Sorry to rant but I got to get this off my chest and I don't Facebook so, where we go.
My local cable company is experiencing issues, the networks are all raising their fees to be so high that only the major corporate broadcast companies can afford them. Therefore squeezing out all of the independent providers. We lost NBC a few months ago to a %400 price increase and poised to loose all Viacom networks. (I may be mistaken but I think Viacom is now part of NBC/Universal World Group. Oops correction, it appears Viacom owns NBC/Universal as of late 2012.) That of course is to set up a system where, though legally not a monopoly, they will have one hand that is always washing the other. Eg. Network A, (who no doubt has some money tied up into Broadcaster B), sells rights to Broadcaster B. So in essence they pay themselves to carry their own signal. This is a push by corporate media in an attempt to be in total control of broadcasting.
It appears they are trying to set the prices so high that the only players that will be left are, AT&T, Comcast, Time/Warner, Direct TV and the Dish Network.
And although history is filled with examples, stories, books and movies that illustrate the negative implications that this would have on society, they still insist on attempting this. Maybe those guys should take a brake from counting their money and watch a little of their programming to see just what happens when there are too few people involved in any large organization. Maybe a little Keanu a-la Johnny Nemonic would be a good starting look at a world with too few businesses.
In the end I guess it doesn't matter. They got their money either way so why should they care?
Sorry to rant but to be honest the reason I'm with my cable company is because 1: They offer the best internet in my area. Others have made the claim but no one has matched their level of service in my area. I get a much better signal and WAY better service from them as opposed to AT&T or Direct TV. (I've had TV through both and internet from AT&T. Very let down with both.) 2: Customer Service. At least in my area, if you have AT&T issues, you may as well get out your tool belt and start figuring it out yourself because it will be days before they get to you and you have to be there the whole day in order to not miss them and get put in the back of the queue. In fairness this was all over 5 years ago and I've refused to use AT&T anything as much as possible since so, maybe things are better. But, I doubt it.
It just sucks that I'm probably going to loose my reliable local company and end up with an (IMHO) inferior corporate provider for just as much if not more money. To my local I'm 1 in 500,000. To AT&T, Time and Comcast, I'd be 1 in 5,000,000. To my company I'm a valued customer and worth their time. To the big boys, I'm chump change and, in the past, have been tossed in a jar just like all of other chumps. Now that they have even more customers than they did then, I don't see that trend swinging toward my favor.
Once again, sorry to rant. -"Snatch your brain back zombies." -Jbone.
@Antron007 Well over here in Indiana I have Comcast as my cable provider, what I pay for digital cable and a converter box really isn't bad, but I keep on hearing the horror stories of huge bills people pay. I prefer cable tv to satellite tv because of where I sit, lots of trees and power lines, lots of interference issues. I get my internet/wifi through Centurylink my telephone company. I refuse to bundle things together, because after the 6 to 12 month special, they will stick it to you, a lot of people do not understand that, then they about crap when they start paying the actual bill. What I do hate about cable and satellite tv is the commercials, I think they shouldn't have to show so many if a person is paying for tv services, they always show the same commercials over and over, a lot of times at night I just shut off tv anymore :-{ I have been thinking about buying a Clear TV Antenna and seeing how that works and buy a Chromecast to watch things online on my tv.
I have a rotary powered high gain UHF antenna and receive 18 over the air HDTV channels. Presently I'm locked into a 2 year contract with Directv for a basic package that I may cancel soon. I started with them in 1998 for $20 a month with a single TV. Now thanks to the grandkids there are 3 TVs with receivers and the bill is $82 a month I use both AT&T DSL as well as Suddenlink for internet access. I have them both because neither one is very consistent with the internet service. So far I've been able to have uninterrupted service thanks to at least one provider being operational while the other is making repairs. I have an external 450 KW Onan generator for emergency backup since all electrical service in this area is above ground. Also have a 14 person storm shelter underground for the wonderful weather we have in the South.
I cancel my cable subscription October 2013 and never once regret it. My problem was I was paying for a service I barely used, and due do the fact that I travel weekly for work. I barely have free time to watch TV. When I do watch TV, it is usually recorded shows on my DVR, and cable TV are eminent for playing the same content over and over again. I have cancel my TV package's and kept the Internet. I have Hulu and Netflix, a media center PC in the entertainment room with 4TB of contents, and the bedrooms have apple tv's or Roku's boxs. I prefer TV on demand over cable TV. Needless to say I really enjoy Hulu and Netflix, specially I can stream while on the road. I was paying $182 for cable and Internet, now paying $70 total for Internet, Hulu, Netflix. Lol the extra money save goes toward my robots and weekends tracks racing. I think cable in 2014 is not worth having.
I use all Internet based services. If i want to see a "pay per view "even i just drive down to the local bar but that doesn't happen often. Netflix, hulu , rabbit tv and tv.com pretty much have it all.
I agree with Josh ... I havnt had cable in 5 years....only the internet......The only thing I will go to the bar ( and drink coffee) is to watch the CFL when their playing. ( I am a BC Lions Fan ).....@ Antron check out your options!
and what you really need.
I pay 47 dollars for fiber optic line and two static Ip's 50 megabit up and down. Pretty nice. EPB Fiberoptic Internet service provider
All I know is that my Comcast bill per month is around $50.00, that's one digital converter box/dvr and movies on demand. My internet service through my telephone company is $24.00 monthly and my telephone bill is around $40.00 monthly. I have been with Comcast for about 5 years now, their customer service sucks, but I have never had any problems.
Thanks for chiming in guys. We are considering just doing internet and saying screw it. I do use Hulu and Netflix quite a bit as it is already. I personally kind of like having the TV schedule. I can count on the family being all together when we all watch certain shows and it's just kind of nice and fun. On demand programming is awesome but, I have too much control. My GF and I have been wanting to watch House of Cards and we're only one episode in. The fact that it's there whenever, leads to us putting it off to do other things even though, every Thursday we say, "We ARE going to watch H O C this weekend." LOL