Most Americans Find the Cost of Cable TV Is Too Darn High

[cageymaru]

A new poll from The Hollywood Reporter/ Morning Consult has found that many Americans find the cost of cable TV and satellite to be too high. 90% of respondents indicated that price was a factor when deciding to subscribe to a TV or streaming service. 56% found the high costs associated with cable TV to be "unaffordable" and 47% of survey takers thought satellite was too expensive also. Only 17% of respondents thought streaming was "unaffordable." 72% of those that have cut the cord have little to no interest in resubscribing. Younger people tend to play video games, watch short-form Youtube and pay attention to social media instead of watching TV in general. The poll can be found here.

Comcast lost 106,000 cable television subscribers in the most recent quarter while DirecTV shed 346,000 and Charter Communications lost 66,000. With cord-cutting rampant, it's instructive to know exactly why so many consumers are ditching pay TV in favor of streaming. "People are just homing in on affordability, especially younger consumers," says Morning Consult vp Tyler Sinclair.

 

[Twisted Kidney]

I've heard that some Americans also find water to be quite wet.

 

[Advil]

The price is simply the final insult.

There is NOTHING on those 100+ channels I want to watch. I could go for days sometimes and not watch anything on cable.

Using my internet connection and streaming services? There's a couple of things every single day I might want to watch.

The era of watching what is being broadcast at the moment is OVER. It should have been over long before now.

 

[Nobu]

Yeah, and it doesn't help their case that most of their "deals" involve bundling two or more of their services, or else you pay full price. That is not conducive to competition, and it allows them to charge more when services aren't bundled (because you have to bundle to get the deal whether you go with cox, att, comcast, or some other company).

Then, when you do get tv service, 90% of the channels are garbage that just happens to be included, and you only get actual content 40% of the day (the rest being ads). I'm not going to come home from work and sit down to watch ads for the last 3hrs of my day just so I can get ~1hr of mediocre content.

 

[Deleted member 245375]

Whenever some company realizes people are moving towards a profile of "I want to pay for what I actually want to watch, and I don't give a fuck about all that other crap..." and said company actually understands it then we'll see a shift towards true "pay-per-view" where people can literally pick and choose the content they want to view and pay for that and that alone (plus maybe a small service fee for such a plan but no more than like $3-5 a month because cable companies really expect people to "want everything whether they like it or not).

I haven't owned a TV in years, no plans on getting one anytime soon. 98.5% of the content on TV doesn't interest me at all and the 1.5% that does I get from other sources whether the cable companies like it or not, that's just how it goes. Right now I'm actually paying close to $90 a month for only 60 Mbps Internet service and it's damned pricey even in spite of me actually getting 75-80 Mbps most of the time (so getting more than I'm technically paying for but it's still too fucking expensive for the speed).

Cable companies are fucking greedy bastards, there's no getting around it. It's not as if they're new and still building out their infrastructure and they need to charge more to pay for it - the modern cable system infrastructure in the US has been around for many decades now and has paid for itself 100x over the initial costs. Sure would be nice to not be charged so much for so little, but that's just a dream waiting to come true aka "It'll never fucking happen."

 

[Spidey329]

The price is simply the final insult.

There is NOTHING on those 100+ channels I want to watch. I could go for days sometimes and not watch anything on cable.

Using my internet connection and streaming services? There's a couple of things every single day I might want to watch.

The era of watching what is being broadcast at the moment is OVER. It should have been over long before now.

The problem is that the networks have expanded their channel lineups to have more sub-channels and spread the quality shows amongst them. They've aimed at quantity, forcing final-mile providers to bundle these networks together in package deals. Cable/Satellite companies can't go "hey, our customers find 75% of your channels to be shit, so we're only going to offer the 25% that are good."

There's very few channels/shows I have interest in watching these days and the ones I would watch are behind higher tier paywalls (like Science Channel). That's why I cut the cord. I get way more mileage out of Netflix.

 

[Advil]

Yeah we're paying $75 or so for 75/75. But I'd rather have the faster internet than any form of cable.

But yeah, it's kind of insulting to be paying that much for fiber... at that speed. I've got friends all over the country with anywhere from 100MB to 1GB service for that kind of money.

But the issue is TV. Yeah, a Netflix account for the rest of the family and we're all more than happy.

In my case, I watch a couple of major live action shows a year. They usually end up on Netflix within one season of current. The rest is Anime of which that's all acquired online. The last thing is Formula 1. I still follow that every year. They've made it a little easier to get it online but that's one thing F1 needs to work on big time.

None of these watching habits are served by a cable subscription.

 

[Sycraft]

That's my problem. I'd buy in to some kind of cable plan if it were economical enough and offered stuff I wanted. I'd rarely make use of it, but at a low enough price I'd be fine with it. Netflix is that way for me. I don't really watch it, I spend my free time playing videogames rather than watching TV. However for the price, I keep it so that when I want it, I can has. But cable is super expensive. It is like $140/month for their lineup without premium channels. That is more than gig internet. No, GTFO with that price.

 

[ButtonPuncher]

The other problem is the ads. People don't remember but cable (pay) TV use to be ad-free. Not just the movie channels but the majority of channels.

I also find it infuriating that ALL of the channels have their ads AT THE SAME TIME.

I've still got cable but it's only because I'm still running a Media Center rig and only pay $2 per cable card.

BP

 

[Lakados]

So a generation of overworked and underpaid people find that they are too broke for TV and that they generally don't have time for it.... Go figure.

 

[Lakados]

Yeah we're paying $75 or so for 75/75. But I'd rather have the faster internet than any form of cable.

But yeah, it's kind of insulting to be paying that much for fiber... at that speed. I've got friends all over the country with anywhere from 100MB to 1GB service for that kind of money.

But the issue is TV. Yeah, a Netflix account for the rest of the family and we're all more than happy.

In my case, I watch a couple of major live action shows a year. They usually end up on Netflix within one season of current. The rest is Anime of which that's all acquired online. The last thing is Formula 1. I still follow that every year. They've made it a little easier to get it online but that's one thing F1 needs to work on big time.

None of these watching habits are served by a cable subscription.

I am $120 for 25/10 ... And they are the only game in town.

 

[Biznatch]

Sure I love paying for a service that does everything they can to plaster as many ads as possible on my screen, including running the shows faster than normal speed..... That's not even mentioning the insane amount of product placement, and the stupid TV 'popups' that overlay ads on different parts of the screen during the show itself.....

It's not the cost, it's the ads and the fact that it's mostly all garbage shows, and there are better options available..... I cut cable like 15 years ago and haven't missed it at all.

 

[ithaqua_1969]

Use to have the full package at low introductory price. Then kept it at an astounding 170 a month, when I could afford it, didn't think about it. Started to prune that down, but every time lost services to change the price, sooner or later it would be back to where it was. Finally hacked off larger pieces, cable, then phone service, settling in on only internet. Found out later the level of internet they kept me on was still a TV package - which of course I asked them why do I need TV when don't even have cable box. Said it was for streaming purposes. Cancelled that and now have basic 10MB (?) internet service. Slow as balls from what I used to have, but 24.95 a month. The true breaking point of the whole thing was internet router/modem. They said that reduction of package would cause the rental rate to go from 5.00 per month to 10.00, told them keep your modem, bought one from Best buy and already have paid for it with the money they don't get. If they kept it 5.00 I probably still would be renting it.

 

[Wiffle]

It also doesn't help that once you are subscribed to these services under contract, you get treated like utter shit by the companies until your contract is up.

 

[Sonicks]

I signed up for an internet/cable bundle for ONE month (no contract) because the bundle price of $79.99 a month was the same as what I was paying for just the internet (same speed on bundle).

Turns out the base price of $79.99 was correct but on my first bill there was a shit load of line item nickle and dime taxes and fees on top of that which brought the total bill up to something like $129.99.

Fuck that. Advertise the actual goddamned price and not the pre-fuckyouintheass price and maybe people wouldn't think it's so expensive.

 

[THRESHIN]

It comes down to people want value for their money. I know I do. Virtually any purchase i make the value is my primary consideration. The value of any TV service is terrible.

 

[OregonLAN]

I cut my "cable" nearly 10 years ago...

 

[acidrain97]

I've heard that some Americans also find water to be quite wet.

And also some Americans have found corn in their own shit... Mind Blown.

 

[djand]

I haven't had cable for 15 years, but do have a cable modem for internet. Streaming gives us more control over what we are paying for. There are no real tech constraints that prevent the cable companies from selling me the 10 or so channels I'd like to watch. Their solution is to make me buy 200+ channels to get the ones I would like through the tiered packages. They are loosing customers because they aren't offering what consumers want...

 

[sirmonkey1985]

The problem is that the networks have expanded their channel lineups to have more sub-channels and spread the quality shows amongst them. They've aimed at quantity, forcing final-mile providers to bundle these networks together in package deals. Cable/Satellite companies can't go "hey, our customers find 75% of your channels to be shit, so we're only going to offer the 25% that are good."

There's very few channels/shows I have interest in watching these days and the ones I would watch are behind higher tier paywalls (like Science Channel). That's why I cut the cord. I get way more mileage out of Netflix.

don't forget how monopolized it's become as well.. there's only 3 major broadcast companies left and for any 1 channel a provider wants from those broadcast companies you have to pay for their entire suite of channels. that's the real problem and until that's fixed cable/sat will always be a overpriced shitfest.

 

[Master_shake_]

I've heard that some Americans also find water to be quite wet.

i don't want to alarm you but there is talk on the internets that the sun is in fact quite warm.

 

[Eickst]

I've been trying to cut the cable TV stuff for years. Can't get past the WAF

Even with Plex doing live TV and even with the grid, it isn't the same and it's not as easy as using a cable remote so I lose.

The only reason I even want cable is for sports and now with ESPN streaming almost every college game on Saturday and most NFL games coming over broadcast, if it were just up to me in my household the cable would be gone.

 

[SamuraiInBlack]

It really is too damn high. And the fact that you have to get service bundled to be a customer at all, is bullshit.

My wife and I watch maybe, MAYBE, 12-15 hours of actual television a year. Know what that's spent watching? Lord of the Rings whenever it's on, because everything else is trash and neither of us are home in time to watch the stuff we actually want to see.

Hulu and Netflix have us covered. I wish I could just pay for my Xfinity Internet and just that alone, even if it's only $10 a month less than the bundle.

 

[c3k]

I'm $75 for 250/250. I have competition in my area.

I cut the Comcast/Spectrum cable and went with the local fiber optic. Couldn't be happier.

Comcast/Spectrum shoved channel after channel of crap into the "bundle" in order to get the few I wanted. I was subsidizing political activist channels that kept telling me I was "deplorable". No need for me to send them my money... Thanks for trying to shove your politics down my cable. It's been gone for almost 2 years. I'm happy and they don't have to turn their noses up at me. See ya.

 

[robjordan406]

I'm $75 for 250/250. I have competition in my area.

I cut the Comcast/Spectrum cable and went with the local fiber optic. Couldn't be happier.

If the cable companies would only allow you to pick the channels you wanted to watch per month and charge like $ 3;00/channel. I have cut the cable and subscribe to Direct TV Now that gives me all of my CAR shows/AMC (walking dead) and discovery channel for 40.00 / month.. plus many other neat channels I might just watch sometimes.

 

[Dan_D]

This is exactly why I cut the cord over a year ago. I haven't missed it. Even with having tons of streaming services I pay for and a few shows I buy each season on Amazon, I'm still coming out way ahead every month.

 

[SickBeast]

How much do you guys pay? Here in Canada I have gigabit internet and a decent cable TV package for $110CAD/month, including taxes. That works out to around $73USD/month, before taxes. Is cable actually cheaper here? I got a pretty good deal but deals like this are quite common. We tend to pay more for cellular also but I got a good deal there also, shockingly.

 

[Dan_D]

How much do you guys pay? Here in Canada I have gigabit internet and a decent cable TV package for $110CAD/month, including taxes. That works out to around $73USD/month, before taxes. Is cable actually cheaper here? I got a pretty good deal but deals like this are quite common. We tend to pay more for cellular also but I got a good deal there also, shockingly.

I was paying $300 a month for internet and TV with Frontier FIOS. I now pay $110 a month for internet service and I pay around $70 a month for a bunch of streaming services.

 

[SickBeast]

I was paying $300 a month for internet and TV with Frontier FIOS. I now pay $110 a month for internet service and I pay around $70 a month for a bunch of streaming services.

Wow that's really pricey. What kind of speed do you get for $110/month?

 

[ThatsAgood1jay]

I pay $180 a month for ATT Gigapower + U-Verse TV in Dallas, I hate it. The internet is great, but the Cable is so overboard, we mostly watch Netflix/HBO/MTOD, the only thing I watch on regular TV is sports, I do follow a lot of racing, but there are much cheaper/better ways for me to get access to those.

 

[ManofGod]

I do not even pay for or have cable TV so..... *Shrug* I do have a 400Mbps internet connection at $89 a month but, I use that all the time.

 

[Ehren8879]

Broadcasters are killing American cable. They with whom the blame lies

 

[SvenBent]

The is also no much reason for getting 600 channels when the same content is spewed out onf 5 channels at at time.
Its clear that all those channels are just for spewing out more adds and not more content.

 

[cageymaru]

How much do you guys pay? Here in Canada I have gigabit internet and a decent cable TV package for $110CAD/month, including taxes. That works out to around $73USD/month, before taxes. Is cable actually cheaper here? I got a pretty good deal but deals like this are quite common. We tend to pay more for cellular also but I got a good deal there also, shockingly.

$90 a month for 100Mbps or $130 a month for 300Mbps. If I move 15 miles from town there is no internet other than satellite. You can't even get dialup nowadays because the copper phone lines are rotten.

 

[Iceshot]

Cut the cord 10 years ago and have never looked back. Monumental waste of money every month for at best a few networks and shows I occasionally watch with 90% of the channels being ignored. Hate the bundling and forcing me to buy / pay for 40-80 channels to obtain a handful I actually want. Sadly, with the ending of Net Neutrality it's only a matter of time before these same cable / satellite pay scheme's are implemented on the Internet. We can abandon cable / satellite all we want, they (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, etc) will simply buy & lobby (bribe) to control the medium we have flocked to (Internet). Better hope the Law Suits brought against the FCC killing Net Neutrality win in court (doubtful with the current Supreme Court we have) or Tim Berners Lee gets WWW 2.0 off the ground becuase the Internet we know and love is being retooled into a artificial profit / censorship medium as quickly as the telecoms (the Oligopoly) feel they can get away with it.

 

[joobjoob]

Cut the sat in 2005. Never looked back. In those 13 years I've saved alot of money. Enough to buy all the TV collections of old shows I actially want to watch. A few episodes of newer shows, And still come out way ahead.

I've already cut Netflix and hulu. Just wasn't using it and few times I tried to watch a show and it would be removed. Got tired of the Netflix shell game.

Edit:

When I stay in a hotel and flip channels I cant get over why any sentient being would pay for that crap.

-simpsons
-air fryer
-old people jewelry
-super air fryer!
-friends
-delux acne laser cannon.
-gross people reality TV
-double barrel air fryer
-sportsballs memeories
-air fryer injury class action
-judge show
-game show
-attractive people do sex and murder
-spanish drama
-spanish game show
-sportsballs big game
-sportsballs news

 

[pcgeekesq]

Why would I pay someone to pipe sewage into my home?

 

[Executioner]

I have AT&T that includes internet and Direct TV. I pay $200/month for a full package deal, but I really only watch about 6 channels on a regular basis. Wife watches about the same, but she has been watching more on Netflix. So when the package deal expires and I'm ready to retire maybe next year, I'm dumping the package and getting an antenna. The only reason I have this package is to watch Game of Thrones from HBO; otherwise, HBO sucks including their leftest views and shows.

 

[Dan_D]

Wow that's really pricey. What kind of speed do you get for $110/month?

Unfortunately, only 300Mbps. I have two choices in my neighborhood. Frontier FIOS or Time Warner Cable. The latter would be cheaper but they don't offer as much bandwidth and I hate them more than Frontier. At my old house in another town I had AT&T U-Verse and got Gigabit internet for what I'm paying for 300Mbps now. I can go as high as 500mbps here, but its like $300 a month to do it. As much as I'd like the bandwidth increase, it isn't worth the cost.

 

[Iceshot]

I have AT&T that includes internet and Direct TV. I pay $200/month for a full package deal, but I really only watch about 6 channels on a regular basis. Wife watches about the same, but she has been watching more on Netflix. So when the package deal expires and I'm ready to retire maybe next year, I'm dumping the package and getting an antenna. The only reason I have this package is to watch Game of Thrones from HBO; otherwise, HBO sucks including their leftest views and shows.

HBO GO for $14.99 a month gets you HBO & Game of Thrones. Might consider dropping cable now and grabbing HBO Go at a fraction of the monthly expense.

https://www.hbo.com/order?camp=providers_gotopnav