Cable TV Companies Are Losing Over 20,000 Subscribers Every Day As Cord Cutting Grows

Cord Cutters ^ | 07/08/23 | Luke Bouma

[V_TWIN]

I woukda cut the cord 5 years ago if the wife woulda let me. She finally saw the light and now we have toutubetv but there are a few idiosyncrasies I don’t care for. For instance if you stop watching something you previously recorded and go back to it, the recording starts from the beginning all over again.....very annoying.

Also, no slow motion viewing and some recordings are absolutely loaded with ads you cannot fast forward through......we may try Sling before too long....comparable programming at half the cost.

[glorgau]

> Several stream services just doubled their rates. We axed them.

Yep, it is much easier to switch streaming services than cable services. Permanent change in the marketplace.

[fireman15]

I know that you are joking, but for those who might not. The services that my wife and I share with my parents have far more “channels” than you can get from any cable provider. They cost a fraction of the price of cable and it is actually easier to find the programming you want once you get used to the new system. And we have basically unlimited DVR functions both online and saved to our computers.

But for the best experience you do have to do your research and watch what the multitude of providers have to offer. Our primary service is “Sling Blue” with the “Total TV Deal” and “Sling Freestream”. This provides so many channels that you have to favorite just the ones you like to watch or it takes a long time to get through them all. It can be watched on three different tvs or devices at the same time, so it is quite easy to share with other family members not necessarily living with you.

We also have Amazon Prime and other free or low cost services and subscribe to some premium services like Starz etc... which frequently have specials when you try to quit for a dollar or two a month for six months. And then the cycle repeats.

[occamrzr06]

I have an LG TV, but I use a Roku for streaming. I feel like my “smart tv” is too nosy. (My Roku may be just as nosy for all I know..)

Same. Our Smart TVs seem to buffer a lot more.

We cut the sat tv 10 years ago and haven't missed it a bit.

We have an antenna if we want to watch live tv, but honestly, I can't remember when the last time that was.

[TermLimits4All]

Yet the cost of I telnet and all the app add on packages ends up being the same cost or higher.

[TomGuy]

Cable and satellite have less and less to offer.

COVID especially hit the making of new series and new episodes. Many channels reverted to ‘low fruit’ selections, reruns, etc.

Now, the writers’ strike. [Who did the writers think would win striking now? It seems like a lose-lose situation.]

Streaming is the closest think to ala carte. Cable/satellite refused to break up bundles and offer ala carte.

My cable company is now trying to move into the ‘mobile’ market, and they are facing a lot of competition. They are also trying to remain viable as an internet provider. They finally created a few lower-priced tiers.

It still doesn’t stop them from raising prices frequently for both internet and TV.

[Bob434]

do you get the following

espn (west and east) (I only care about it for car racing)
A&E
TBS
Discovery channel
sci fi
turner classic movies
newsmax
id channel

we’d love to cut cable, but having to pay extra for some channels per month to get what we like bring it all back up to, or more than cable-

[CatOwner]

The one plus I definitely see with cutting the cord is not being tied to a promotion, if you're fortunate to still get one with cable TV (or similar, like AT&T U-verse for grandfathered users). I suspect this will come in handy when the costs for streaming services continue to rise.

YouTube TV, despite being owned by Google, seems to be a favorite here (no much for not feeding the beast). It was $49.99 three years ago. It is now $72.99. When cable TV completes its crater and channels are forced onto the streaming services, what do you think those costs will look like?

[Flavious_Maximus]

The Deep State media will still broadcast their leftwing propaganda but no one will be available to watch it. Embrace the suck, Deep State!

[fireman15]

Same here, but image quality and sound isn't as good. Even OTA beats streaming, DVR still beats them all.

I suppose it depends on your internet provider and location, but where we are at in an outlying area this is not true at all. We are far enough out of town in a hilly area so that OTA is not much of an option. And we are surrounded by so many tall trees that it is a lot of work to keep them trimmed back enough to use a satellite dish. The quality of our streaming services are as good or beats cable.

When we first started streaming on November 20,2016, the day that DirecTV Now, the first major Streaming service designed to compete with cable was made available to consumers, some of your complaints were valid. They had a lot of growing pains. And eventually they lost their competitive edge.

[CatOwner]

*so much

[Wuli]

It really has more to do with the offerings of the channels more than “the cable companies” per se. And what the channels offer is being challenged by what is available on “streaming” together with demographic changes in customers, where younger users are very attracted/inclined to streaming, available on a cumputer or a cell phone (anything with an Internet connection). However, don’t cound “cable companies” out, as they are nearly all now more than a “cable company” and all of them offer Internet acess where streaming is available. Some traditional cable companies have also moved into the cell phone space, and some who provide all three services - TV, Internet and cell phone networks are readily shifting assets and offerings inclined toward streaming services.

In sum, the “cable companies” are not going away or dying, they will be and some are adapting to changes in what consumers want.

[TomGuy]

internet and “land line” phone. I’m saving over $100/month

The cable co recently increased my speed and will raise prices soon, so I changed to a lower plan. I don't need 900Mbps. I dropped to 100Mbps which is plenty fast for me and it will save me around $40 per month.

They closed their local office (town of about 25K population). Now, it is drive 30 miles or try to do business online. It took me nearly an hour of online chat to get my internet speed change. That would have take 5 minutes in a local store.

[janetjanet998]

Yep

RAV live on Rumble for those that didn’t know

https://rumble.com/v2wba38-home-of-real-news-and-honest-views.html

[Jeff Chandler]

“cord nevers” younger individuals

Young people can't watch television shows or movies. Their brains have been programmed to watch videos that are from three to 60 seconds.

[FreeReign]

Yep RAV live on Rumble for those that didn’t know

Yup.

And live streaming on the RAV website too.

[FlingWingFlyer]

When you consider that 98% of what is on TV these days is yard sale/flea market crap, everyone would be better off if we went back to three networks only for free.

[SamAdams76]

It's been a few years for me since I cut my cable.

Not only do I not miss it but when I go to hotel rooms, I don't even turn the TV on. I just fire up my laptop and stream something on that if I want to watch something.

[FamiliarFace]

*** If you are not a sports fan, it seems like you are not interested in paying for a live TV service.***

This is our problem. We are a sports watching family, mostly football, hockey, and soccer, but tennis and other competitions sometimes.

If we could figure out how to find games live, be able to pause, rewind, or fast forward with other providers, we would be all over canceling.

Can someone point me to a solution for those sports other than to stop watching sports? That’s not really much of a solution.

[peggybac]

I want to leave Spectrum because it is so darn expensive but the choices are overwhelming, confusing, and I have my cable/internet/phone bundled. I’d love opinions and recommendations.