Posted on 02/09/2009 4:28:16 AM PST by Zakeet
Porter McConnell gave up on pay TV last summer after noticing that monthly rates kept creeping up.
Now with no satellite or cable TV, she watches her trusty old TV set with an antenna or she goes online to catch her favorite programs. Once in a while, she buys shows from Apple Inc.'s iTunes service. McConnell also upped her subscription to Netflix Inc.'s movies-by-mail service so she gets two DVDs at a time instead of one, for $15 a month.
"Part of it is, I've got to economize," said the 30-year-old Washington, D.C., resident who works at a nonprofit.
McConnell is the kind of consumer who makes cable and satellite TV operators lose sleep. While a weak economy invariably makes people pinch pennies, this is the first time that viewing shows online has become a viable competitor to pay TV, making cutting the cord easier.
Cable operators are starting to notice. Glenn Britt, chief executive of Time Warner Cable Inc., voiced his concern Wednesday in a quarterly earnings discussion with analysts.
"We are starting to see the beginning of cord cutting," he said. "People will choose not to buy subscription video if they can get the same stuff for free."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Where I live I pit the DSL provider against the cable internet provider and they give discounts to retain you (evil grin) That would be BellSouth vs Comcast
Cut my cable over a year ago. How much TV did I watch? And what was I really watching?
News Channels (Fox) for an hour or so in the evening.
One or two primetime programs per week.
After that? Not much else...at $50.00 @ mth. it wasn’t worth having.
I use my computer for almost everything else. Free Republic is great for getting truly breaking news and then the links to live coverage.
My biggest fear, the Fairness Doctrine and how they might try to implement it.
Wasn’t it Senator McCain who was pushing the ala carte cable bill a few years ago?
What happened to that?
Extended cable here has about 65 channels. Subscribers subsidize those they don’t watch. Out of the 65, I watch maybe 25-30 occasionally. If I could drop 35-40 (my choice) and pay less, I’d jump for that.
The main reason I keep cable is for the highspeed Internet. However, some of the wireless providers are entering that market.
My cable advertises “free HD programming”. To get that ‘free’ programming, however, I have to switch from the analog to digital ($$11.95 monthly for service and mandatory tier) and and HD receiver ($$5.95 monthly). So, at a minimum that “free HD programming” would add about $19.00 plus tax per month.
I missed a 24 episode so the next evening I streamed it from the Fox website. From my computer onto a 32" LCD TV. It looked as good as the regular over the air digital broadcast expect for a few stutter motions
Most municpalities gave one cable company total control over an area, and they used it to charge excessive rates both to subscribers and to channels/networks. Now they will need a lean, mean model - unless they get bailed out, in which case it’s Edsels for everyone.
DSL may not be instant, but it does work. I usually wait for my show to fully download before watching it.
I seem to remember that the reason the cable companies got permission to offer internet was because they say the day coming when internet would REPLACE cable TV.
Of course, ISPs are going to start charging by volume pretty soon, which is going to kill the online move biz. Methinks there is a conflict of interest here, since most of them offer some sort of TV service (cable companies, and AT&T).
Food isn’t extras.
Yuck....
Numerous ‘Star Trek’ episodes from the original run were remastered (audio, video, new effects). The remasters were originally shown on Sci-Fi channel as part of another ST anniversary.
I only get basic cable because I have cable internet and basic was an additional $5/mo. Otherwise, there’s no way I’d pay what some of my friends are paying for their cable TV.
As far as I’m concerned, 90% of it is garbage anyway, so why pay good money for it?
http://www.hulu.com
http://www.fancast.com
http://www.veoh.com
Those are a few websites that stream many of the current and classic TV shows. Some have brief commercials (15-30 sec) occasionally during the stream. The quality is good, depending on the website and the ISP quality.
I use my HD TV as a monitor and stream full-screen via the laptop which is wired or wireless from the router. I am doing this more and more to catch missed episodes, etc. It is even better than dvd-recording, because the episode stream tends to have significantly fewer commercials.
[Speaking of commercials, I watched NBC’s XIII last night. Every 5 minutes, it seemed, they broke for commercials. I bet, when the whole 4-hour movie is broadcast and commercials removed, it will be about a 90-minute movie.]
We do all that already..... :(
(Except for the beer)
We also shop Salvation Army. Our local one has very high quality foot wear (they’re very picky about what they take) and we got my college daughter one pair of boots and a pair of shoes, both like new, for $8.
I have a garden and this year expect to make my own “organic” strawberry jam.
The market in action.
That’s for sure. I’ve noticed that there’s no better selection with 50 channels that when we had three.
I watch the only 2 shows I can stomach on CBS without commercials on my computer. I took the cheapest Netflix package and I get instant movies when I want and 2 others mailed to me every week...and no commercials and no Obama.
Remember when cable was (mostly) commercial free?
I’m damned tired of paying what I pay for a few decent channels (out of the 300 or so that I pay for), and STILL have to sit through the same pile-of-crap commercials.
Where is my pair of cable cutters?
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