Minimum Time Warner Cable bill: $8.50/month
December 27th, 2009, 7:20 pm · 33 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Did you know that some people in Orange County can order TV service from Time Warner Cable for $8.50 a month?
This $8.50 monthly fee is for a very select group of local residents: People who live in Leisure World and most of Seal Beach. And it’s people who only need access to ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and other over-the-air channels, which are free if you have a good TV antenna. I’ve listed the channels available with this broadcast TV plan in the chart below on the right.
This plan was reiterated to me during a recent interview with Time Warner’s local executives, Deborah “Debi” Picciolo, president of residential services for the West Region. The topic? Why are cable TV prices so high? More on this later, but Time Warner pointed out that the cheapest plans available for most people is around $20. (Read past stories where the two have answered questions for me here: Time Warner answers some questions.)
So, I looked it up and documented how much Orange County pays for basic broadcast service (see city-by-city price chart below)– a plan presumably intended for folks who get poor TV reception and don’t want to pay the minimum $53+ monthly fee (before taxes) for real cable service. The $8.50 plan is the cheapest in Orange County. Most of the county can get the same TV package for $20.
| Time Warner broadcast TV channels (O.C.)* | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Video On Demand |
| 2 | KCBS (CBS) |
| 3 | Government Access |
| 4 | KNBC (NBC) |
| 5 | KTLA (CW) |
| 7 | KABC (ABC) |
| 8 | WGN |
| 9 | KCAL (IND) |
| 10 | KCET (PBS) |
| 11 | KTTV (FOX) |
| 12 | KXLA (IND) |
| 13 | KCOP (My Network TV) |
| 14 | KMEX (UNI) |
| 15 | KPXN (ION) |
| 17 | KJLA (IND) |
| 18 | KSCI (IND) |
| 19 | KDOC (IND) |
| 20 | KVEA (Telemundo) |
| 21 | KRCA (IND) |
| 22 | KWHY (IND) |
| 23 | KFTR (Telefutura) |
| 24 | KTBN (TBN) |
| 25 | KOCE (PBS) |
| 26 | KLCS (PBS) |
| 27 | KAZA (Azteca) |
| 95 | Educational Access |
| 96 | Shop NBC |
| 98 | Fullerton College (Los Alamitos & Garden Grove only) |
| 99 | CSPAN |
| 101 | TWC SoCal 101 |
| 141 | Jewelry Television* |
| 156 | Sky Link |
| 164 | ShopNBC |
| 165 | Leased Access/GEMS |
| 166 | Daystar (KOCE D3) |
| 201 | C-SPAN |
| 225 | NBC Plus (KNBC D2) |
| 226 | Universal Sports (KNBC D4) |
| 228 | ABC7 Weather Now |
| 229 | KLCS |
| 230 | KLCSDT2 |
| 231 | KLCSDT3 |
| 232 | KLCSDT4 |
| 235 | OC Channel (KOCE D2) |
| 236 | Russia Today* |
| 237 | KCET Orange (28.2)* |
| 238 | KCET World (28.4)* |
| 335 | KBEH (Spanish) |
| 336 | V-me |
| 399 | KFTR HD (Telefutura) |
| 400 | KMEX HD (Univision) |
| 401 | KVEA HD (Telemundo) |
| 402 | KCBS HD (CBS) |
| 404 | KNBC HD (NBC) |
| 405 | KTLA HD (CW) |
| 407 | KABC HD (ABC) |
| 408 | KOCE HD (PBS) |
| 409 | KCAL HD (Ind) |
| 410 | KPXN HD (ION) |
| 411 | KTTV HD (FOX) |
| 412 | KCET HD (PBS) |
| 413 | KCOP HD (myNetworkTV) |
| 445 | Live Well HD (KABC-DT2) |
| *As of Dec. 24, 2009 | |
For cable TV users who find themselves watching less TV nowadays or only watching the major networks, this is one way to save a chunk of change per month. Of course, if you really want to rid yourself of a TV bill, there’s always the free-TV plan of a good antenna and digital TV. This could be a better idea anyway if the current Fox vs. Time Warner spat doesn’t get resolved by New Year’s Day. Fox wants Time Warner to start paying for the “free” channel since, after all, the cable company charges customers for the free channel. See the earlier story, “Time Warner could lose ‘Simpsons,’ ‘American Idol,’ more Fox shows.”
Don’t expect to get CNN, ESPN or any other cable channels with this broadcast package though. For that, you’ll need to upgrade to a basic cable package that starts around $52 to $57 per month. Read more on the different prices at “Psssst: Digital cable TV is cheaper than analog cable.”
While I started working on this story in November, I just updated the information based on Time Warner’s recent price increases for cable subscribers next year. The basic broadcast plan was affected.
Interestingly, while most cities will see an increase in broadcast TV prices from 5.9 to 33 percent, some will see no difference. Yorba Linda residents will see an 11.1 percent decline, to $20 a month.
The discrepancy in prices is due to city agreements since cities charge different franchise fees to the local cable provider. I mentioned this a few years ago in a story about the cheapest paid TV service, “Local TV update: The cheapskate package.”
I’ve listed the new prices for broadcast service by city below, complete with links to the old prices. If those links stop working, please let me know and I’ll post the archived documents.
Time Warner Cable pricesBroadcast TV plans (click prices for details) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| O.C. City | Broadcast 2010 | Broadcast 2009 | Y2Y change |
| Anaheim | $20.00 | $20.00 | 0.0% |
| Brea | $20.00 | $20.00 | 0.0% |
| Buena Park | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Costa Mesa | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Costa Mesa (Comcast) | $18.00 | $15.00 | +20.0% |
| Cypress | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Fountain Valley | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Fullterton | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Garden Grove | $20.00 | $15.00 | +33.3% |
| Garden Grove (feed) | $18.00 | $17.00 | +5.9% |
| Huntington Beach | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| La Habra | $20.00 | $20.00 | 0.0% |
| La Habra Heights | $20.00 | $20.00 | 0.0% |
| Leisure World | $8.50 | $8.00 | +6.3% |
| Los Alamitos | $18.00 | $15.00 | +20.0% |
| Midway | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Newport Beach | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Orange | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Placentia | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Rossmoor | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Santa Ana | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Seal Beach (Navy base) | $20.00 | N/A | N/A |
| Seal Beach 2 | $8.50 | $8.00 | +6.3% |
| Stanton | $20.00 | $17.00 | +17.6% |
| Sunset Beach | $20.00 | $17.00 | 17.6% |
| Tustin | $20.00 | $17.00 | 17.6% |
| Villa Park | $20.00 | $20.00 | 0.0% |
| Westminster | $20.00 | $17.00 | 17.6% |
| Yorba Linda | $20.00 | $22.50 | -11.1% |
More stories on Time Warner Cable:
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With a HDTV with built in ATSC or digital tuner built onto your tv and a nice off air antenna that supports the UHF band you can tune in just about every channel listed for free. Even if your antenna dates back to 1960 it will work
i am getting RIPPED OFF !
Woot for FREE TV! Over-the-air HDTV is my stab at the evil heart of cable TV.
This just in, businesses try to make money to pay their employees and for their investors. NEWS AT ELEVEN!
I agree with Larry. Paying for free over-the-air channels just doesn’t make sense. With some inexpensive rabbit ears and a digital converter box you can enjoy over-the-air TV for free. With the economy being what it is, many people are trashing their cable and going this route.
True, but those who live near hills or in canyon areas such as Anaheim Hills or Yorba Linda often can’t get broadcast signals very clearly. They need cable or satellite to get a viewable picture.
evil heart? how are they evil? They run a business, you can choose to buy cable or not.
I think Time Warner should pay. They make me pay for service. I am in an apartment building and even with the HD receiver I can’t get reception and depend on Time Warner for the basic service. 3 years ago when I moved into my apartment I was paying $11.50 and come January I will be paying $20 plus all of the taxes. Tell me what is fair about that. The prices have doubled and the service has got worse. When will they stop thinking about there pocketbooks and start thinking of the consumer and the people that depend on them for service. A person is stuck with them because of the area a person lives in. Stop stealing from your customers!
Beware of contracts too. I finally finished getting hosed for 2 years of Dish Network and now I’m ready to get out the rabbit ears.
I keep hearing that in the near future over the air is going away. Their is no money in it & many folks just use the Internet, cable, sat, etc.
Techie 714 has been taking too many 714′s.
Satelite is over the air technologically speaking, check out flotv, vcast,
wifi, wimax, Edison is going to over wimax over their electrical wires, and lots more to come. Digital spectrum.
I’m still waiting to find out if KTTV-11 (Fox) and KCOP-13 (MyNetworkTV) ever boost their signals so we antennea/digital TV viewers in OC can get our channels back without having to subscribe to a pay TV service!!
I’m skipping ahead to the comments section to guess the fine print behind this rate (which I believe was covered previously, maybe it’s to help garner some positive attention for TW?)
guess, you have to make less than $13,000 per household, it’s for basic channels, 1 tv, 1 room, and starting 5 days from now, no Fox Channel 11. ugh.
Let’s quit the assumptions, I have just cable lines in the my house with no cable boxes and TWC doesn’t charge more for each TV you have (Got 4 TVs and I’m just paying the basic price of service). It’s funny that people expect TWC just to give service away for free. You do realize that they have to maintain the cable lines that run to your house and that costs money. Also of every service I’ve ever had I was surprised when TWC came out and service my cable lines for free when I had an issue with the signal!!!!
Have been considering dropping my Time-Warner Cable for quite some time. I must admit, however, that I WOULD miss HGTV…I’m rather addicted.
Just did a GOOGLE search to find out what kind of antenna I’d need for my city in OC. I found the following website that gives ALL the info one needs to decide:
http://www.antennaweb.org
Enter an address, and it’ll pinpoint exactly what type of antenna (I will need a small, multidirectional INDOOR) and which direction you’ll need to ‘aim’ it for best reception. I can imagine the ‘bucks’ I’ll save using 2010 ‘rabbit ears’. Now I just need to plunge in and go for it.
Check out this picture frame indoor antenna…
http://www.terrestrial-digital.com/pf7.html ($40)
But…HGTV has me hangin’ on! Hey! Wait just a darned gall minute!
HULU…HULU is my answer! I can watch all the HGTV I want on HULU!
http://www.hulu.com
So…there ya go. Time Warner….out the door!
Enjoy today!
This rate should be for those on fixed incomes. There’s more people than those living in Leisure World that could use a small amount to pay for cable every month…
What about Cox Cable in Mission Viejo? The prices we pay are just plain robbery.
I miss TWC,we changed to Direct TV for NFL. TWC’s programming, DVR and guide/remote are very easy to use. Direct TV doesn’t even record 1/2 the stuff we program. The remote sucks and when you push a button it takes a few minutes for the channel to change. Stay with TWC. It’s great and I regret changing. My hubby loves the NFL package.
TWC is the WORST ever. We are paying a huge amount of $$$ and they keep taking away channels and raising our rates on our basic package. They want us to pony up more $$$ to go up to the next tier. They also want us to have their stupid cable box.
We have been hanging on hoping that the picture quality and service would improve (loved when it was Adelphia – went completely downhill after TW bought them out). No more. We are moving to Dish TV.
BTW: Everyone we know with Direct TV hates it! Dish is the way to go apparently.
I agree with you. TWC is great.
I ran into the same problems when I tried DirectTV. The first DVR died and I had to pay to ship it back for a replacement. whiich of course was a refurbished unit. When I received the replacement, it had parts rattling around loose inside. And while all this is happening, every channel had tons of pixelation and artifacts, with some channels completelt unavailable.
I gave up after about two months and paid a $234 penalty to dump them. The several months after I returned the non-DVR receivers, a $59 chatge hit my credit card. When I checked on-line it said it was a late return charge, which in their billing system was reversed the next day; apparently it was a “mistake”. But no reversal on my credt card; I called and they said they would mail me a check in 6-8 weeks. Of course during that period they would collect interest on MY MONEY! Multiple that $59 by thousands of customers and that’s some serious revenue enhancement.
My response was that if a credit wasn’t posted to my account within 48 hours I would contact the Orange County District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Unit. The charge was reversed the next day.
Guess it’s time to pony up $75-$100 for an GOOD outdoor antenna, then see if I can hire someone to climb a very TALL ladder to place it on the roof, then attempt to wire it into the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor rooms so that it’s not an unsightly monstrosity. The indoor digital antenna I purchased this summer is rather sketchy since I’m limited to placement in an east facing window. The structure basically blocks the over-air signals from Mt. Wilson that I trying to receive.
iF THERE WAS NO MONOPOLY FOR CABLE CO’S THEN MAYBE TGHE FORCES OF SUPPL;Y AND DEMAND WOULD COME INTO PLAY .Maybe then the fee will be more reasonable .And maybe having an actual choise in the channesl we want will come to pass.Why am i paying for foriegn laguage anf religious channels (among others)that i never will watch?How much are they costing me?
What monopoly, I count a number of competitors to TWC, DirectTV, Dish, FiOS, ATT U-Verse.
Although I do agree with you about some of the channel selection, but if they didn’t carry those types of channels that some people don’t like, there would be even less choice, since those channels wouldn’t exist.
That should be “choice”
Folks, we’re addicted to TV! After watching many of their mind numbed programs, all with the same plot, the same, same, same, same and all the advertising!!!! then, I just realize again that I,m wasting my life! I know several people who do not have a TV. They read more, they talk to each other more and are not so depressed about the crumbling of our society. Don’t we just use TV to escape anyway… There are a few good programs but, a good book will do a better job of entertaining and no advertising and. . . no monthly fee!! WE DO HAVE CHOICE.
just wondering where Fullterton is
We’re ALL getting ripped off.
In France, I have ADSL access, with telephone (free calling everywhere, even to the U.S.), broadband internet, and 160 channels of digital and High-def TV. Plus they supply all the equipment, including the TV decoder with a DVR.
How much do I Pay? Twenty-five Euros a month (about $37 at the current exchange rate)!
Here, I’m paying $95 to Cox cable for ‘extended’ analog cable channels and broadband. No digital, no premium channels, no high-def, no equipment.
Even if you pay someone, for example, $250 to install a new outdoor antenna or less to upgrade the signal cable from an existing antenna to RG-6 coax, you can see how many months (of no cable fees ) it would take to recoup your cost. All the channels shown on the sidebar of the article are available now on the over-the-air DTV broadcasts in Los Angeles. Russia Today is available on cable, but makes part-time appearances on the KNBC subchannel 4.4 for Universal Sports. If you watch Asian language TV, you will be very pleased with what you find on the over-the-air broadcasts. Even Amenian viewers have two program channels now. Shame on KCBS-2, KCAL-9, KTTV-11, KCOP-13, they don’t even utilize their sub-channels to multicast like
others do. Come-on English language programmers, make these stations an offer and cater to the legacy Engish language audience.
Pricing is usually negotiable. I just called to add HBO and Showtime and up my Internet speed to 15Mbs. I was able to negotiate all three for only an additional $8 per month. After one year the 2-for-1 deal on HBO and Showtime will go up $12 per month, but I expect I’ll be able to negotiate that down a little as well.
I never pay sticker price for a car, so why should cable service be any different?
Ha, I just cancelled TWC after so many rate increases. My family can deal without TV. DVD’s and YouTube will give them their fix. Shoot, we spent over 2 weeks in Hawaii without TV and we did perfectly fine. We actually got more out of our day. Got back on the 1st, turned on the TV and nothing but bad news. I am a big sports fan but Kobe and the Lakers are not paying my bills. My suggestion, save yourself $80 and use it to take the family out for lunch, gas and a hike. TWC can kiss my A S S!
GOD HOW I MISS MY DISH!!!!!!