Why is cable so darn expensive?

[DaDude]

Why is cable so expensive? This is how my Time Warner Cable bill looks every month:

Basic Service- $13.90

Digital Service- $63.50

Cable Box-

($7.10 each, 2 cables boxes) $14.20

Remotes-

($.25 each, 2 remotes) $.50

Earthlink Standard Internet- $44.95

GRAND TOTAL= $137.05

Over $135 a month. Isn’t that dandy. And the rates keep going up too. One day, I may get real fed up and just decide to use dial-up internet again and go back to OTA broadcast. This is ridiculous. Why on earth is cable such a rip-off?

[Lezard]

Because companies love to charge for commodities

[Rudy]

you could try to reduce some of your digital services, maybe also buy your receivers (if they allow you).

And $45 of that is also for internet (which isn't really "cable"), but that could be decreased if you switch to a slower speed (since you're considering going back to dial up lol)

[(Spork)]

i pay 65 a month just for internet :/

[sanctified Veteran]

Dont watch TV. You dont need it. Save the money.

[DaDude]

Dont watch TV. You dont need it. Save the money.

The best answer so far. :D

[MrChainsaw]

I pay ?25 per month for 5Mb internet.

[Rudy]

Dont watch TV. You dont need it. Save the money.

or watch tv online. I know that if it wasn't for my gf I wouldn't get cable. I only watch one show (house) and I could easily download that once a week

[slippery]

That's not bad.

HD-DVR

Basic and HD Programming

Expanded regular and HD Programming

30mb Down-1.5mb Up internet

$160.00+ a month for what I get ($90.00 just for the inet!)

[DaDude]

or watch tv online. I know that if it wasn't for my gf I wouldn't get cable. I only watch one show (house) and I could easily download that once a week

Then what would you do with your TV then. Use it for movies only? There's only so much movies in your library that you can watch.

[sanctified Veteran]

I pay ?25 per month for 5Mb internet.

That is a nice deal actually. And totally understandable since internet can be helpful, unlike TV.

or watch tv online. I know that if it wasn't for my gf I wouldn't get cable. I only watch one show (house) and I could easily download that once a week

You can do that to save expenses indeed, but still, to date I can justify to myself waste time watching TV.

[JustGeorge]

I've often wondered why picture quality is now a "feature". When we moved from Black and White to Color broadcasting, was the consumer required to pay extra for color programming besides having to buy a color tv? The digital transition has been a train wreck as far as I'm concerned. High Def broadcasts whether OTA or through Cable should be available to everyone with an HDTV and cables boxes should not be required unless you're paying for premium channels (HBO, Cinemax,etc.) or want On-demand content.

[sanctified Veteran]

I've often wondered why picture quality is now a "feature". When we moved from Black and White to Color broadcasting, was the consumer required to pay extra for color programming besides having to buy a color tv? The digital transition has been a train wreck as far as I'm concerned. High Def broadcasts whether OTA or through Cable should be available to everyone with an HDTV and cables boxes should not be required unless you're paying for premium channels (HBO, Cinemax,etc.) or want On-demand content.

Welcome to Capitalism. Dont let those damn "commies" tell you its not a good thing.

[Rudy]

Then what would you do with your TV then. Use it for movies only? There's only so much movies in your library that you can watch.

the only thing I use the tv for is videogames (and i haven't had much time for that lately :()

[Brian M. Veteran]

Cable is actually fairly cheap over here, and the main provider, Virgin Media, operates a tiered package system (which I guess is pretty standard) - you can get a regular TV service, broadband and phone line for ?30.

Yes, there are fairly expensive packages - for example, we pay ?85 per month for our cable services, however, these packages target a specific market - not everybody needs/wants 2 PVRs, Sports/Movie channels, 20mbit broadband or unlimited phone calls.

[DaDude]

the only thing I use the tv for is videogames (and i haven't had much time for that lately :()

I don't play video games anymore. I lost interest quite some time ago and they're also very expensive as well.

[Rudy]

Cable is actually fairly cheap over here, and the main provider, Virgin Media, operates a tiered package system (which I guess is pretty standard) - you can get a regular TV service, broadband and phone line for ?30.

Yes, there are fairly expensive packages - for example, we pay ?85 per month for our cable services, however, these packages target a specific market - not everybody needs/wants 2 PVRs, Sports/Movie channels, 20mbit broadband or unlimited phone calls.

but that's extra on the existing tv license you guys pay already right ?

[medium_pimpin]

Crap. I get digital tv w/ HD, DVR, a few extra channel packages and cable internet for $103 a month. I love Insight!!!

[metallithrax]

but that's extra on the existing tv license you guys pay already right ?

Thats right, we pay somewhere in the region of ?130 to the BBC

[Brian M. Veteran]

but that's extra on the existing tv license you guys pay already right ?

Yep, if you use any equipment capable of receiving/displaying/recording a live broadcast signal you need a TV license - doesn't matter if we have cable, freeview, or just channels 1-5 :p.

There are a couple of grey areas though, such as if you own a TV but don't use it to receive a broadcast TV, or if you use a TV/other equipment which is only powered by it's own internal batteries.

[JustGeorge]

Welcome to Capitalism. Dont let those damn "commies" tell you its not a good thing.

I think its a bit of a stretch for you to claim my view is communist or of an entitlement mentality. We're changing from one standard to another and to break it up in segments is the wrong way to go about it. It makes sense for internet speed packages, not for TV.

[shakey_snake]

Why is cable so expensive?

Because you've convinced yourself that you need it.

Basic Service- $13.90

You can probably get most of these channels over the air.

Digital Service- $63.50

What does this cover exactly? The 60-90 additional channels that you probably only watch 3 or 4 of regularly? Why bother?

Cable Box-

($7.10 each, 2 cables boxes) $14.20

Why are you renting cable boxes? Don't you have digital TVs?

Remotes-

($.25 each, 2 remotes) $.50

Why are you renting remotes? Do you still rent your wall landline-phone from the phone company?

Earthlink Standard Internet- $44.95

My ADSL from the phone company costs half that. What does your phone company charge?

Over $135 a month. Isn?t that dandy. And the rates keep going up too. One day, I may get real fed up and just decide to use dial-up internet again and go back to OTA broadcast. This is ridiculous. Why on earth is cable such a rip-off?

Why do you need to get fed up at all? Just cancel it now.

[DaDude]

What does this cover exactly? The 60-90 additional channels that you probably only watch 3 or 4 of regularly? Why bother?

Yep, there's about 3 or 4 channels I like and I need that package to get those channels.

Why are you renting cable boxes? Don't you have digital TVs?

Because Time Warner requires us to. We are not allowed to buy boxes. And you need a box to get additional channels.

Why are you renting remotes?

LOL. Because I need to be able to access the menu on the box and everything.

Why do you need to get fed up at all? Just cancel it now.

I may do that. Most of the good stuff seems to be OTA anyways.

[Rudy]

Why are you renting cable boxes? Don't you have digital TVs?

here in Canada even if your tv supports digital they require you to have their own box. All their digital channels are encrypted :(

[DaDude]

here in Canada even if your tv supports digital they require you to have their own box. All their digital channels are encrypted :(

Same here