Why is cable so darn expensive?

[WhoTheF]

Ever thought about switching to DISH? Would that make any difference for you?

[DaDude]

Ever thought about switching to DISH? Would that make any difference for you?

I live in an apartment. Satellite dishes are strictly forbidden.

[The Humanist]

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?

Since I used to work for Time Warner I'll give you some tips.

* Call them every couple months to change your plan, they have deals and offers for cheaper service all the time, usually you can double your internet speeds or add double the amount of channels for the same price or even less.

* Call and complain about things like the box/remote rental fees, reps have the authorization to give you up to $100 in credits/reductions with no manager approval (meaning they'll happily do it to get you off the phone).

* Call and threaten to cancel/switch to another provider, this is usually good for a price reductions up to 6 months and/or credits.

* Most locations should be switching out standard digital boxes for HD boxes at no extra charge.

All in all TW is pretty amicable and ready to deal, especially if they have stiff comps in the area (i.e. Verizon). You just have to call them.

Edit: Oh and 1 more thing, the reps in ABS (Advanced Broadband Services) think all the regular customer service reps are braindead idiots. If you say something like "Well so-and-so in customer service said this service would only cost $XXX, why is it so much!!!?!?!?!?!" they will pretty much believe you and give it to you at that price because they are positive the trained monkies in CS probably have no idea what they're talking about 90% of the time.

[Dev Null Zen]

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.

This post is full of fail. The transition is from an analog to digital tv signal, whether OTA or cable. Nothing to do with HDTV. Period. And the reason everyone is required to have a cable box when you have cable, is because the cable companies now use encrypted signals since the hey days of the 80's when people were pirating cable like mad. At least know what you are talking about when you try to mindless bash things.

[bjoswald]

Our local cable provider offers digital cable TV plus the Internet for $100/mo. Considering the (unnecessary) digital receiver they provide and the 5MB/s download limit, I think that is a rip-off. However, compared to the nightmare that is Verizon, I'd rather pay more for stable, hassle-free service than battling with customer service reps. Honestly, I'm almost at the point where even I think broadband isn't worth it.

[DaDude]

I'm surprised at how many people here say cable is unnecessary. If I ever told anyone I knew that I don't have cable, I would never hear the end of it. Cable is like the norm today.

[shakey_snake]

^:p

Because you've convinced yourself that you need it.

[sanctified Veteran]

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.

Woah there! It was a joke :/ If anything I am against capitalism.

[gregb0b]

I pay 143.44 for 4 hd boxes digital cable and internet....

[JustGeorge]

This post is full of fail. The transition is from an analog to digital tv signal, whether OTA or cable. Nothing to do with HDTV. Period. And the reason everyone is required to have a cable box when you have cable, is because the cable companies now use encrypted signals since the hey days of the 80's when people were pirating cable like mad. At least know what you are talking about when you try to mindless bash things.

And yet people still pirate cable, satellite even with encryption. Its the same tired argument we've been hearing in the software world for years. Bottom line is DRM, encryption does nothing but inconvenience paying customers while the pirates will always find ways around it and continue to steal. The Cable industry is using the digital transition to hike prices when none are justified.

[david]

$45 for 12mb/1.5mb

[DaDude]

I also forgot to add that the prices I posted does not include any Premium channels or PPV movies. Premium Channels are about $15 extra each. This is really insane. I pay an outrageous amount just for these regular channels. Now, you have to pay extra if you want the premium channels. Cable companies are greedy and I hate them with a passion.

[tuckeratlarge]

I can't believe the cheeky beggars actually charge you monthly rentals for the boxes, let alone the remotes.

I had to pay for my SKY+HD box (?75) but it still sticks in my craw. I have always been of the opinion that if they want me to watch their programming they should provide the equipment. Then again they have always been of the opinion that if I want to watch their programming I should buy a dish/box. Seeing as they can do without one customer paying ?32 a month, and I want Sky, they won.

[The Humanist]

I also forgot to add that the prices I posted does not include any Premium channels or PPV movies. Premium Channels are about $15 extra each. This is really insane. I pay an outrageous amount just for these regular channels. Now, you have to pay extra if you want the premium channels. Cable companies are greedy and I hate them with a passion.

This is an outrage! How dare a company charge for services rendered!

I bought a car last week, and get this, come to find out I have to pay ADDITIONAL money for gasoline! what a rip off.

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

^ Your analogy is far too exaggerated to match with his statement.

I'm going to post the exact same thing I posted in another thread.

Eh, my mom signed up for TWC's crappy $10 (now $15, talk about greedy for no reason) 20 analog / 5 ClearQAM channel service and has stuck with it for over 8 years.

Very wise decision, the reason why nobody in our household is a couch potato.

Thank god we don't use their internet services either. $30 3.0mbps DSL FTW!

[DaDude]

Thank god we don't use their internet services either. $30 3.0mbps DSL FTW!

Not a bad idea. I may look into slower internet for a cheaper price. From what people are saying here, it seems like DSL is cheaper. I don't download much, so slower speed shouldn't be a big issue for me.

[+StevoFC MVC]

Not a bad idea. I may look into slower internet for a cheaper price. From what people are saying here, it seems like DSL is cheaper. I don't download much, so slower speed shouldn't be a big issue for me.

do you have a land line with unlimited local calling?

[DaDude]

do you have a land line with unlimited local calling?

Yes, but through Verizon, not TW

[thealexweb]

Cable is dead in the UK, freeview is very popular now.

[tuckeratlarge]

Cable is dead in the UK, freeview is very popular now.

er I think you maybe slightly mistaken there, freeview is popular as you say but cable is far from dead. With a healthy 3.5million subscribers it's very much alive.

[Brandon]

If it weren't for my parents, I'd just have the basic service and get QAM HD channels. Basic includes discovery and history. Thats about all I need!

[Biotoxic_hazard_835]

Well, I agree cable is expensive but given that in Puerto Rico OneLink provides the fastest and most stable broadband connection I pay without complain. I pay $75.95 a mo. for basic cable and 6 Mb down and 512 Kb up.

[PermaSt0ne]

they charge so much because.....they can

If you're talking cable TV then you can replace most of what you get on cable by watching it over the internet, legally. all the sport shows are on the internet, local news is on the web, all the movie channels can be replaced by netflix, all the music channels replaced by streaming services on the web, etc.

unfortunately cable services don't let you pay for only specific channels so i get cable for the Sci-Fi (although a lot of the content on this is also starting to be put on the web), History and Discovery channels. oh and SpikeTV for UFC as well :)

all the others that i watch Food, Home, USA, etc. can either be replaced by the internet or arn't worth the money to pay for. i only watch them because i'm already paying for the complete package

[metro]

I work for the cable company. I get the service for free, the package that would cost around $200 just by itself before cost of internet is figured in. I don't watch tv. The majority of it is garbage and commercials which get combined into infomercials for the off times. Whatever. I watch very few things, normally scattered on Discovery, Science, History, and TLC. Sometimes I watch the military channel.

TV is a total waste. You can come over and watch my HD if you want rofl.

Oh and for what it's worth, the cost of cable has absolutely nothing to do with the greedy broadcasters who restrict them from offering single channel packages due to carriage contracts for that particular network. It has nothing to do them wanting more money, nor does it have to do with Viacom recently proving this with Time Warner surprisingly standing up to them. Sadly, I think TW is going to have to throw in the towel and let the broadcaster win, or **** off millions of people. It's a lose-lose situation for doing the right thing.

[JustGeorge]

I work for the cable company. I get the service for free, the package that would cost around $200 just by itself before cost of internet is figured in. I don't watch tv. The majority of it is garbage and commercials which get combined into infomercials for the off times. Whatever. I watch very few things, normally scattered on Discovery, Science, History, and TLC. Sometimes I watch the military channel.

TV is a total waste. You can come over and watch my HD if you want rofl.

Oh and for what it's worth, the cost of cable has absolutely nothing to do with the greedy broadcasters who restrict them from offering single channel packages due to carriage contracts for that particular network. It has nothing to do them wanting more money, nor does it have to do with Viacom recently proving this with Time Warner surprisingly standing up to them. Sadly, I think TW is going to have to throw in the towel and let the broadcaster win, or **** off millions of people. It's a lose-lose situation for doing the right thing.

Well if its none of those things, then what is the reason?