Bundled Cable Death Watch: Q2 Cord-Cutting Soars to 566,000

Breitbart ^ | 8-11-15 | John Nolte

[Dacula]

The largest swindle big business ever played on the American people — forcing us to pay huge cable bills for dozens of channels we never watch — is slowly coming apart. Even with an ever-increasing population, the pay TV industry (cable and satellite) lost a net 566,000 subscribers last quarter. When you add in Q1, that’s a total of 887,000 lost customers in just six short months. There is just no question that customers are getting tech savvy and budget savvy. The result is a growing wave of cord-cutters (last quarter was the second biggest drop in pay TV customers in history

[Jim from C-Town]

I cut the cord over two years ago, LOVE IT! Do not miss anything about it including the $180 bill that is now $60 for the highest speed cable.

[dragnet2]

When you add in Q1, that’s a total of 887,000 lost customers in just six short months.

People paying $150.00 and up a month to watch TV is an absolute epic con-game.

The media insiders told us decades ago our FREE TV was old fashion and Pay TV/cable would be commercial free and we'd love it.

They had several decades of success in with the biggest con-job ever, getting folks to pay to watch commercials which they were ALREADY paid for.

They found a couple of hundred million suckers. But even the suckers eventually found out they were getting looted and got wise .

[Sergio]

Cut the cable bookmark.

[beef]

There is a lot of interesting stuff here:

https://archive.org/index.php

[ken5050]

Look, up front, I'm not defending the cable companies; it's way past time for them to unbundle the stations they offer. Especially since several networks, like ESPN, are pushing through huge prices increases. However, one thing needs to be said in defense of the cable companies. The cost to build out the original cable networks, and then increase them, and then upgrade them to fiberoptics, was huge...man, many billions. This would NOT have been possible if the cable systems didn't have a monopoly, or a duopoly, in most of the country, and the assurance of a constant revenue stream to service the debt.

Secondly, while many are cutting the cord, there still are tens of millions for whom it's a very worthwhile convenience, and are happy to pay them bill. I include myself in that group. The cable systems should be working hard to retain that group of customers.

There were several articles a few weeks ago, stating that if ESPN were a stand-alone offering, they'd have to charge about $35/month, and would people pay that? There's a certain fallacy to that argument, because the price would end up being much higher, because people would stop, and start, ESPN according to what season we're in. If you're a college football fan, the season is 6 months..so'd you'd sign up for ESPN in August, and drop it in February. So they'd have to charge you $75/ month for ESPN...that's a BIG number.

[dragnet2]

Post debate FOX motivated me to cut the cord.

That's exactly what the old guy did down the road, the day following the FOX debate. And he's well off financially. He said he was tired paying for hundreds of channels he never ever watched.

He said the turning point was he and his wife after waiting weeks to see the first debate, found they were sickened by what they saw and could no longer stomach the stress watching these network propagandist.

[theBuckwheat]

Got a Roku. Was paying $90/month to Direct. Had to upgrade our broadband link to handle the suckage. Still saved some money. Would never go back.

[PA Engineer]

Thanks.

That is exactly where we are at. We are getting rid of DSL and upgrading to high speed internet cable (fiber to the house). Going VOiP for voice. No need for the existing hardwire.

We have Netflix (never watch it), Amazon Prime and Apple. I also installed an attic antenna for broadcast and got 40 stations. The cost of the alternatives are less than $14 dollars a month. That includes all the Amazon shipping and pantry products. I save more than that a month with reduced vehicle mileage using prime pantry delivery to the door.

They just don't get it. They had a chance to be an interactive information conduit. I think Hughsnet is a good example. Maybe some latency issues, however DSL has those in spades too. I'm going to enjoy watching them die out. They will continue to make attempts to control the "conduits" using shenanigans with the FCC and others, however they are only putting off for a short time their inevitable shutdown.

[Calvin Locke]

My father sits all day and watches FNC over and over and over.

That or westerns. Drives my mother nuts.

About 10 years ago, one of the top selling DVDs in the UK was a farmer using a decades old tractor and other such equipment.

[ArmstedFragg]

I watched the pre-season games on the NFL stream last year, and this year they’re offering their full season NFL Ticket service in the US. On the downside, the games are delayed, so you have to listen to their audio stream if you want the score live. On the upside, they also include condensed versions so you can watch several games in a two hour period if you want.

For college games, that ESPN 1 and 2 Sling TV offer isn’t a bad deal.

For either, you need a fairly decent internet speed, dial-up and original DSL aren’t watchable.

[ArmstedFragg]

Sling’s offering ESPN 1 and 2 in their twenty buck package. I doubt they’re losing money on it, so I think even that thirty five buck quote is an overstatement.

[ken5050]

I think the estimate of $35 was for ALL of ESPN’s networks, 1, 2, 3 U, and the SEC network..which is HUGE in the south

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I know some folks whose Mediacom cable got knocked out in a storm earlier this week. Wait time for a tech to show up to try to restore service: 2 1/2 WEEKS. World-class customer service....I think they are going with DirecTV instead. They are not ready to cut the cord yet.

[Textide]

I just called Comcast and cancelled my cable TV. The ‘debate’ was the last straw for me as well. I really only watched FNC and English Soccer. Now that FNC has proven unreliable, I can just watch weekend soccer at a local pub.

Downgrading to internet only reduces my bill by 2/3rds.

I’m contemplating notifying FNC, but part of me doesn’t really care to let them know. They’ll figure it out via their pocketbook or they’ll perish as a business a la MSNBC.

[dragnet2]

Good for you, cable is one of the biggest con-jobs ever perpetrated on the American people by big biz.

[tiger-one]

all
Do Digital antennas work? same for wifi?

[Dacula]

They do not work in my area. I have tried many different brands and had no luck.