Another 1.8M People Just Ditched Cable TV

Not watched cable TV in years

I actually picked up Sirius Radio for Comedy Central, because its 24 hours a day stand up, but once the free 14 days ran out I balked when I found out they were going to charge me $22 a month for fucking INTERNET radio

Five, repeat, five fucking seconds on google I found Slacker Radio, which has a comedy station, ad free, for $4 a month

Like, jesus christ, the reason you asshole big companies are not making money is cause you try to fuck over the consumer. There's no reason internet radio should be $22 a month when I only want one or two stations. Let me pick the stations I want, this "All or nothing" bullshit needs to fucking die, in both cable and satellite radio

Repeat, $4 a month for add free all I can listen to comedy on slacker radio, vs $22 when all I wanted was ONE fucking station
 
My family just switched from comcast cable to the dish this year too. We couldn't stand the crazy bills over 200 dollars with internet and TV let alone our internet always cutting out due to my house taking up too much bandwidth... Now we just have comcast for internet only and use the dish while gaining a lot more features with a smaller bill. win.
 
RealityCrunch said:
What is this "TV" you speak of? ;)
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BloodDonor said:
Could it also be partly because of the economic situation, where people are tightening their belts, and doing away with 'luxuries'?
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Well yea, but it's not like we're removing TV cause we can't afford it. If I don't use it, why pay for it right?

As it is right now I don't watch ANY TV. I haven't in years, cause most of the crap on TV is just that... crap. Anything I want to watch is online, when I want it and how I want it. Including ad free.
 
dgingeri said:
Nope. The whole concept of "TV programming when the producers want to show it" is now out the window. This is the age of "Programming when the viewers want to watch it." Nothing will stop this tide. TV stations and networks are out the window. It's all going to be served from the internet in the very near future.
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Kevin Spacey gave a great speech on how out of date the current broadcast models are. House of Cards really nailed it's delivery, and even if you detest the show you should be cheering them on for drawing so much attention to how useless modern television broadcasting is becoming.

As mentioned above, live sports is the only draw broadcasters have left.
 
I think any day now the sports agencies are going to have to start taking note. There are various people I know who would be casual fans of various teams but they just don't see need to actually pay for cable to watch them. All these people are lost ad revenue, and they are canabalizing their future as kids are growing up without watching sports in homes without cable TV.
 
I dropped cable a couple weeks ago. My Fios Basic plan went up $6.00 a month (over 10%) Not to mention the dvr cable boxes were running me $18/month.

I was at $115 / month for 2 dvrs, and basic cable along w/ 1 cable card. ($4.00/mo).

Between a Silicon Dust pulling in OTA programming, and windows media center (in a vm) doing the DVR duties. XBox doing live tv / DVR management. I am pretty much covered for locals.

Combine the WMC w/ Plex, and a bunch of plex channels, add a roku in the mix, Hulu+, Netflix, Amazon... I am pretty much set.. Monthly bill is now about $20 / month. The only thing I really miss is some games on ESPN, although I have that covered now.

The only thing I really have left is some shows which are on cable, which are not free.. I can buy those on Amazon usually if not available for free.. Usually $3.00 episode (hd) to buy it.. Figure $12.00 /month each for a couple shows... I am still at less than $50/month, and seems to be working pretty well.

Throw in some chrome casts, and it seems to be doing great.
 
You all are crazy! Cable is the best thing out there!...

j/k Had to throw it out since I work for a cable company. And trust me, we know the high rates are driving people off. I, myself, would be happy if a la cart was introduced, as long as it was digital only. With almost 50 channels of analog tv still left on the spectrum, that would be 50 filters I would have to keep and figure out how to put on to allow x amount of channels through. In other words, not possible with analog cable tv service (and there are plenty of people who still use just analog). I've seen a huge shift in the last 5 years of people getting just internet and a real big push in the last 2 years or so. And I agree, broadcasters are going to have to realize that the public demand for cable/sat tv via the current subscription model isn't going to work in the next few years to come. They either need to shift their strategy or they will fail horribly.
 
Havn't had cable for 2-3 years now.

Don't miss it one damn bit.

My wallet is ultra happy though.

We all know what's going to happen don't we? The stand-alone internet service will rise to $100. We all know it's going to happen.
 
I dropped Comcast for DirecTV years ago,not because of price,but reliability. It had gotten so bad that I was losing service for about a week every month. I think they contracted out their repair and service to the Three Stooges,it was that bad. I'd love to have more freedom to choose which channels I get,though,there are a lot of them in the present tier method that are either useless to me or merely duplicates of other channels.
 
Advil said:
We all know what's going to happen don't we? The stand-alone internet service will rise to $100. We all know it's going to happen.
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Yup.

Though this is what I predict. You average Joe Schmoe Regular Guy / Gal who is only interested in Facebook, e-mail, YouTube and web browsing is going to move over to doing most of their business on tablets and phones on LTE.

So if land-based internet providers think they can start bilking that segment, they better tread carefully.
 
Got rid of TWC digital HD. Saved me $75 after taxes. Kept roadrunner though cuz twc internet is the only game in time for true broadband internet. Fucking monopoly.
 
Tanis143 said:
With almost 50 channels of analog tv still left on the spectrum, that would be 50 filters I would have to keep
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What cable company out there still has analog? We just cut it off completely about a month or two ago, good riddance.
 
I have a feeling that as more people keep cutting their cable tv service, the cable companies are just going to jack up their internet prices to compensate. It's not like there's a lot of competition in that market, especially in smaller cities and towns.
 
I just started my cable service again. I have to get it from September to January for football then its canceled again.
 
Chunder said:
If I was able to afford to replace all 4 "tube" TV's we own with internet capable TV's, we would've ditched TV subscriptions long ago by now. I only assume this is one of the reasons most people haven't yet switched themselves, that and a lack of knowledge of the cheaper, and better alternatives.

Now of course if something like Google Fiber were available in most of the country... this wouldn't even need to be discussed. =P
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Do you really need 4?:) I am sure you have though of all this, but...

You could buy a smart blu ray player for each one. OR other smart tv like device.

How many months would it take to pay for a 500 dollar TV if you cut cable? OTA the other tubes and replace one at a time.
 
Redleader said:
I just started my cable service again. I have to get it from September to January for football then its canceled again.
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I feel bad for the people that then get blacked out because of various agreements sigh...what a mess Sports TV has become.
 
I too dumped my cable TV last week and saved $80 a month. With 60Mbps Internet, HuluPlus, Netflix and the free shows we get from Amazon Prime (really a bonus as we got it for the shipping) all I need is a good sports feed.
 
I dont understand why more people just dont cut the cord just stick with internet and get a HD Ant for OTA channels which are much clearer then anything your local cable provider can supply...
 
I'm in the same group, haven't had cable since 2006. Only miss it a few times a year, and that ends up being sporting events.
It's just not worth it. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon fills the viewing time just fine. The best part is that it does it without ads. (Hulu ads are blocked at the router at my house)

I can't stand watching a show on broadcast anymore. Ads are loud, annoying and Stupid. Trying to sell crap that nobody needs or really wants.
I mean so McDonald's really need a commercial??

If cable didn't have ads (like when it started out so many years ago) I'd be far more interested, but I REFUSE to pay to see more ads, it just seems stupid to me.
 
I pay for cable though if I had my choice, it would be gone. My wife refuses to learn how to use the computer for watching her shows.

Eventually ala carte will happen, but once that does they will jack up the rates to compensate. The current model of broadcasting is done. I don't mind paying for a service, but I want it to work how I warnt it to, not some old archaic model.
 
wayreth21 said:
I pay for cable though if I had my choice, it would be gone. My wife refuses to learn how to use the computer for watching her shows.

Eventually ala carte will happen, but once that does they will jack up the rates to compensate. The current model of broadcasting is done. I don't mind paying for a service, but I want it to work how I warnt it to, not some old archaic model.
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XBMC, SickBeard, CouchPotato

It passes the WAF.
Esp when you can make it run from 1 remote.
 
ServerKing said:
I dont understand why more people just dont cut the cord just stick with internet and get a HD Ant for OTA channels which are much clearer then anything your local cable provider can supply...
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It's because TV marketers have instilled such a sense of loyalty in their audience that many people would rather pay up the nose for shows they "can't live without" than make a sensible decision and find something similar from another venue.

I know tons of people who won't switch because they watch a certain cable news channel. Some of my relatives won't quit because they like the History Channel or even (shudder) TLC.

Me, I won't hesitate to switch away from any company if it jerks me around. When Amazon put DRM on its instant videos so that I couldn't watch them on Linux, I canceled my Prime account, started shopping elsewhere, and found other streaming sites for my content. Problem solved.
 
There's a ton of great programming on cable. Hell, there are better programs out there on small cable networks than the old major broadcast networks.

The problem for cable is that if your audience doesn't need to watch that great programming the second it comes out, then there's no need for cable. Everything hits either streaming or DVD/Blu-ray eventually. And my backlog of shows being what it is, I've got no dearth of entertainment while I wait for the latest hotness to hit a disc format.
 
dgingeri said:
Nope. The whole concept of "TV programming when the producers want to show it" is now out the window. This is the age of "Programming when the viewers want to watch it." Nothing will stop this tide. TV stations and networks are out the window. It's all going to be served from the internet in the very near future.
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I wouldn't say TV stations are "out the window" they just need to change the part of their business model that pertains to exclusive showing in time blocks on cable tv networks. And instead release shows/movies/programs online and give people the option to pay reasonable amounts to watch what they want when they want. Personally I would be more than willing to pay a few dollars a month to have full access to all say FX shows on demand. Even more so for a channel I really enjoy without the commercials. Think HULU/Netflix but run and operated by each individual broadcaster. And from there it would behoove them to create an API to allow streaming to HTPC/SmartTVs so I can just use the interface I already have to watch them.
 
ZenDragon said:
I wouldn't say TV stations are "out the window" they just need to change the part of their business model that pertains to exclusive showing in time blocks on cable tv networks. And instead release shows/movies/programs online and give people the option to pay reasonable amounts to watch what they want when they want. Personally I would be more than willing to pay a few dollars a month to have full access to all say FX shows on demand. Even more so for a channel I really enjoy without the commercials. Think HULU/Netflix but run and operated by each individual broadcaster. And from there it would behoove them to create an API to allow streaming to HTPC/SmartTVs so I can just use the interface I already have to watch them.
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Down side I guess would be that this would eliminate a lot of the cruft and crap channels because nobody would watch and probably put a lot of people out of business. But it would probably improve the quality of the those that survive the fallout.
 
We dropped the "TV" part of our cable years ago. We were watching maybe one show a week -- didn't make sense. We switched over to Business class - no caps, great upload speed, no throttling (yes, Comcast throttles). Since we do actually use it for business, it's nice. Service has been great (install and ONE issue in three years). When we had residential service, it was horrible. The Business group at Comcast has been great.

I think the main thing is that people want watch stuff, but when they want to watch it. The first step in this was the Tivo devices -- okay, farther back than that, I used to set up the VCR to record shows when we were in bed, or away.

The wife and I are busy with work, side business, and other activities -- don't have time sit a watch a show on someone else's schedule. Stream it, Redbox it. There you go.
 
wayreth21 said:
I pay for cable though if I had my choice, it would be gone. My wife refuses to learn how to use the computer for watching her shows.

Eventually ala carte will happen, but once that does they will jack up the rates to compensate. The current model of broadcasting is done. I don't mind paying for a service, but I want it to work how I warnt it to, not some old archaic model.
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Have you considered something simple like a WD TV, chromecast or the like? many options out there and promise to take her to dinner with the savings?
 
ServerKing said:
I dont understand why more people just dont cut the cord just stick with internet and get a HD Ant for OTA channels which are much clearer then anything your local cable provider can supply...
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I just purchased a nice indoor antenna with the intent of picking up OTA channels and cutting the cord.

Couldn't pick up one single darn channel (Oak Park CA - Northwest of LA) :rolleyes:

Now I'm debating keeping the cable because my wife does like watching the news, award shows, and other live events - things that can't be picked up on DVD/netflix/Amazon.

It's annoying. $200+ dollars a month for something I used to get for free when I was a kid...
 
Can't wait till Google fiber rolls out here in Austin next year! Cable and DSL can eat a sack of dick cheese.
 
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/21/4645692/espn-in-talks-to-stream-all-channels-online-for-a-price

ESPN(Disney) is going to be the one who turns the tide. Live sports are the problem. It is getting better with certain sports. NBC with the EPL this year is decent. College football on ESPN as well. The problem is you have to have a cable subscription to log in. So that defeats the purpose.

Of course the NFL alone will hold all of this up for years with their tv contract.

I wish firstrow would get better HD streams with better audio ;)
 
Why does everybody always blame cable companies for the lack of a-la-carte?
That is not the fault of the cable co's; it's the fault of the content providers.

With the way cable co's buy and provide "channels," you'd be paying the same whether you only got 2 of NBC's channels or all of them.
Cable co's do not purchase channels a-la-carte, so they cannot provide them a-la-carte at a lesser price.

Here's a decent fairly recent article on why a-la-carte won't work so well with the current infrastructure.

http://www.cinemablend.com/televisi...te-Cable-Option-Would-Suck-Most-Us-58094.html
 
ServerKing said:
I dont understand why more people just dont cut the cord just stick with internet and get a HD Ant for OTA channels which are much clearer then anything your local cable provider can supply...
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I tried doing the OTA stuff and got horrible reception. Although that has been a couple of years, I'm married now and the wife won't give up Hallmark and TLC. I don't watch anything live as I just stream or download everything I care to watch.
 
Ponder said:
You could buy a smart blu ray player for each one. OR other smart tv like device.
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Unfortunately besides the main living room TV, the others only have the standard coaxial cable port. As far as I know, there isn't a smart TV device that is connectable with this port.
 
Chunder said:
Unfortunately besides the main living room TV, the others only have the standard coaxial cable port. As far as I know, there isn't a smart TV device that is connectable with this port.
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Alot of the smart bluray players are wifi now. You could go that route.
 
Live sports aren't really a problem anymore. Got the Madden DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket promo this year for $50 after selling the game and, as we found out last year, NHL GameCenter + Unblock-Us works brilliantly to get around local blackouts. Next year, I will get NFL Game Pass and work around the country restrictions that with Unblock-Us as well. MLB.TV has worked great for years now. NBA is available too if I ever want it. I just watched some tennis last weekend on the US Open site. Many other big events are still available OTA. There are probably still some gaps with NCAA, but I don't care for amateur sports.
 
pigwalk said:
What cable company out there still has analog? We just cut it off completely about a month or two ago, good riddance.
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Most of the bigger ones, especially since they get into bulk accounts for places like nursing homes that over analog cable as part of their resident package. Trust me, I would love to be done with analog cable, it takes up a HUGE chunk of our spectrum, and most is in the lower frequencies which tend to travel better over distances.
 
I'd like all stations to go to broadcast and internet only. OTA is fine for me, but I'd still like to get more NFL/Sports and HBO. So now I only have OTA and some streaming.
 
Ponder said:
Have you considered something simple like a WD TV, chromecast or the like? many options out there and promise to take her to dinner with the savings?
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I am aware of the options. We have tried it before with the PS3 and Xbox 360. She is just technically incompetent.
 
I'm one of them too. Ditched Dish Network last week and saved $110 a month for basically nothing. Bought a good antenna, mounted it outside where the satellite dish was and used the same cable. Took 5 minutes and I've got all the networks clear as a bell so I won't miss any football and it's free. Got Netflix running thru a Blu-ray player for $8/month for movies and some TV shows so I'm not and the wife seems to be.
 
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