Streaming as expensive as cable / satellite now?

[Jimbo]

It's greed on the networks, a few companies own all the channels and in order to get the good one or two they have, they make the providers buy all of them including the ones no one wants. Figure Disney, NBC Universal, Warner, Paramount and Fox are each getting $10-$20 each of that $88.99. Then the regional sports gets their $15.99!

Your right, except, that same thing has been going on since the early days of Cable ...

 

[comfortably_numb]

Your right, except, that same thing has been going on since the early days of Cable ...

So that makes me wonder, were streaming prices kept artificially low in order to gain market share and saturation over "big cable / big satellite," then boom- bait and switch?

At least we have more freedom with a la carte packages now.

 

[dishdude]

Your right, except, that same thing has been going on since the early days of Cable ...

It all really started in the 90's when these huge corporations were allowed to buy up all the Cable, broadcast TV and terrestrial radio stations. They can hold ESPN and other highly desirable channels hostage because they bundled it with other channels rather than negotiate one for one.

Now that people have options, they are bailing and the networks are trying to squeeze the same revenue out of less and less subscribers.

 

[Jimbo]

So that makes me wonder, were streaming prices kept artificially low in order to gain market share and saturation over "big cable / big satellite," then boom- bait and switch?

At least we have more freedom with a la carte packages now.

Exactly ...

Ala Cartes great if you don't mind bouncing around with different streaming apps month to month.

 

[comfortably_numb]

they are bailing and the networks are trying to squeeze the same revenue out of less and less subscribers.

Are people bailing from streamers like Fubo though? It's really the same product as cable/sat without the equipment fees. Same pricepoints, too.

 

[Juan]

So that makes me wonder, were streaming prices kept artificially low in order to gain market share and saturation over "big cable / big satellite," then boom- bait and switch?

At least we have more freedom with a la carte packages now.

When you factor in broadband...its way way way more expensive than cable

 

[comfortably_numb]

When you factor in broadband...its way way way more expensive than cable

More expensive for whom? I pay $40/mo for 300/100 broadband, I'd imagine that's pretty standard except in extremely rural areas

 

[Jimbo]

When you factor in broadband...its way way way more expensive than cable

Are you opening another Can of Worms there ?

You know, people are going to tell you that Broadband is an Essential, like Electric ... they don't count that as part of Streaming anymore.


That said, I think it should be added or included.

 

[Jimbo]

More expensive for whom? I pay $40/mo for 300/100 broadband, I'd imagine that's pretty standard except in extremely rural areas

I don't think there IS a Standard price ... around here, the Cheapest Fiber around here is 200mbps for about $50, plus Tax.

I use to have 200 for $82 plus tax, then we got a better price because the City worked out a deal.

 

[Juan]

More expensive for whom? I pay $40/mo for 300/100 broadband, I'd imagine that's pretty standard except in extremely rural areas

That's a fair price...too bad comcast doesn't play fair

 

[comfortably_numb]

too bad comcast doesn't play fair

I have Comcast. I got them to lock the price until September 2031 after they failed to honor a promised $90 Amazon gift card promotion. I called them out on it and they gave me a 5-year contract in writing with no ETF penalties.

 

[TRG]

For you, thought Discovery+ for $5.99 ( with commercials) / $9.99 ( no commercials) was a better deal.

Gotta have History channel. The Oak Island treasure show, whatever its called is one of my wife's favorite shows.

 

[Jimbo]

That's a fair price...too bad comcast doesn't play fair

Thats not a Normal price, thats a Great price ... Unless my area is getting screwed over, which wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Jimbo]

I have Comcast. I got them to lock the price until September 2031 after they failed to honor a promised $90 Amazon gift card promotion. I called them out on it and they gave me a 5-year contract in writing with no ETF penalties.

View attachment 194025

So, your getting that as a Comp price, so your Normal bill would be more like mine was $71

 

[comfortably_numb]

So, your getting that as a Comp price, so your Normal bill would be more like mine was $71

Normal rate $80, less $10/month autopay credit, less $30/month promotional credit for 60 months

 

[Jimbo]

Normal rate $80, less $10/month autopay credit, less $30/month promotional credit for 60 months

That sound more Normal ...

 

[navychop]

ABBY Normal.

 

[b4pjoe]

I have fiber 3 gb up/down for $60 per month. With Spectrum when I had it I was paying $85 per month for 300 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. Right about the time I canceled they offered 1 gb down and 40 Mbps up for $130 per month.

As far as streaming there are 2 kinds. The vMVPD's and OnDemand streaming. You aren't going to save a lot with the vMVPD's over cable/satellite other than the extra fees on cable/satellite because they are basically the same other than the delivery method used. You can save a bunch of money using the OnDemand streamers if you don't mind commercials. And you can still save money with them even if you want to be ad free. Plus you get higher quality and more content as the OnDemand streamers pretty much have everything that is on MVPD's and vMVPD's plus you get the streamers only content too.

And the old argument about people using streaming should include the cost of internet is bunk. Most people today have internet service no matter what TV service they are using.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I have fiber 3 gb up/down for $60 per month

$60 for 3GB symmetrical fiber is quite a deal. Are you in a large city with a lot of competition

 

[Inclined Orbit]

I had a basic DirecTV package that crept up to about $100 and the only thing it got used for was my wifee watching a cooking and home improvement show which is also available on streaming. We are Amazon Prime members primarily for buying too much junk and that gets us free Prime TV. Then we subscribe to Netflix which is about $15/mo and that plus Prime has a good 90% of what we watch these days, its an amazing amount of TV. Then the wifee tried out Paramount to get some specific program and maybe that's $15/mo but we may cancel after the specific program is tapped out, and she is also trying Apple TV as a test and I think its under $10/mo. I have about 400mb ATT fiber at $40/mo but would have that no matter what.

We now have what looks like nearly unlimited TV and we watch the heck out of it where our DirecTV package only pleased the wifee with maybe two channels. The only channels I used to watch as a former DirecTV employee with the free mega package was a couple of outdoor channels but I would have needed to bump up to a much more expensive package with DirecTV to get those and I find they are now included with one of the streaming services we get.

So for us we have endless TV that is very satisfying for both my wife and I at much less $$ than what DirecTV was charging. We will probably end up backing out of at least one of the streaming services saving $10-$15 and the total monthly bill will be even cheaper soon.