cost of watching TV

[LocutusOfBorg]

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/05/18/5-things-to-know-before-cut-your-cable-bill/

We Americans sure do know how to spend money. We probably should spend more time going to the gym instead of spending all this money for TV. But, we need our "down time", also, of course.

 

[xtgold]

I gave up on cable tv in 1996 when the bill reached $38 a month and that was for just the standard channels no premiums.I went with dish network until 2006 and their bills were outrageous and they lied to me and said all over the air would be digital by dec 2006 and I wouldn't get locals anymore.Maybe in 2016 there will be something other than ota and fta to complete the 10 year cycles.

 

[Lone Gunman]

I listen to her on Saturday mornings on 105.9 FM WLNI radio here where I live. She has some good PC tips too even though she's an Apple freak.

 

[pro96]

I went with dish network until 2006 and their bills were outrageous and they lied to me.

Ouchhh... I heard that :

Fta rocks indeed whether you have a paid provider or not

Posted Using The New SatelliteGuys Reader App!

 

[cyberham]

I haven't heard Kim on the air for a long time. I used to enjoy when I could listen to her show. Netflix is the best at-home on-screen entertainment value, after FTA. I love that Netflix may be making the conventional pay TV companies cringe. The idea of downloading and paying for each individual show from, for example, iTunes is insane.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

Too bad Netflix doesn't have every title out there. Which is one of the points the foxnews article was pointing out.

 

[toucan-man]

Too bad Netflix doesn't have every title out there.

It may be just a matter of time. At some point who won't want their product on Netflix if that's where pocketbooks have migrated?

 

[cyberham]

Too bad Netflix doesn't have every title out there. Which is one of the points the foxnews article was pointing out.

Netflix has more things I want to view than I have time to spend viewing. It's not important to me if they have all available titles. As toucanman says, as time has passed, Netflix quality has improved, and the quality will continue to improve going forward.

 

[Tron]

The cable companies don't want you streaming Netflix (or any other movie source) over your cable internet, so they are imposing download caps. It's a good thing FTA does not require an internet connection.

 

[cyberham]

Here the competition between conventional copper cable and new fiber optic TV is fierce. Promotional low pricing lasts up to a year. So I don't believe there are caps since companies are either begging to swing customers over to fiber or trying their best to keep their current customers. Each wants to look more attractive to the customers. No more Fuller brush door-to-door salesmen; in 2013 it's television service salesmen.

 

[toucan-man]

Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com said over a year ago, the cost of moving a gigabyte of data over land is 1/2 cent, and the price is falling. Cable companies need competition to get them to rethink their strategy of caps. Cable was once a disruptor, now their business model is under threat of disruption. I believe it is only a matter of time. I sure hope it is.

 

[cyberham]

In my memory a looong time ago, cable TV began service at $5/month. Their competition was OTA for free. Yet cable succeeded since they delivered a much better product (selection, quality of signal). Now, Netflix delivers an arguably better product (not directly comparable to pay TV really) for fraction of cost of conventional pay TV.

My personal winning formula in 2013:
Shaw Direct cheapest satellite package for HD conventional networks ($34/mo) + Netflix ($8/mo) + FTA ($0/mo) = (Happy) where FTA = Ku-band


IF FTA = C-band
THEN (Happy) = Netflix + FTA

 

[schlever]

Here the competition between conventional copper cable and new fiber optic TV is fierce. Promotional low pricing lasts up to a year. So I don't believe there are caps since companies are either begging to swing customers over to fiber or trying their best to keep their current customers. Each wants to look more attractive to the customers. No more Fuller brush door-to-door salesmen; in 2013 it's television service salesmen.

Same here. The promo's won't last forever though. The new fibre to the home networks are costing hundreds of millions to build, with the major cost being the drop into the home and associated electronics. Its true once built moving the bits and bytes is cheap, but its one heck of a capital outlay that needs to be recovered from an increasingly smaller revenue stream people are willing/available to spend on entertainment. Same with the DOCSIS3 rollouts by cableco's. Caps unfortunatly are one way to squeeze a few more bucks out of a customer.