Why Cable Bills Are Rising Again and What You Can Do

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I have several relatives who live in a moderate metro area which is not among the largest of TV markets, and yet they get about 15 broadcast channels—no cable needed, just an antenna. My brother and neice both refuse to pay for cable. They use an antenna. They also feed it into an old TIVO DVR so they can record for later, and also connect to on-line sources. Nobody pays a monthly fee.

Why pay for TV?
 
AirTV. Its free.(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
I cut free from cable last October. I haven’t really missed it. I like having the extra $50/no.
 
It’s so strange how everyone seems to be okay with this Hobson’s choice, rather than talk about the problem with the virtual monopolies that cable providers have.
 
Pay extra for the NFL channel! I’m amazed that so many Americans have that money to piss away. This is why I don’t have a problem with someone torrenting a fight afterwards. Nor am I a jerk about people streaming matches. This is how the game works:
  • Each ISP (internet service provider) has a geographical area with almost no competition due to regulations made by LOCAL Democratic Zoning Boards
  • The consumer wants/needs high speed internet and will pay, no questions asked
  • There is no incentive for the ISP to upgrade their fiberoptic cables to increase connection speed
  • Companies want to make more $ so they create excuses like bandwidth speed caps, download and upload quantity caps, anything to make a customer go “over any kind of limit” so they can charge more money
  • Google Fiber is 1Gbit! But read the terms of service, you CANNOT HOST ANYTHING.
– Solution? –

Do your research America! File sharing proves most content distribution systems are out of date… It’s not you downloading or streaming that’s wrong, it’s your provider. If Malaysia (middle of nowhere) has 500mbit/download unlimited for around $80/mo, why are people paying what they are paying? Oh, because Europe and Canada have that problem, we should get ripped off too? Not a chance! This used to be a land of “all the greatest products and services worldwide” and now, we are letting these companies get away with robbery!

– What should it look like? –
The business model should be multiple fiberoptic carriers competing for your busine$$. No excuses for Malaysia’s companies exceeding our worst as far as what is provided. Then, pay-per-view services and channels should be used for promotional reasons to switch. “The Boxing Deal, get it now!” Or “Football Extreme with fastest internet” maybe even “Pay for the events next year unless you stay with us 6 more months!” That’s how business looks when they are actually trying to get your business. Maybe even “Free Microsoft Windows so you don’t have to torrent it!” Or “Digital Copyrights for 10 movies before it hits DVD in case you download!”

That’s how it is SUPPOSED to look.
 
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For 30+ years now, I have chosen to have no television equipment or service. I grew up watching television many hours each day until I went away to college. There I was mostly TV-free, didn’t miss it at all, and gradually came to see it as shallow, crass, and manipulative.

I still pay almost as much, with the same choice of vendors, for phone+internet service. 🙁
 
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Our cable service provides lots of streaming channels… so between PVR and streaming channels, no need to mindless channel surf. Can watch what you want and pay for the channels you want.
 
I personally want to get rid of cable altogether, but I’m alone in that opinion among my family…
 
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