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26% of Netflix Users May Cancel Cable TV This Year, Says Survey (huffingtonpost.com)

The future looks grim for cable TV providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. A new survey says that as many as 26 percent of Netflix users may cancel their cable TV service by next year. Huffington Post reports: Where are they going? If you say "Netflix," you're not exactly correct. The fact is that, according to a recent survey by CutCableToday, 67 percent of Netflix subscribers still have cable. That's pretty much right in line with last year's numbers, insinuating that Netflix isn't necessarily synonymous with cord cutting. However, perhaps a more interesting statistic from the study shows that 26 percent of Netflix users may not have cable by next year. More specifically, 11 percent of Netflix users say they're going to cancel their cable contracts. 15 percent say they are unsure if they'll keep cable or cut the cord. What about the other 74 percent? The survey goes on to say that the most common reason people aren't canceling is due to Big Cable's greatest weapon. The bundle. The survey states that 80% of Netflix subscribers have their internet bundled with TV or phone service.

14 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. Re:innumeracy overload by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 2

    People are always saying they're going to cancel. When push comes to shove, they want that one sports channel that is only available by cable or satellite, or the cost of just internet access comes out to only a few dollars less, or the company offers them a deal that is too good to pass up. The cable companies and satellite providers have way more experience playing this game than the 26% who say they're going to leave.

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    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  2. Bundling is monopolistic by somenickname · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, basically, you have a physical monopoly (the connection coming into your house), that we, the taxpayers subsided, that is now being abused as a content monopoly. "Sure, you can have just an internet connection. But, it will cost you the same as getting internet/phone/tv. Oh, and we are going to cap your internet connection so, I highly recommend you take the bundle." I really can't wait until these fuckers finally generate enough hate among their users that it becomes a re-election issue for congress critters. The *only* way this problem will be solved is if the outrage of the voters outweighs the lobby money from the monopolies.

  3. Re:Sweet I can cancel Comcast! by secretsquirel · · Score: 2

    If you're that concerned about your media selection, perhaps cord cutting is not for you.

  4. Give me local news and I'll cancel by Snotnose · · Score: 2

    Used to be football and news, but after the realizing last year how hard the Spanos family was totally fucking Chargers fans and San Diego taxpayers I don't really care about football anymore.

    Don't say "antenna", I live in San Diego and with all the mountains I might get 1 or 2 stations.

  5. Re: Usenet by stephencrane · · Score: 2

    But then that just means you're being overcharged for Internet.

  6. We should get out more by jenningsthecat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd be happy to see more and more people dumping, (in addition to cable), Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc. Go out and take a walk, talk to your spouse and kids and parents and siblings, get together with friends to play some old-fashioned board games. Too many people, (myself included), are excessive consumers of prepackaged entertainment authored by other people.

    BTW, I suppose I should add Slashdot to that list of stuff to devote less time to. Gotta go kiss my girlfriend now... Bye!

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    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    1. Re:We should get out more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'd be happy to see more and more people dumping, (in addition to cable), Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc. Go out and take a walk, talk to your spouse and kids and parents and siblings, get together with friends to play some old-fashioned board games. Too many people, (myself included), are excessive consumers of prepackaged entertainment authored by other people.

      BTW, I suppose I should add Slashdot to that list of stuff to devote less time to. Gotta go kiss my girlfriend now... Bye!

      This has nothing to do with that dribble and you really need to stop preaching. You can be plenty interactive and still take advantage of modern technology and entertainment. Stop even implying that things are bad because you have self control issues. If you're so addicted to something that you literally have to make a special effort to kiss or talk to your SO you have a severely addictive personality. If you stop doing X you'll just find Y to fill it. Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc... aren't the problem. You are. Seek treatment and for damn sure don't give anyone advice.

    2. Re:We should get out more by jenningsthecat · · Score: 2

      This has nothing to do with that dribble and you really need to stop preaching. You can be plenty interactive and still take advantage of modern technology and entertainment. Stop even implying that things are bad because you have self control issues.

      Whoa, slow down there Sparky! Touched a nerve there did I? I just read your response to my GF - the first words out of her mouth were "Transference, much?", followed by "you might want to mention that when you're watching too much TV or too many movies it's usually with me".

      If you're so addicted to something that you literally have to make a special effort to kiss or talk to your SO you have a severely addictive personality.

      Again, whoa! That's quite a jump from 'an excessive consumer of prepackaged entertainment' to 'severely addictive personality'. Leapt right over that vast middle ground between the two, didn't you? Probably didn't even notice it whizzing past in your rush to deliver what I'm sure you mistakenly thought was a crippling blow. As for 'special effort', I kiss my girlfriend several times a day - no effort required, except perhaps in finding still more opportunities to do so...

      If you stop doing X you'll just find Y to fill it. Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc... aren't the problem. You are. Seek treatment and for damn sure don't give anyone advice.

      If you're so touchy that you have to lash out in an over-the-top angry response to a bit of mild philosophical musing by a complete stranger, my words aren't the problem. You are. Seek treatment, and for damn sure get them to pull the pickle out of your ass and reverse that humorectomy.

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      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  7. Re:Sweet I can cancel Comcast! by KitFox · · Score: 2

    It's okay.

    Cost for me for Internet (Very Fast) + Cable TV == $270 a month, plus $22 cable box rental plus $15 for HBO + $15 for Showtime. == $322 per month.

    Cost for me for Internet alone: $150. $10 Netflix. $12 Hulu. $15 HBO, $11 Showtime. $10 one time OTA antenna of 3-day delay for CBS Online (Which is fine for me ), and of course Amazon Prime, which costs me $8.25 a month and saves me hundreds a year in shipping fees. But yeah, folks who like to watch sports are screwed, with NFL games online starting at $50 a month for four months and then getting worse.

    Mind you, the vast majority of the people I've done the math for get things cheaper online, but that's not everybody. There will always be some folks who have no choice but to get the TV service.

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    @Whee

  8. Re:Sweet I can cancel Comcast! by asylumx · · Score: 2

    There will always be some folks who have no choice but to get the TV service.

    Watching TV is a choice. No, I'm not the guy who has no TV, but I do at least recognize that I've made a choice by having one at all.

  9. Re:Ahead of the game. by amxcoder · · Score: 2

    Just did this about 4 months ago. Cancelled TV and home phone. Switched to Internet only, and added OOMA VoIP service. Saving quite a bit than I was previously paying.

    I'm not sure how people are saying that internet a la carte is the same as a bundle price, unless you are comparing non-promo internet pricing to promo bundle pricing. Sure you might not save a hundreds of dollars, but in my case, the tv portion was going to be over $120 after promo pricing, and home phone was going to be $40. This was for the mid-tier channel lineup only, no premium channels.

    I also don't think some people take into account the add-ons they end up having, or getting talked into. Sure, in some cases, with promo pricing, maybe TV is only $10-$20 more than just internet, but then when all is said and done, they realize that there is 1 channel that the base tier doesn't include, and move up to the next highest tier, then many want to add on HBO, Showtime, Sports package, or other popular packages as well. Also the monthly rental fees of the set-top boxes, and all the numerous taxes are higher because of the TV service being active on the account that aren't included in the price that is advertised (so they aren't factoring these in).

    I think with a lot of people, they see the promo price of the bundle, and their brain locks that price in, "oh, I can get all 3 services for $60/mo!", but if they look at their bill after the first year or two, they would realize that after the special pricing ends, and they are paying all the real prices, and all the "Free HBO for 3 months" is over, with the options that they really signed up for, and they will realize that they are easily paying $150-$200/mo.

  10. Re:finger in the air day by JustNiz · · Score: 2

    Its been scientifically proven that 103% of all statistics are made up lies.

  11. Re:Usenet by jetkust · · Score: 5, Insightful

    smh. Have you ever thought why they are offering these "extra" services for no extra charge? The end result is you end up getting a bill for services you didn't want. You DON'T have control over this. They can charge you whatever they want regardless of anything they told you. My guess is the internet only option scares them because it's harder to find a way to sneak extra incomprehensible costs into your bill.

  12. Re:innumeracy overload by DeBaas · · Score: 2

    and now 26% of parents of Netflix subscribers are thinking about cancelling Cable......

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