The price of cable TV is not cheap. Believe me I know, I used to work for Comcast. The worst part is that it seems like there is never anything good on too. The response from many lately has been to cut the cord, that is to cancel their cable TV service. Is this right for you? It could be and it may not be as painful as it sounds.
A testimonial
I cut the cord and I did it a long time ago. When I moved into my first house I didn’t see the need to get cable even though I worked for Comcast. I bought a nice 50 inch TV and just hooked up a Blu-Ray player and watched movies all the while enjoying the savings and years later I have no regrets doing this. Part of that was because I really did not spend the time at home that would make having cable worth it but I did buy an antenna about a year later. The $20 I spent on that has more than paid for itself in the savings.
Cable TV is expensive
Cable TV is expensive. The price of a cable package has more than doubled in the past 20 years, with the typical bill exceeding $100 (not even taking into account any equipment that has to be rented) for the first time in 2015. With hundreds of channels as well as HD options Americans are spending more than ever on TV. You see each channel costs a certain amount of money. A negotiation takes place between the station and the cable provider and a per user fee is agreed upon. It may not seem like much, some could be 15 cents per user but over an entire cable system that adds up. If a carriage agreement is not reached the channel is taken off the air, you have probably seen those notifications at some point. These negotiations typically take place about every 2 years.
The most popular tactic though is bundling. Disney, for example, owns and operates many channels, not only their own Disney brand but also others like ABC and ESPN. They essentially package all of their channels together, so you get all of them or none. ESPN is one of the most expensive channels on cable costing well over $1 per subscriber per channel (ESPN usually has at least 2 channels on every cable package and sometimes more) and because it is so popular Disney has the leverage. While the cable operator could say no they would alienate a large portion of their market who would probably seek another provider.
The price of this is only going up as more channels are put on the air but the market though has begun to respond and millions of people are cutting the cord. Some use an antenna, some get TV via the Internet while some just use a service like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu to pass the time. Internet TV is also taking off and has the potential to be the next major marketplace.
Cutting the cord is popular
The trend began in 2010 when the first noticeable loss of subscribers took place. At first it was believed that cord cutting was just hype and that people would return but in fact subscriber losses continued at an alarming rate for all major providers. It has continued to the point that some younger people have never paid for a cable TV subscription.
Antennas are still a thing
For people who do not watch a lot of TV this is almost a no-brainer. You might be surprised by the number of channels that an antenna can pick up, and it is more than just your local news stations. If I position my antenna just right I can pick up about 15 channels here in York and I’m pretty sure if I could get it higher on the house I could get more. In some large markets that number could be over one hundred. With the cost of a subscription to a streaming service as cheap as it is, it makes the decision easier and you would still be able to watch many of your favorite shows.
Just think about this the next time that you see your cable bill and then complain that there is nothing on. This is something that could potentially save you a lot of money and you could join the millions of others who are already doing it. Who knows, you may actually enjoy the silence and read a book. Yes, they still exist!