Broadcasters Worry About 'Zero TV' Homes

I laugh at all you people who gloat over the money you're saving by switching to netflix instead of cable TV.

YOU'RE STILL PAYING FOR CABLE INTERNET.

the prices for internet have been rising very rapidly. The "regular price" for comcast bottom tier is $42-$62. Most people would get promotion price, but that only lasts you 6 months.

Point is, average high speed internet is $50. Better than $90-$100 for TV and Internet, but nothing to rave about. Not to mention the fact that the cable company still owns your ass.
 
Another one of those, haven't had cable is like 7 years. Every now and then, when I switch internet service (from DSL->Cable->Uverse->back to DSL->Back to Uverse), I'll try the TV package. It usually last about a month, so much mindless crap even with adequate finances I can't justify paying for it. Now, it's just blu-rays and Netflix.
 
faugusztin said:
HD OTA would be same as HD on Cable here, as it is pretty much the same medium in my country, just different distribution channel (DVB-C for cable, DVB-T for OTA). Except that OTA channels in DVB-T are the crappiest of the crap :D.
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Not true. Some cable companies recompress the HD streams to fit more channels into the limited bandwidth available, resulting in poorer quality.
Some of the secondary local channels have major blocking when I watch them on cable.
 
MrGoodbar said:
At least 1/3 of all cable content is commercials. For a half hour block of time, you get 20 minutes of actual show and 10 minutes of commercials split between 3-4 commercial breaks. Pretty standard on most prime-time networks right? Not to mention you get channels exclusively for shopping and paid-advertising.
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That's what the fast forward button on the DRV is for :)

I usually record stuff and watch it later. If I'm watching something live, when the first commercial comes up, I'll hit pause, and then go do something else for 5-10 minutes. When I come back I can skip the commercials as they come up for the rest of the show.
 
I was contemplating cutting the TV service over a year ago, but wasn't quite ready then. But as of this past weekend, I dumped my cable TV service and DVR and will be relying mostly on Netflix and Hulu Plus. I could no longer justify paying $48 a month just for basic cable and a DVR. Where I live I can't get a decent station over antenna, so that was a non option. I'll now be saving around $500 a year.

If there is a show I must watch now that neither Netflix or Hulu Plus will provide, then I will just buy the episodes/season to watch via iTunes or Amazon. It'll still be cheaper than cable at the end of the year.
 
mastaBlasta said:
I laugh at all you people who gloat over the money you're saving by switching to netflix instead of cable TV.

YOU'RE STILL PAYING FOR CABLE INTERNET.

the prices for internet have been rising very rapidly. The "regular price" for comcast bottom tier is $42-$62. Most people would get promotion price, but that only lasts you 6 months.

Point is, average high speed internet is $50. Better than $90-$100 for TV and Internet, but nothing to rave about. Not to mention the fact that the cable company still owns your ass.
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Sure, if you are in the situation where you don't even blink when you drop a $50 bill on the ground, not even bothering to pick it up.

At least $50 now for internet gets you more than it did just a few years ago. And internet alone is still cheaper than internet and TV. Internet is becoming more of a necessity between work and personal, TV not so much. In the past it was the opposite.

The savings adds up. $500 a year is $500 a year you can save up or spend on something you will actually use. That's an extra car payment, more money to pay off debt, vacation money, hobby money, etc. And that savings adds up over the years.

No sense in paying for something you are not getting your money's worth from. It's wasteful and lazy.
 
mastaBlasta said:
I laugh at all you people who gloat over the money you're saving by switching to netflix instead of cable TV.

YOU'RE STILL PAYING FOR CABLE INTERNET.

the prices for internet have been rising very rapidly. The "regular price" for comcast bottom tier is $42-$62. Most people would get promotion price, but that only lasts you 6 months.

Point is, average high speed internet is $50. Better than $90-$100 for TV and Internet, but nothing to rave about. Not to mention the fact that the cable company still owns your ass.
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I'm paying $29/mo for 18mbps from AT&T for 12 months. I don't have any problems with that. Great price. Even at $50-ish I'm OK with the pricing. We use the internet a lot. I did have to dicker / threaten to cancel to get the $29 rate though.
 
We've been off cable ever since we moved about two years ago. Don't miss it at all. The alphabet networks have their shows available online, and as much as I enjoyed watching Mythbusters, I have tons of other ways to spend my time without spending additional money.
MavericK96 said:
I would cut cable, except Comcast rapes you so hard that you have to have it in order to get any sort of mediocre discount on Internet. As in, it would cost you more money for the same internet to have just internet service versus having it plus cable. :rolleyes:
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Comcast (and all the other ISPs) always seem to have a discount for "new" customers. We currently have a "new customer" discount on our AT&T DSL, but when the discount runs out, we'll hop over to Comcast for six months, on *their* new customer discount. When that six months (or a year, depending on the length of the discount) expires, we'll switch back to AT&T as "new" customers again.
 
I am a "Zero TV" home, although that's ironic considering that I have three really high quality large HDTVs.
 
nutzo said:
That's what the fast forward button on the DRV is for :)

I usually record stuff and watch it later. If I'm watching something live, when the first commercial comes up, I'll hit pause, and then go do something else for 5-10 minutes. When I come back I can skip the commercials as they come up for the rest of the show.
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Canada, BC, specifically, doesn't have much provider choice when it comes to TV. I dunno what it's like in the USA, but I'd be damned if I have to pay for DVR box rental, and all the DVR features and the HD channels I want to go with it just to skip commercials. I have a friend who pays over 150 bucks for cable a month just to have 3 boxes and the service itself just to watch TV.

If I have to sit and wait for a commercial free show, I'd rather just "record" the show a different way ;). Let's face it, who on this board hasn't "recorded" things in an alternative manner. Arrr Matey.
 
mastaBlasta said:
I laugh at all you people who gloat over the money you're saving by switching to netflix instead of cable TV.

YOU'RE STILL PAYING FOR CABLE INTERNET.

the prices for internet have been rising very rapidly. The "regular price" for comcast bottom tier is $42-$62. Most people would get promotion price, but that only lasts you 6 months.

Point is, average high speed internet is $50. Better than $90-$100 for TV and Internet, but nothing to rave about. Not to mention the fact that the cable company still owns your ass.
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A: Internet offers connections to basically absolutely everything in the known world. Cable TV gives you access to TV and ads when they deem it fit to broadcast it to you.

B: My internet through Charter is $35 a month non promotion for 18/2. Tv for my area is $55.

C: Anyone on this board or interested in ditching TV will most likely already have internet in addition to TV. So your argument about having internet versus saving money canceling cable TV makes no sense as they are not 1:1 in option delivery.
 
LOL im paying $330 a month to Comcast for my TV/INTERNET/PHONE package, I get RAPED by the amount im paying for 7 HD boxes and 1 Whole house HD DVR box just to view the channels. Paying for the Boxes just to watch HD is completely bullshit but ive had UVERSE tv and the compress their channels even more the Comcrap. Oh well ill keep flushing money down the toilet.
 
lcpiper said:
I don't cause I only get internet service, I have no TV programing at all. I didn't really watch it anyway. All I do is watch movies and there are enough on Netflix at under $10 a month to keep me happy.

These guys are going to continue to try to find ways to force us to buy what they want to sell the way they want to provide it until they finally get snowballed by someone else who offers to sell us what we want to buy at something like what we want to pay. It's simple, it's economics, it will happen this way. But it won't stop these fools from going through the pain of trying to force their ways upon us.
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Yeah keep dreaming. I really doubt overnight "nice guy" companies are going to shell out the capital to run fiber all across the country just to provide people with cheap unlimited internet service.
 
PS: Terk HDTVa is awesome. Powered over-air HDTV with 12 channels for a flat 50 bucks seems reasonable.

I remember my basic cable with 28 channels was 30 dollars PER MONTH. Classic cable with 52 channels was 55 dollars PER MONTH all in Standard def. Canada has it bad with prices of things.
 
I currently neither own a TV nor have cable.

I have subscriptions to Netflix streaming and Hulu Plus.

I'm considering buying TV for my livingroom, but I plan on hooking it up to a HTPC. I have no interest in broadcast/cable/satellite/whatever. That model is completely obsolete. people don't want to live by other peoples schedules anymore, and they also don't want to have to pa for a ton of shit they don't want, just to get the few things they do.

Broadcasters should worry. Just like newspapers, their business model is quickly becoming obsolete. There are ways they can change and adapt and succeed in the new marketplace, but instead they seem hellbent on obstructing new distribution models and insulting their customers through such ridiculous promotions as overcharging for internet, and then making it cheaper when they bundle TV in with it.

My house currently has Comcast internet (which I hate). I am planning on Switching to FiOS, but the way it is now set up, if I want the 75/35 internet plan month to month it's $94.99 on it's own. If I add the cheapest TV plan (140 channels, 30 in HD) the total drops to $79.99.

So either TV costs -$15 per month, or they are just pulling a money grabbing fast one to bend me over even if I don't want their putrid cable service.

What a fucking insult. I have to pay for the TV whether I want it or not because of their over-inflating of the internet price unless you bundle it with TV and/or phone service.

It's enough to make me want to go postal.

Oh, you want to fly to LA? Well if you do, you have to buy this horse and buggy too. Otherwise it will cost you eleventy billion dollars!
 
I am dumping cable when I move. I dont like TV and my children instantly turn into little retards the second the damn thing is turned on.
 
lmao -- I haven't owned a TV since 2009 -- and it's been great.

My 27" HP LED monitor does everything i need it to, the fact I save 40+ dollars a month on the cable bill too is just a bonus.
 
VirtualMirage said:
And internet alone is still cheaper than internet and TV. Internet is becoming more of a necessity between work and personal, TV not so much. In the past it was the opposite.
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See my post above. Maybe some carriers still offer internet alone cheater than Internet + TV, but not FiOS.

I am going to be forced to add TV as it actually winds up being cheaper, and even when I have it i won't even bother connecting it to anything, as I have no desire to waste my time with the stupidity that is cable.

It infuriates me to no end that cable prices are over-inflated to subsidize TV that I don't want!

We need to get some sort of grass-roots organization going, to make sure that fast community operated internet is available in all localities, and overtrun the bans on community operated internet.

It is obvious that this is one area where the free market has totally failed and instead is holding us back. We need to drive the current ISP/Cable providers out of business and replace them with something that makes sense!
 
Zarathustra[H];1039779719 said:
See my post above. Maybe some carriers still offer internet alone cheater than Internet + TV, but not FiOS.

I am going to be forced to add TV as it actually winds up being cheaper, and even when I have it i won't even bother connecting it to anything, as I have no desire to waste my time with the stupidity that is cable.

It infuriates me to no end that cable prices are over-inflated to subsidize TV that I don't want!

We need to get some sort of grass-roots organization going, to make sure that fast community operated internet is available in all localities, and overtrun the bans on community operated internet.

It is obvious that this is one area where the free market has totally failed and instead is holding us back. We need to drive the current ISP/Cable providers out of business and replace them with something that makes sense!
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This very thing has resulted in a lawsuit in Philly against Comcast that ended up put down by a judge as the suit had too many people involved.
 
The specific channels should just offer packages on their own websites via subscription. Let's you bundle, cuts out the shitty cable middleman.
 
Think of how many blue ray's or dvd's you could buy each month (and own forever) for what the tv providers currently extort each month.
 
Mohonri said:
Comcast (and all the other ISPs) always seem to have a discount for "new" customers. We currently have a "new customer" discount on our AT&T DSL, but when the discount runs out, we'll hop over to Comcast for six months, on *their* new customer discount. When that six months (or a year, depending on the length of the discount) expires, we'll switch back to AT&T as "new" customers again.
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Whereas I've been a Comcast customer for years and they've been progressively screwing me more and more. :rolleyes:

I know what you're saying, and I might switch to Frontier (the only other broadband option available to me) but the speeds are like 1/4 of Comcast since they don't offer more than the base package here. I guess I could live with that for a few months, though.
 
Yay! I'm a "zero TV home." At last, I've discovered my calling.

People love to 'predict' the demise of the PC. Well, I'm predicting the demise of cable TV. It can't happen soon enough.
 
Ducman69 said:
I am a "Zero TV" home, although that's ironic considering that I have three really high quality large HDTVs.
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In the same boat with 2 high quality large HDTVs. For the last 4 months we have have been 'zero tv'ers' and I am having a hard time finding anything I miss or even want to watch on Hulu. Netflix usually has something that I can watch if I search for it, but really I am perfectly fine with no DirecTV or cable, and a little sad I haven't done this years ago. No way I would voluntarily give up high speed internet though! :D
 
Right now I'm stuck with Comcast cable TV + phone + internet.
IT was MORE EXPENSIVE just to get cable modem internet from them.
You come out cheaper with their bundle.
The area I want to move to the local small Phone co-op offers FIBER to your house.
I will have an outside antenna to pickup local new and that will be it. NO cable No dish for the rest of my life!!!!!
 
Hopefully this is a wakeup call for the studios, broadcasters, and the like that they'd better adapt to the internet, or face a slow agonizing death. I cut the cord years ago. The only thing I have hooked up it an an antenna in the attic and that's just for the occasional baseball game and nothing else.
 
I've thought of cutting cable, I don't really watch much TV. But sometimes it's nice to just turn it on and immediately have something playing without needing to browse for a file or w/e. But at around $70/mo, I often consider it for the amount of TV I watch (not a lot).
 
yeah i've been a zero tv home for about 10 years. A while back my missus asked me if there was any way i could hook one of the computers up to play tv cas she wanted to watch someone she knew that would be on the local news.

I had to remind her that the 55" hdtv in the lounge was in fact a tv.
 
the problem is, sooner or later, things like netflix, hulu etc will get the same treatment the cable companies get. The broadcast companies will jack up prices making them jack up prices. Start making them have special extras where if you want to watch show X you pay an extra subscription fee.

So cable will start to loose out, these service will get bigger and bigger and end up just like cable is today.
 
Bigbacon said:
the problem is, sooner or later, things like netflix, hulu etc will get the same treatment the cable companies get. The broadcast companies will jack up prices making them jack up prices. Start making them have special extras where if you want to watch show X you pay an extra subscription fee.

So cable will start to loose out, these service will get bigger and bigger and end up just like cable is today.
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Sooner or later? It has already started with Holy and their damn mandatory commercials.
 
I haven't paid for cable tv in so long when i go to my parents house they laugh at me because i haven't seen the most recent commercials.BTW i lucked up and signed a contract with charter in my area for 30mb cable for 30 bucks a month for 5 years. And they even let me upgrade to 100mb cable for 50 bucks. So my total internet bill for the last 2 years has been 80 a month. O recently added 6tb of harddrive space to my box with all the money ive saved.
 
Marcdaddy said:
LOL im paying $330 a month to Comcast for my TV/INTERNET/PHONE package, I get RAPED by the amount im paying for 7 HD boxes and 1 Whole house HD DVR box just to view the channels. Paying for the Boxes just to watch HD is completely bullshit but ive had UVERSE tv and the compress their channels even more the Comcrap. Oh well ill keep flushing money down the toilet.
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Why do you have/need 7 televisions?
 
cut the tv service a couple of years ago and don't miss it at all, use netflix, amazon, vudu, problem is charter has jacked my internet service price three times, from $30. to $55.
oh got a couple of free!! speed incresses, thanks charter your so generous
one way or another they will bork you, and get there money
don't even ask about the poor service
 
nutzo said:
Not true. Some cable companies recompress the HD streams to fit more channels into the limited bandwidth available, resulting in poorer quality.
Some of the secondary local channels have major blocking when I watch them on cable.
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My brother in law went round & round with Charter because he was paying for HD programming & it looked worse than an antenna hooked up to his tv. So Charter tried replacing filters, gave him a new set top box, & ultimately rewired his whole house with quad sheilded RG-6. It of coarse did nothing just like I told him. In the end they said there was nothing more they could do. It must be the TV (because of coarse it can't be their fault). I just laughed. But hey, he got all new cable run in his house for free.
 
ounumen said:
I am dumping cable when I move. I don't like TV and my children instantly turn into little retards the second the damn thing is turned on.
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This drives me nuts too. When I go to my sisters house it's like this. Even after the TV is off. Her young daughter acts like those reality show assholes with her whining & fits & tantrums. My sister gives me the excuse "she's sensitive". Sorry, nope. She's acting like an ass because you watch that garbage. That's her influence. I tell her daughter to quit acting like a jerk around me & she runs crying into her room. Problem solved for me. lol
 
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