Community Chat

[catter70]

I think  cable should be regulated like other utilities, but the PUC said that cable is not a necessity. I disgree. BTW, my cable/phone bill went up about $15.00 and I called them and it went down a little over $13.00. I wish we could pick the channels we want and not have to pay for all the ones we get, of course, at a  much much lesser cost.

[ValuSkr]

Cable TV is not a necessity of life, and neither is a landline - since you have other options, like a mobile phone or VOIP.  But internet is practically a necessity today, and it should be regulated like a public utility.

I've read here that most cable companies have low cost internet plans for seniors.  They don't advertise them; you have to ask.  I imagine the service is dial-up, so it's not as fast, and you wouldn't have wi-fi.

[millieshops]

@ahoymateI use Comcast and Cablevision -  my Comcast is slightly less expensive for me than Cablevision -  and right now during this mess, Cablevision's CS has been close to infuriating.

[CherryHugs]

This is so wrong espec during this time!!!! I have Spectrum and its already too expensive.     SO greedy! When they were Time Warner they were much more reasonable.

[caroln242]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

from 12/2014

Summary of State "Price Gouging" Statutes and Regulations*

https://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/price-gouging-statutes.pdf

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Thank you for supplying that info!  Interesting to read.  In my state I fall short of what they consider price gouging unfortunately.  Even so, I still would like to report them for price gouging, but obviously that would be an exercise in futility.  But I still maintain it was very poor timing and just reinforces my opinion  that cable companies are cold, callous, money grubbers who are totally insensitive to what their customers and the rest of the world are experiencing. 

[Spurt]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

Check your bill and see how much of it goes to taxes.  For my $220 monthly TV cable  / modem / phone ... $77 of that goes to taxes!   That's 35% in taxes!  Local, state and feds.

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@ALRATIBA 

You are so RIGHT!!!!  out of my $154 a month bill, $62 is for federal and municipality taxes/fees/surcharges ..So its not all the cable companies fault for the high monthly fee....and weren't these "entities" supposed to protect us from price gouging????....instead they added to it....and its coming to the cordless customers in the near future...

https://www.pmbusinessadvisors.com/blog/sales-tax-implications-for-online-video-and-video-game-strea...

[Spurt]

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@catter70 wrote:

I think  cable should be regulated like other utilities, but the PUC said that cable is not a necessity. I disgree. BTW, my cable/phone bill went up about $15.00 and I called them and it went down a little over $13.00. I wish we could pick the channels we want and not have to pay for all the ones we get, of course, at a  much much lesser cost.

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@catter70 

That was SUPPOSED to be the plan...instead the state/federal/local added their own unique fees and surcharges to regulate the industry....how are they doin?....

[Spurt]

@catter70 

The reason cable costs keep rising is there's too many fingers in the pie....the cable company, federal/state/municipalities want their share, and then there are the media groups that own the channels! All want their money and as Harry Truman said, "the buck stops here" (with the consumer).....And as I said, the media companies will eventually pass this on to the streaming and other cordless services in the future...

To answer the perennial question: "why am I paying for channels I don't watch"...... This was "Oprah's Remedy" that customers should pick & chose channels and just pay for the ones we watch, she went on a compaign to supposedly make it happen!!!....But it appears her team didnt research how the industry works.....If picked and chose what channels it would actually end up costing you MORE and thats why cable didnt pursue "Oprah's Remedy"...as I call it.....OR "a la carte TV"...here's the info:

CORD-CUTTER CONFIDENTIAL

By Jared Newman, TechHive | AUG 9, 2018 

Why a la carte TV still isn't happening The dream of building your own channel bundle won't become reality anytime soon.

Every so often, I get an email or read a comment online asking why the TV industry won’t just give the people what they want.

As more people abandon cable and satellite TV—or grow up accustomed to life without either—one might think the industry would be open to selling channels individually, or letting customers build their own TV bundles. If such a service existed, surely customers would flock to it and make TV networks richer, right? Not quite. Over the past few years, TV networks have only become more resistant to breaking up the channels they own, especially as major media companies like Disney and Discovery fatten their channel lineups by acquiring other programmers.

Bundling the bundlers

As a refresher, most of the popular channels on television are owned by a small number of large media companies:

• Disney’s roster includes ABC, ESPN channels, Freeform, and of course all the Disney channels.
• Fox owns the main broadcast channel, Fox News, FX, National Geographic, and a slew of regional sports networks.
• CBS owns Showtime and CBS Sports.
• Comcast owns NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo, USA, Cloo, and Chiller.
• Time Warner (now AT&T’s WarnerMedia) owns HBO, Cinemax, TNT, TBS, TCM, CNN, and TruTV.
• A&E has History, Lifetime, Crime & Investigation Network, and FYI, and is jointly-owned by Disney and Hearst.
• AMC Networks owns IFC and BBC America in addition to the AMC channel.
• Viacom owns Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, and MTV.
• Discovery owns TLC, Investigation Discovery, and Science Channel.
• Scripps Networks owns HGTV, Food Network, DIY, Cooking Channel, and Travel Channel.

Cable companies and other TV providers can’t just pick and choose between these channels. Instead, each media company tries to license all of its channels as a package, maximizing how much money comes in from each subscriber. Some networks even require that their priciest channels be included in the most popular TV packages, limiting TV providers’ ability to experiment with different levels of service. (This might explain why Spectrum only offers its a la carte service to existing cord-cutters.) If TV providers want to offer a broad range of content, including full sports coverage, major news networks, and popular entertainment channels, they have no choice but to bundle everything.

The rise of live TV streaming services such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and PlayStation Vue hasn’t been the answer. While some networks are excluded from certain live TV bundles, the most expensive networks—namely, the ones with all the sports programming—are included in almost every package. If anything, live TV streaming services have become more bloated and homogenous as they pursue the broadest swath of subscribers.  The current climate of media merger mania has only compounded the problem. Discovery acquired Scripps Networks in March, and Disney plans to acquire assets from Fox (including FX and National Geographic). To satisfy regulators, Disney has agreed to sell off Fox’s regional sports networks, potentially putting them in the hands of AT&T, Comcast, or another major media entity. The result will be even more bargaining power for TV networks that want to package all their channels together.

[Spurt]

Consider whats already happening....First there's the cost of your high speed interent (dont forget to include what you are paying for that).......and gee I want my favorite shows...then you start adding Sling ($30 month Blue package, $45 Sling Orange/Blue) or Netflix $12.99 a month....These media companies are coming out with their own streaming cordless channels too---Disney owns ESPN so you can add Disney Plus--ESPN--HULU for $12.99 a month....Or maybe you want Apple TV for $7 a month....slowly but surely these will start to add up....

And then if the states get involved and change legislation to start taxing streaming/cordless services......(see the link to the article in message #46).....

See where its headed and we will be back to where we started from.....But as I said its all personal preference and what you want to watch...and of course they always seem to put the favorites on that higher tier....

[Lipstickdiva]

My bill was just due a couple of days ago and it was still the same rate but I do streaming, not cable.  However, today when I checked my bank account, I had a $7.70 credit deposited into my checking account from Spectrum and I have no idea why.  

Anyhow, if you go to the Spectrum FB page, it is complaint after complaint after complaint about them.  They were offering free internet when all this started for people who needed to work from home and homeschool but that turned out to be a lie and other peoples' internet went up.  People were complaining about horrible internet service with everything freezing up and bogging down so they couldn't do anything.  

People call about something and are on the phone for hours and keep getting disconnected.  A lot of bill increases during this time, which is really about as low as you can get as a company.  

And word of advice, if anyone decides they are going to cut the cable cord with Spectrum, do it on the last day of your billing cycle.  If your billing cycle ends on the 30th of the month and you call on the 2nd of the month to cut service, they charge you for the entire month!  They will not give you a credit for the 28 days of unused service.  I don't know how that is even legal.