Record Numbers Cancel Cable, Satellite TV Service

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I am not sure why anyone is surprised to hear that people are canceling their cable in record numbers. The economy is bad, cable service sucks and the internet lets you watch what you want, when you want, with less commercials.

The chief cause appears to be persistently high unemployment and a housing market that has many people living with their parents, reducing the need for a separate cable bill. But it's also possible that people are canceling cable, or never signing up in the first place, because they're watching cheap Internet video.
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Got of rid satellite, nothing on it worth watching for the outrageous monthly fee.
 
Steve said:
cable service sucks and the internet lets you watch what you want
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This.

100+ channels, and nothing on that's worth watching most the time.
Let me pick and only pay for the 10 channels I ocasionally watch and I'd be much happier.

Better yet, have the shows available though a single service and on-line the following week, and I'd glady subscribe instead of paying for cable.
 
What one device could i get MLB, NBA, and NFL, sign me up and I'll cancel U-verse...
 
To quote Ytcracker, "Why pay for things when you can get them free?"

I only watch 2-3 TV shows at a time and it would cost me 60-70 dollars a month to pay for a TV package that would let me watch them. So torrents it is.
 
Not surprising at all. Soon enough, though, as this trend continues, it's going to get worse and worse for providers of streaming entertainment.
 
Cable companies should let people choose the channels they want to watch. Make up their own package. Its about what the consumers want and not what the companies want.
 
Conker said:
Cable companies should let people choose the channels they want to watch. Make up their own package. Its about what the consumers want and not what the companies want.
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they have those, but each channel will cost 4x more than just a bundle deal.
 
netflix+ usenet+ torrents= full of WIN no cable/sat
AND ABOVE ALL NO COMMERCIALS
 
Monkey God said:
Got of rid satellite, nothing on it worth watching for the outrageous monthly fee.
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Satellite tv companies are like insurance companies, they save the best rates for new subscribers so if your out of your contract and paying full price wise up and call them tell them you need to talk to someone about canceling your service (say your going to switch to the other one, either Direct or Dish depending on who you are with) and they will start offering you all sorts of discounts.

I recently did that and reduced our monthly bill by 30-40%, and got free HD added on as well. I probably could have easily gotten more knocked off but I was at work and ran out of time so I stopped there.
 
TheBuzzer said:
they have those, but each channel will cost 4x more than just a bundle deal.
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I can't get rid of ESPN and the related channels from my cable service, even though they're spending more than $4 for me to have access to just that channel that I don't watch or have any interest in watching. I would be more than happy to pay 4x more for the small handful of channels that I actually watch, as my bill would end up being significantly lower at the end of the month.
 
Ungrateful consumers!

They practically GIVE AWAY entertainment for free on cable and satellite for a mere $120 and they only you watch 17 minutes of advertisements every hour. They're probably just barely making a profit piling ads on top of that great price.

Sure, Netflix and Hulu do it for far, far cheaper, giving you what you want when you want it without making you spend almost 1/3rd of your time watching ads, but can they provide you that top-rate customer service that you get from your satellite and cable company? Can they give you that personal care of having a technician promising to come to your house sometime between 5 AM and the middle of next month? I think not.
 
50 bucks a month for cable OR 50 bucks a month for netflix and 10 cheap bottles of wine.. hmmm.....
 
I would go with internet providers if they provided better video quality. Netflix just flat out refuses to offer anything near HD if you aren't on a console. Plus I can never figure out what the fuck I want to watch. They should have a channel on Netflix or Hulu that just randomly picks shows and movies for you based on your ratings or even selecting series that you like to watch with a recommended one every so often.
 
Honestly, I see no reason to have cable other than live sporting events. Even though companies such as ESPN have 360, it's not the same as watching a Football game in surround sound @ 1080p and possible 3D for that matter. Other than that, cable is only needed for the internet.
 
Everyone knows what's going to happen here, right? The ISP bandits will either raise prices on internet, or make the caps so small that it won't pay to view on the internet any more, forcing people back to the stone-age for their programming.

You read it here first. Unless some consumer protection laws are put in place, we are all fucked.
 
TechLarry said:
Everyone knows what's going to happen here, right? The ISP bandits will either raise prices on internet, or make the caps so small that it won't pay to view on the internet any more, forcing people back to the stone-age for their programming.

You read it here first. Unless some consumer protection laws are put in place, we are all fucked.
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I've said it many times already. I have a patent on this claim.
 
as long as cable internet still works, screw cable tv/dish/uverse... If im paying for it, Im not gonna pay for commercials.. Im paying to NOT see them.. Like satellite radio.. Love my XM/Sirius .. More than happy to pay 16$/mo to not have to listen for 30 minutes of commercials per hour.

Same reason I dont buy DVD's.. If I paid for it, I dont want 30 minutes of commercials and trailers that I cant skip.. At least the music industry doesnt crap up CD's with commercials, just the occasional leaflet inside the case.
 
SPORTS


and Netflix Instant's monopoly on sucking ass are two hindrances to cutting cable.

Though I am cable free, I just go to bars for sports. Switched to DVD only netflix.

Also, no one has mentioned Netflix's rising prices. It's not just ISPs lower caps and raising prices to recoup cable losses, Netflix knows its competition is dwindling as well. Blockbuster has been sniped, etc. How many price increases has Netflix had in the last few years?
 
Oh jeez, a study done on the obvious. Time to raise internet access plans and reduce bandwidth allowances.
 
fattypants said:
Ungrateful consumers!

They practically GIVE AWAY entertainment for free on cable and satellite for a mere $120 and they only you watch 17 minutes of advertisements every hour. They're probably just barely making a profit piling ads on top of that great price.

Sure, Netflix and Hulu do it for far, far cheaper, giving you what you want when you want it without making you spend almost 1/3rd of your time watching ads, but can they provide you that top-rate customer service that you get from your satellite and cable company? Can they give you that personal care of having a technician promising to come to your house sometime between 5 AM and the middle of next month? I think not.
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HAHAHHAHAaaaaaa.
/end thread
 
Evil Juggalo said:
as long as cable internet still works, screw cable tv/dish/uverse... If im paying for it, Im not gonna pay for commercials.. Im paying to NOT see them.. Like satellite radio.. Love my XM/Sirius .. More than happy to pay 16$/mo to not have to listen for 30 minutes of commercials per hour.

Same reason I dont buy DVD's.. If I paid for it, I dont want 30 minutes of commercials and trailers that I cant skip.. At least the music industry doesnt crap up CD's with commercials, just the occasional leaflet inside the case.
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Brother-in-law got a three month preview of SiriusXM when he bought his truack and OMG does it have some fucking horrible sound quality. FM is FAR SUPERIOR audio quality wise.
 
Team Obi Juan said:
SPORTS


and Netflix Instant's monopoly on sucking ass are two hindrances to cutting cable.

Though I am cable free, I just go to bars for sports. Switched to DVD only netflix.

Also, no one has mentioned Netflix's rising prices. It's not just ISPs lower caps and raising prices to recoup cable losses, Netflix knows its competition is dwindling as well. Blockbuster has been sniped, etc. How many price increases has Netflix had in the last few years?
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ALL online content providers WILL raise prices when their source for content doubles and triples in cost every few months to make up for the lack of cable/satellite revenue. The studios have us by the balls either way and they know it.
 
TooEasy! said:
Honestly, I see no reason to have cable other than live sporting events.
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Yup, if you are a sports junkie, you're hosed. I'd like to watch some NHL now and again, but not enough to pay for cable/sat. I've had the cheapest (still $20 a month somehow) basic basic cable you can get from Crapcast for about a decade now. If I weren't lazy, I could probably just buy a digital antenna and even get rid of it. What would I lose? Oh noes! Shopping, Mexican, and religious channels! I don't understand how people can watch 90% of the shit on cable/satellite any more. Idiots getting dumber...

Trouble is, most of the cable/sat companies are also ISP's. They'll get our $$$ one way or another.
 
Christ on a cracker... give me the option to al a carte my TV options, and I'll pay for them! In the mean time, I'm perfectly happy to pay Supernews $10/m for unlimited service.
 
I don't know what the hell is going on. Our cable company increased my cap from 100 gigs to 250. Now my usage hasn't changed, my monthly usage averaged 80 g has now increased to 136g, last month 176g.:eek: In 12 days I'm already at 58 g.
Maybe I was charged for MBytes before and now its MBits.:D
 
Evil Juggalo said:
as long as cable internet still works, screw cable tv/dish/uverse... If im paying for it, Im not gonna pay for commercials.. Im paying to NOT see them.. Like satellite radio.. Love my XM/Sirius .. More than happy to pay 16$/mo to not have to listen for 30 minutes of commercials per hour.

Same reason I dont buy DVD's.. If I paid for it, I dont want 30 minutes of commercials and trailers that I cant skip.. At least the music industry doesnt crap up CD's with commercials, just the occasional leaflet inside the case.
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Only because the 3 decade old CD spec doesn't really provide for any sort of nonsense like that.

Believe me, if it did they would be doing it.
 
ugemeistro said:
What one device could i get MLB, NBA, and NFL, sign me up and I'll cancel U-verse...
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Many games are free and in high definition from all three of those leagues on Over The Air signals. Your magic device, an antenna with a coax cable plugged into your TV!

Also, MLB and NBA are/were frequently played on ESPN3. Occasionally the networks have a free online stream available as well.

The NFL is a bit tougher online, last year the Sunday Night Game was streamed online and you could select camera views. That was freaking sweet.

MLB TV online $50 a year.
NBA Online - Can't find anything definitive, but sounds like Google may be working to offer something. Likely $50 to $100 a year
NFL Online - Don't think they have a plan yet.
 
OTA gets approximately 0 NBA except the rare local game. No playoffs, and I think no finals either. In Fort Worth, I get Friday night Texas Rangers games OTA. NFL, you get all day Sunday OTA, but not Mondays or Thursdays. No NHL, but no one actually cares about NHL.
 
Cable companies should offer 100% on demand television for $50/mo.

Maybe they can offer $80/mo for 100% on demand without commercials.

Alternatively, they could just continue offering the same service they do now until they wither away like AOL.
 
zoobaby said:
MLB TV online $50 a year.[/URL]
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That's not entirely accurate. The $50 pricing is for *right now* with less than eight weeks left in the current season.

Subscribing to MLB TV in April costs $120 for the full 162 game season.

The Clueless Yutz that's running TWC said:
Glenn Britt, the CEO of Time Warner Cable Inc. said the effect of Internet video on the number of cable subscribers is "very, very modest;" in fact, so small that it's hard to measure.
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I was astounded to read that over lunch today, that I almost dropped my phone in my refried beans. Glenn is obliviously paddling down a river in Egypt.
 
Dropping to basic cable and upgrading my internet has been great; my wife and I haven't had any problems getting used to it.

I don't watch TV online, I just don't watch it at all. There were a few good channels but you pay over $70 to have 100-200 channels and all but a handful of them suck. Also, content now days is just really poor with "reality" shows dominating everything so I feel pretty good that I'm not contributing to that crap anymore. Also, if you want some of the neat channels then you need to spend $40 more to get those which is just an awful amount to spend on television per month.

I feel like if the content and the basic selection doesn't improve then I probably won't ever go back to extended cable.
 
1. Antenna tv for local channels and sporting events
2. Catching up with shows I've missed by using:
a. Hulu
b. Netflix
c. Broadcasters webpage (ie: Adult Swim, FOX, MTV, etc....)
3. Downloading shows I specifically missed and want
4. ESPN3.com for other sporting events since my ISP is supported.
 
and what will they do? They'll scream pirates, crack down, and not change a soon to be extinct business model.
 
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