops out at 6mbits. I used that for a while, but the pricing isn't really much better to buy that, stand-alone, than it is to take a basic Internet/TV bundle from the cable co. Then AT&T U-Verse came along with promises of 18mbit (now up to 24mbit) Internet speeds available, BUT they won't even sell you that service without the TV combo.

      All things considered, I'd still LOVE to cancel my television subscription somehow, but AT&T U-Verse is still about my only relatively reasonably priced option for fast broadband, AND the bonus convenience of getting 200+ stations that actually come in properly all the time, with no antenna muss and fuss.

      And as someone else pointed out here, if you go with the local cable company for JUST broadband, and you want a relatively high speed flavor of it - they make you pay full "retail pricing" for it, vs. all the special bundle offer discounts they'll give to mix and match TV with Internet and even Internet phone.

  2. Re:Some of us were waaaaay ahead it seems. by stoat · · Score: 2, Informative

    I still have basic cable but rarely use it. Most shows I'd like to watch are posted to usenet within 30 minutes of airing.

    Automatic feeds to download what I like in 720p. Don't feel too bad about it since I keep basic for cnbc.

  3. Re:2007 by xSauronx · · Score: 4, Informative

    hes using an antenna to watch Over The Air (OTA) content.

    im living with my parents while i go to school, the only time i turn on the TV is to watch hockey.

    i do have an HD lcd, and im almost tempted to get a tuner card and an antenna but...i dont really care. hulu/torrents/netflix has plenty for me for the rare times i want to watch something. when i lived alone a few years ago i didnt have cable, it wasnt worth it.

    --
    By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
  4. Re:Some of us were waaaaay ahead it seems. by imamac · · Score: 2, Informative

    No cable since 2005 and loving it. iTunes has most everything I want to watch. And even the major networks now stream online with only 3-4 commercials, which is fine by me. That's how I watch "Lost"--abc.com.

  5. And While You're Doing That by deathcow · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'll be letting my Dual Tuner Dish DVR boxes grab all our favorite shows up to two at a time. We'll watch them exactly when we want to, and we'll skip over all the commercials by pressing the Yellow Arrow key on our remote 6 or 7 times.

  6. Re:Some of us were waaaaay ahead it seems. by malkir · · Score: 2, Informative

    Same here. No cable since ~2002. It's progressed to the point where I haven't even bought a TV. My PC is my multimedia device, I don't need ad-infested overpriced media to make me feel 'connected'.

  7. There's another option you know.... by zogger · · Score: 3, Informative

    Mr. Fancy pants rich fatcat insensitive clod with his high speed connection! A lot of us use FREE over the air TV signals. Works great, and since the digital changeover, we get a lot more stations.

    I have been watching TV since we were the first family on the block to have a television. Yes, that long ago, and I will never pay anything more for it then my eyeballs looking at it, and I learned to ignore commercials decades ago, they don't even register anymore. Of course I don't watch that much either, but we have it, the same old 19 inch color CRT we have had for years and years that I paid 50 bucks for and "upgraded" with my socialist TV digital perverter box. That's all TV is worth to me.

    You want to know why I won't pay for TV? Because I can remember going to the county board meeting long ago when those cable TV doofuses promised that if you paid for it, no commercials. Freaking liars. Once they got their monopolies, back to commercials. Screw 'em. had cable for a short time back then, then dropped it when they showed they were liars, never again. I boycott companies when they are dinks or liars, same as I started boycotting (new, I will snag heavily discounted used) the **AA members over priced DRM infested "products" once it was obvious they were never going to offer fair prices or stop being cartel jerks. Despite going through several alleged Federal "busts", they never stopped being jerks.

    As to watching "internet TV" ain't happening outside of the dense/urban (mostly, I know there are some exceptions)low hanging fruit areas served with high speed connections. If you are stuck on low speed or dialup, forget it, even youtube won't stream easily.

  8. Re:You can't get Internet over an antenna by spxero · · Score: 3, Informative

    Well, you can, but they charge you a "line fee" equal to the price of limited basic TV or basic telephone service.

    False. Maybe that was true in 2003, but I currently have dry loop (or naked, if you prefer) DSL. $30 for 3Mbit, $40 for 6Mbit (a little pricey, but 10Mbit cable starts at $60), and no "line charge" or telephone-equivalent fee. And it's from the evil AT&T no less. Call 'em up, and as a bonus, try to get them to say "naked DSL" on the call.

  9. Re:Look at the cost this way... by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can SELL it after as well....an important value consideration.

    --
    Good-bye
  10. Re:Contract by jiadran · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have a can opener that works, it's a Swiss army knife (yes, I'm Swiss). I guess one has to learn to use it first, but then it is at least as fast and can also open the cans that have previously been bent by a bad can-opener.

    No TV either. As GP said, the program is crap and a waist of time. Slashdot is more entertaining :-)

  11. Re:I'll probably be one of them soon ... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 2, Informative

    You're subscribing to BOTH UVerse TV and Comcast and you think you can live with none? Whatever.

    No, I said I'd had Comcast in the past and don't really want to go back to them. I can get basic DSL for about $13.95 a month, and a single phone line (I just want it for receiving the occasional fax, and for emergencies since we use Skype for most long-distance calling) for about $19.95 a month. Tell me how U-Verse can beat that. Granted, U-Verse is faster, but I'm just considering my options.

    And no, it's not AT&T ... it's SBC. SBC took over AT&T and kept the name, but under the hood it's SBC.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  12. Re:Contract by jimfrost · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can't find a manual can opener anymore that lasts more than a few months. They're all made in china, and they all break very quickly.

    You aren't even trying:

    http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=oxo+openers&tag=googhydr-20&index=garden&hvadid=2961762689&ref=pd_sl_34nkn4xzkc_b

    (I don't know where those are made, but they're well built.)

    --
    jim frost
    jimf@frostbytes.com