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Cable TV Companies Could Lose Nearly $1 Billion in the Next Year From People Ditching Their Subscriptions (businessinsider.com)
Nathan McAlone, writing for BusinessInsider: Cable TV companies could lose nearly $1 billion to people cutting the cord over the next year, according to a new study by management consulting firm cg42. The firm estimates that 800,000 cable customers will ditch their subscriptions in the next 12 months. Cg42 expects each customer to be an average loss of $1,248 annually, and losses to approach $1 billion over the year. Cg42 also found that the average cord-cutter saves $104 per month by canceling. Some in the industry have argued that cutting the cord doesn't actually save you money if you subscribe to a bunch of streaming services like Netflix, HBO, and so on. But that point of view neglects the reality that many cable subscribers pay for those streaming services already.
Unfortunately a great number of us don't have any alternative once we cut the cord.
Sure, I'm not paying $80 a month in cable bills any more- but I'm still paying $50 for the data (no option- they have a monopoly on connections fast enough to stream). So- then I add Hulu, and Netflix (the wife has Amazon from a student account). Bang- I'm right back to the price I started with.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Cord cutter, here. If you're thinking of joining me by switching down to an internet-only service, you need to know this: Your cable company is going to lie to you. They're going to tell you all kinds of stories about how they don't actually offer internet-only options, or about how it's actually less expensive to have a bundle than it is to go internet-only. Don't believe them. There is exactly one way to get the full truth out of them: Tell them you're cancelling. As soon as they transfer you to the retention department, someone who actually knows what they're talking about will happily give you that internet-only connection you're looking for, and most likely at a reasonable price, too... at least, for the first year, anyway.
Sidenote: Obviously, this only works if you have at least one other viable broadband provider in your area. If you live in one of the many broadband monopoly areas... well, in that case, you have my sympathies, because you are well and truly screwed.
I live in Europe.
I pay 16Euro per month for 70Mbit/s Internet connection.
A "landline" is included in the price - IP telephony device included - with 20 free minutes to landlines here in my town and free calls within provider network and reasonable prices for calling cellular providers or out-of-town numbers.
AND, included in that 16Euro/month package, I get some 100 cable channels, with 15 most popular channels having an archive - ability to play, and skip adds for any program from the last 20 days.
I pay about 7Eur per month extra for package with various Discovery channels, History channel and cartoon channels for my kids (cartoons being the main reason I keep the extra package, because most documentary programs air various reality shows 95% of the time)
This is what you get when you do not allow companies to create artificial monopolies for the last mile.
I live in town and 5 different providers have fiber optics cable leading to my apartment building. People living in small distant villages have more limited choice, but they still can get ADSL for some 10Euro/month for uncapped contract, plus satellite package for TV for some 10Euro/month for about 100 channels.
My bill dropped about $100. I didn't change my streaming services because that was how I preferred to consume content even when I had cable so for me don't really factor into the equation. Besides my streaming services together are about $50 a month. (I have 4.) My bill was around $170. Cutting cable dropped it to $70. Just to provide a counter anecdote to your anecdote. As long as you're continuing to get any level of cable at all there additional fees you're paying that with just internet you don't have to. I also decided to buy my own cable modem which will end up only paying off if I stay subscribed for a year, but it is unlikely that I won't use internet for more than a year. You pay rental fees on your cable box, your cable modem, and there's taxes involved. Oh and I decided to increase my internet package or it would have been only $60 a month.
Oh, is that what Bernie thinks? The numbers that I see are that people who earn less than $250k have no change in their taxes, and that people who earn more than that have several new brackets they would fall into. There's a small case where people making between $464,851 to $499,999 would actually see their taxes fall by a couple percent, otherwise the new tax brackets for the highest earners ($10 million or more) would go from 39.6% to 52%. If you also include the proposed 2.2% medicare flat tax, then that raises everyone's taxes by 2.2% more and brings the highest earners to 54.2%.
So anyway, where is your 90% number coming from? I'm curious about your source for that one.
Haha, no I'm not, I'm kidding, I know you're full of shit and just wanted to call you on it.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
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