Comments on: Cable TV losing 1 million customers a year

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:37:58 +0000

My wife and I needed to cutback due to a loss of income and Cox was amongst the first to go. It’s amazing how much of the TV content can be found online if you look hard enough. The funny thing is, when we went to the Cox office to return our box there were 12 others that came in with their boxes by the time we finished our business. I am amongst those that say cable will be history quicker than most people think. Soon enough, all content will be broadcast from websites at the source and filtered directly to your TV – your TV and computer will be one. If you want to watch Letterman you’ll tune in to the CBS website and pay a small viewing fee – cut out the middle man and pay for what you watch – when you want to watch it.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:45:02 +0000

I’m dropping Cox Cable not because we can’t afford it but because there is no value in it. Instead, I’m catching all my shows on Hulu and use Netflix Watch Instantly, all on my computer which can be hooked up to my tv. Not all tv shows are on hulu, but enough are for the time I have to watch tv. Why pay for something when it is free elsewhere? I’ll be saving about $100 a month.

By: chuckconners

chuckconners — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:45:44 +0000

Time Warner, North Orange County. High speed internet,basic cable for 75.00 month. Reception for tv is a 7 out of 10.

By: GINA

GINA — Sat, 23 May 2009 05:53:47 +0000

that’s what happens when you price gouge. Customers are finally seeming to matter again during this economic downturn.

Just bootleg the shows off the file sharing sites. No need to buy premium channels.

By: Da Maan

Da Maan — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:04:43 +0000

I would disagree with the cable is forever concept. Just as previous technologies were de-thronged by new sciences, cable industry will be replaced by newer more reliable automated and resilient technology to come.

Who is this cable “pundit” Paxton guy? Is he getting funds for these studies from the cable industry? It is arrogant to even predict the future of electronic and computer science’s futures. Just as much the cellular phones replaced land lines, cable TV will be replaced by fiber, cellular and other technologies yet to be implemented. Case and point; there were discussions of installing antennas on major hi-rise buildings (US Gov. was to give tax credits to the property owner/s) that would supplement existing wireless networks to expand Wi-Fi capabilities to the general public. In most cases the fee to get online would be either a few cents or free. This concept may be farfetched to some but it is been in effect at local malls, Starbucks, coffee shops and other establishments.

So, when this Paxton character is predicting that the cable is “Not going to go away at least in our lifetime” or “Cable industry is going to be a market leader for at least a decade” etc., I have assume he is either 80 or 90 years old and out of touch with the reality.

Bottom line: US consumer will put up with cable companies and their bad customer services perhaps for now. Mark my words, the moment another newer technology comes by, they will drop cable just like they have done to, so called market leaders of antiquated technologies in the past.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:39:25 +0000

Hey, Nick, I agree with you. I ditched my landline six years ago and have thought about downsizing my cable (I can't give up that extreme broadband though). I hope services like Hulu will be here to stay. But a recent LA Times story wonders about the future of free: "Hulu's tug of war with TV."

By: Tax Payer

Tax Payer — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:15:49 +0000

If I have to pay these high rates for Totally Worthless Crap then I want to pick the channels.
Not the Spanish, Religious, Exercise, Kids and Home Shopping channels which I never watch

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:05:46 +0000

Hulu is owned by the networks, so that’s doubtful they’d but the kibosh on it. What does the network care about cable? Nothing. They still sell advertising on Hulu.com. I have to watch adverts on Hulu.com or cable, so what’s the difference? The difference is Hulu is free.

Based on the responses here and elsewhere on the internet, I think you and the cable companies would be surprised by how many people are ditching paid TV service all together for free options or pay per view options like NetFlix and Apple TV.

It reminds me of when the phone companies said that people would never ditch their landlines in the next 25 years. Haha. What was the last report I heard? Something like cell phone only households will be the majority in only a few short years? Something like that.

If the cable companies don’t adapt and adapt fast, they will be extinct sooner than you or the cable companies or the research analysts think.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:00:03 +0000

We cancelled cable 6-7 years ago (our kids were 4, 7, 9 and 12). We tried FiOS TV last year for a few months, but ditched that too. We watch videos (old and new) and the kids use hulu.com to supplement viewing. We don’t miss tv (network or cable as a whole) – most shows have no redeeming value. Cost was a small factor – the bigger influence was that most programming is junk and we don’t have the interest to plan our lives around a particular show being on.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:54:56 +0000

Agreed, but I haven't done the research to back that up. Beyond Hulu & friends gaining momentum (unless big networks decide to put the kibosh on the free for all), I suspect others will drop paid TV service because they have no time to watch it, like me although I haven't canceled cable yet. Anyone see this related story? Number of babies born in the US in 2007 outpaces Baby Boomer era."

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:50:31 +0000

I dropped Dish for online viewing instead a month ago. Plus we use an antanae for Digital. Glad to stop wasting money on shows I don’t even watch. There are no restrictions online you watch what you want when you want it. Give it a try.

I like: hulu.com
channelsurfing.com

By: Old poet

Old poet — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:44:41 +0000

When we had cox it was terrible so we switched to Direct but between the wind and the trees the signal would disappear. Then the price increases came and they never stopped. The commericals were more frequent and longer, you were paying to watch more commericals. 18 months ago we stopped Direct and went to broadcast because the internet is used more that TV. With a digital coverter box and the additional channels for free there is no comparison to cable or dish.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:40:19 +0000

Yes, but I don't think that's happening. While I'm sure there are some people who have dropped paid TV, none of the folks I kow who lost their jobs have dropped cable, although some might have downsized their options. And then there's this report.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:39:10 +0000

I disagree that we won’t see people give up cable in our lifetimes. That’s a ridiculous prediction. I think it’s more likely that very soon cable will be bleeding much more than 1,000,000 customers a year. As soon as people realize they have more and better options and as soon as internet TV takes hold more, poof, cable companies will be gone. They are a dinosaur.

We ditched our cable late last year and have never looked back. Bought a $15 antennae at Best Buy and we receive crystal clear over the air broadcasts of about 20 – 25 channels (how many of those cable channels do you watch anyway?) for FREE! We watch a couple of series we follow on Hulu (computer connected to the TV) and we have an Apple TV for renting movies.

Including our internet connection fee and the movies we rent from Apple TV, we spend about $45 a month watching TV. As opposed to the $112 we used to spend for cable + taxes.

I’ll never go back to cable.

By: former18

former18 — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:34:59 +0000

I was a Time Warner customer for years, but my friend told me of a better deal he was getting with Dish. I switched over and found out I could get the same channels, 20 movie channels and even NFL network for $25 less a month than Time Warner. When I called to cancel my service the TW rep practically yelled at me basically treated me like an ignorant person. When that didnt work, he offered me a deal to save me $20/month for 3 months. I asked him if he knew math, that a savings of $25/month FOREVER was more than $20/month for 3 months. Then I thanked him for making my decision easier.

By: Missed the point

Missed the point — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:33:40 +0000

Did you take into account that maybe people are dropping cable because they can’t afford it anymore? With the number of people who have lost jobs, spending on non essential items like Cable TV is probably one of the first things to go. They not jumping ship for other providers, they’ve just jumped ship, period.

By: onlylonely

onlylonely — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:23:35 +0000

They’re all greedy!!! stupid Cable company. Forget about Time Warner, they raise the price for nothing. That’s why I never come back to them.

By: Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:15:09 +0000

Since I cover this, I should point out that pretty much every TV service raised prices this year. Here are my past reports about them: * Time Warner Cable, up $1 to $5/month * Cox Cable, undetermined * DirecTV, up $3/month * AT&T U-verse, up 11-50% month

By: gwjones00

gwjones00 — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:07:29 +0000

We were one of those folks that moved from cable (Cox) to satellite (DirectTV) last year. For us it wasn’t a price issue. It was customer service. We had sporadic problems with reception for a few months. Each time a technician came to our house they blamed something else. Half the time, the new tech would undo something the previous tech had done. Bottom line – the problem was never resolved. We fnally got so fed up we called DirecTV. They showed up when promised and did the work primsed (and then some). If someone is paying $100 per month plus, they should be taken care of when they have a problem!

By: EatingFool

EatingFool — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:07:04 +0000

In the heart of OC the cable company has horrible customer service, so much so that I refuse to sign up for service. Here’s why: a friend is deployed in Afghanistan and needed someone to take her cable modem and converter box back. No problem with that however there was an outstanding balance made up of the disconnect fee. This was that occurred outside of the billing cycle and was due. I asked what the total charges were and said I would pay them on behalf of my friend. That request resulted in them telling me that I could not pay this on her behalf, that if it wasn’t paid by her it would go to collections and that they couldn’t talk to me about the bill. I replied that the service member was overseas, no family was here to contact and that I was willing to pay the bill if they’d tell me what it was. Their reply was priceless and this is a quote “She needs to call us at this number (while pointing to the number on a piece of paper) and talk to us.” It was a manager who said it and that was the last time I ever will deal with Cox.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:02:12 +0000

Every year like clock work I am hit with a rate increase in January. Time Warner needs to place more importance on their clients and stop treating them like customers. Their service is much more expensive than dish network, and the quality is sub-par. For the price of Time Warner’s basic service, I am able to have much more with Dish.

By: crash

crash — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:56:09 +0000

We don’t have cable at work but in December I got a convertor box coupon and got the new digital box from Radio Shack. Now, instead of channels 5,7,9,and sometimes 11, we get 3 channels of 5, 3 of channel 7, and a whole lot of channels we didn’t get before. Also has the ability to turn the tv on and off, has a channel guide, and a menu. Really nice!