How much is your cable TV service worth to you?

[dumbttt]

I explored cable TV options for my new home in Westchester, and was shocked by how expensive they are. Some $50 for a starter package; $80/month for nice "value" package with sports channels. They also have some funny "3-year price lock" deal, where one would pay let say $80/month for the value package in the first year, and $90/month for the remaining two years. Now forgive me if the question I am going to ask is a stupid one: is it normal for cable TV cost to rise more than 10% every year? If not, why would anyone sign up for a "price lock" deal that lock you into 3 years of price hike?

note: their monopoly also allows the cable companies to charge ridiculous amount for installation, ie $80 for a technician to come and activate the line. sounds outrageous to me.

 

[Yoda Power]

Cable tv is useless. All the good programs are on the public channel anyway.

 

[warpus]

let's see.. i pay about:

$45 for a basic package with 200+ channels
$25 for my digital PVR (allows me to watch some highdef channels on one of my 1080p 42 inch tvs)
$15 for setanta sports

that's canadian funds

 

[Abaddon]

Its really not worth it.

Over the year you are paying HUGE sums, an how much time do you spend watching TV at the moment?

Anything you want to watch can be found on the internet anyway.


Best bet is to get internet/phone/TV combi.. then you get a decent amount of channels (not the premium ones, but you can add them) without it costing a bomb.

 

[bhsup]

I switched from Dish TV to cable back in..er, July I think. For $82 a month (that includes taxes), I get high speed internet and full cable. The only channels I don't get are Cinemax and the special sports packs. If you break it down, I am paying $30/mo for the cable as the internet charge on the bill says it is $49.99. That price is locked for two years.

Oh, and I pay $12.95/mo for Tivo.

 

[warpus]

i really only get cable for the premiership/champions league/wc+euro qualifying soccer games that i get through setanta

if it was possible to get just that with a pvr, i would.

 

[Zelig]

Very little, I wouldn't bother getting cable if my roommates didn't want it.

We pay $100/month (CAD) for bundled cable/phone/internet, if I lived alone, I'd probably only bother with the internet.

 

[dumbttt]

Its really not worth it.

Over the year you are paying HUGE sums, an how much time do you spend watching TV at the moment?

Anything you want to watch can be found on the internet anyway.


Best bet is to get internet/phone/TV combi.. then you get a decent amount of channels (not the premium ones, but you can add them) without it costing a bomb.

The so called "triple play" is a good deal if you need all three. The home phone service is going the way of the dinosaurs, at least as far as I am concerned. I haven't used a land line in at least 10 years.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Mine is free.

 

[Abaddon]

The so called "triple play" is a good deal if you need all three. The home phone service is going the way of the dinosaurs, at least as far as I am concerned. I haven't used a land line in at least 10 years.

Do you guys get Virgin Mobile?

Some companies. the "phone" option is a mobile.

 

[Labtec600]

$120 a month. That includes internet though. Also an HD box and a reg digital box and some movie channels.

Plus an extra 45 a month for 3 months for NHL Center Ice.

 

[Mise]

I pay £21 for basic Sky TV package + 8mb broadband (40gb cap, which might as well be unlimited). I have 2 other flatmates, so I only pay £7 for all of that... Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

 

[bhsup]

I pay £21 for basic Sky TV package + 8mb broadband (40gb cap, which might as well be unlimited). I have 2 other flatmates, so I only pay £7 for all of that... Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

That isn't bad. But you should bundle in your yearly BBC tax too!

 

[emzie]

Not much. Cable kinda sucks in Canada.

I pay £21 for basic Sky TV package + 8mb broadband (40gb cap, which might as well be unlimited). I have 2 other flatmates, so I only pay £7 for all of that... Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

Yeah, I thought my 60gb cap was fine until my wife discovered torrents.

 

[downtown]

I really only bought cable because my roomate wanted it, and it made my cable internet cheaper. Outside of sporting events, I don't watch much TV

Our apartment rate, with tax, is 62 bucks a month for cable and 15 HD channels (so around 100 channels), and a 4MPS Cable Internet service. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

 

[Dr.Mindbender]

Is it Time Warner, downtown? Sounds like the "Roadrunner."

 

[Mise]

That isn't bad. But you should bundle in your yearly BBC tax too!

you're right... that's an extra £10 per month... IMO that's just ridiculous. I don't mind paying for *some* things the BBC does (such as its documentaries, news, and educational programming) but the BBC does a hell of a lot more than that, and most of it is plain trash. The license fee should be for the public good, i.e. impartially educating the masses on current events and such, not for trash like Eastenders and Strictly Come Dancing (reality TV competition where celebrities learn how to ballroom dance and get voted out if they're crap...).

I like the BBC, and I don't mind paying taxes for public goods, but I fail to see how bollocks like that is a good use of public money. Problem is, no-one dare touch the BBC - it's such an integral part of "Britishness" that it'd be political suicide to suggest privatising the trash part of it, or having *shock horror* ADVERTS!!!! during the trash shows.

 

[Kozmos]

Why are you watching telly anyway?

 

[downtown]

Is it Time Warner, downtown? Sounds like the "Roadrunner."

No, Time Warner sucks. I use Wide Open West, or WOW.

 

[dumbttt]

It was indeed Time Warner that I referred to in my OP, and sadly it is the only option.