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Are Cable Subscribers Subsidizing Internet-Only TV Viewers?

Posted by Soulskill on from the enjoy-it-while-it-lasts dept.

waderoush sends a tongue-in-cheek open letter to cable TV subscribers from somebody who has cut the cord in favor of streaming shows over the internet. "Dear Cable TV Subscriber: I don't think I've ever told you how grateful I am. I haven't paid a cent for cable television since 2009. Yet I have on-demand access via the Internet to a growing cornucopia of great shows like Game of Thrones, Homeland, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, at reasonable à la carte prices. And it's all because you continue to pay exorbitant and ever-increasing monthly fees for your premium cable bundle (around $80 per month, on average). After all, your money goes straight to the studios and networks that produce and distribute all the expensive first-run programming that I'm perfectly happy to watch later at heavily discounted prices. So in effect, you're subsidizing my own footloose, freeloading, cord-cutting TV habits. I don't know how to thank you!"

13 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. Mod question... by Shoten · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it possible to mod an entire Slashdot article as "Flamebait?"

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    1. Re:Mod question... by mcgrew · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Maybe, but not now. Netflix? Pshaw, most cable channels are on the internet. The truth is only flamebait to the stupid.

      The cable companies are killing themselves. I've been OTA for years, 400 channels but I might want to watch six of them and you want $80? Are you insane?

      Cable use to be a good deal. A dozen extra channels, including HBO, none with commercials and local TV without snow or ghosts for ten bucks a month.

      Now? Not only do they have commercials but you get commercials during the actual content! Empty-V played music videos, now they show the same reality TV bullshit you get OTA (which no longer has ghosts or snow since it's now digital). History showed ancient Greece, WWII, etc, now they have "Ice Road Truckers". Discovery used to have science and tech, now it's "Trick My Truck".

      They expect me to pay them for that?

      But I'm a geezer, I remember 3 black and white stations in a large city. I get half a dozen stations in a small city, crystal clear, in higher definition than cable streams.

      You think I'm paying for that?

      Flamebait, my ass. Wake up. If cable wants me back they can offer a la carte with no fucking commercials. If I'm paying for content and with my eyeballs you're charging me twice and you're ripping me off. Fuck cable and the horse it rode in on,

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  2. It rolls down hill by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thank you streaming subscriber for subsidizing my torrents. Sorry to sound like a snide dick, but once you got things rolling I decided, why not?

    1. Re:It rolls down hill by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Thank you streaming subscriber for subsidizing my torrents. Sorry to sound like a snide dick, but once you got things rolling I decided, why not? Reply to This Share"

      I have to wonder why OP thinks his "heavily discounted" prices are in fact heavily discounted, anyway. The fact that other people may be getting gouged with a backhoe doesn't mean you're not being gouged with a pitchfork.

  3. I'll cut the cable cord... by mythosaz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...just as soon as they're not the best internet provider in town.

    1. Re:I'll cut the cable cord... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You can have internet only services. You'll lose "bundle" pricing, but you'll still save a shit load of cash because you won't be paying TV services, STB/DVR rental costs, FCC, and taxes and other fees etc. We save around $98/month by not having cable TV, just FiOS 50/25mbps. Viewing fodder is made up with Netflix at ~$8-9/month. The interesting thing about losing cable TV is that the family didn't care, I was the main loser due to the loss of sports.

      Think of it this way, after one year of our not having cable TV service, we can buy both the PS4 and Xbone with the reduction in outgoing expenditure.

  4. Um, yeah, don't care. by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The cable TV model is broken. You know what, TV isn't that important. Screw them.

    It'll probably have to crash and burn until something reasonable emerges. We've had direct-to-DVD for awhile, and we're starting to see direct-to-streaming-services. There may come a time when big expensive TV shows can't be produced anymore, but that model is broken too. Screw them also.

    I suspect that things will transition to something new, and the studios and networks and content providers that refused to evolve will die. And that's fine. And if TV devolved to public access, that'd be fine to. Sometime last century we were trained to believe that TV is essential. If the entire broadcast/cable TV system collapsed with nothing to take its place (which I think is unlikely) at very least, we'd find out that TV really isn't essential after all.

    So yeah, the last of the "tv generation" is paying the exorbitant salaries and production costs for three-and-a-half men. Serves them right.

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    1. Re:Um, yeah, don't care. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The cable TV model is broken. You know what, TV isn't that important. Screw them.

      If dealing with Comcast was half as pleasant as dry Greek, I'd probably subscribe to cable. Things they need to do to capture my dollar:

      1) Stop encrypting the over-the-air content. I neither want nor need a fucking cable box for every TV.
      2) Stop hiring idiots and liars. If I get transferred more than twice during a call, you lose a customer. I don't have time for that.
      3) Stop playing price obscurity / bait & switch games. Fuck your "$39.99 / 3 months, $whothefuckknows for the next two years" offers. Prices up front.

  5. Re:Reasonable à la carte prices??? by alexander_686 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't think so. I think these are the classes
          Free Streaming: Hulu, major network sites, etc. Payment: 1 day lag, commercials
          Cheap streaming: Premium Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. Payment: 1 low monthly fee.
          Purchase: Buy DVD, iTunes, whatever: Payment: less then cable.

    People pay for cable for convenience and timeliness. People are not willing to delay viewing. One example is sports. Nobody wants to watch yesterdays’ game, which is why ESPN is one of the most expensive chancels on basic TV. Game of Thrones is another example. I can either pay HBO big bucks now or I delay until the DVD comes out.

  6. Re:What's the big deal by PraiseBob · · Score: 4, Informative

    Even HBO GO requires a cable subscription ($80 + 15 for hbo), while you can buy episodes ala cart for $3, which is roughly an hours worth of entertainment. So if you watch more than 1 hour of it every single night then it could work out cheaper to subscribe.

  7. Re:Reasonable à la carte prices??? by Mitreya · · Score: 4, Informative

    Cheap streaming: Premium Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. Payment: 1 low monthly fee.

    Except that last I heard, Premium Hulu still has commercials. For your payment you just get an expanded library of commercial-laden content. I have no idea who pays for that.

  8. Re:Reasonable à la carte prices??? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People are not willing to delay viewing.

    Some people aren't, so they pay the premium. The producers of the content know that they want it so bad they can charge huge margins.

    Over here, we only watch a few shows, but some of them are delayed a year on Netflix. They're just as enjoyable.

    When I did have pay-tv service, I used to watch NFL Primetime - all the games of the week condensed into a half hour, which contained most of the plays that actually went anywhere. I don't watch it anymore, since we just have Netflix now - it was interesting, but I don't really miss it much.

    I'm much happier to use the delta in cash for RL activities.

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  9. Actually... by mschaffer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cable subscribers are subsidizing sports.
    Comcast owns sports teams. The teams ask ridiculous amounts of money for broadcast rights. Comcast passes the cost on to their customers.
    And then their's ESPN....
    I often wonder what cable would cost if I didn't have to subsidize the sports franchises.
    The same goes for my local taxes.
    Imagine if the sports teams had to pay for their own stadiums?