Poll: Pulling the plug on tv service.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Poll question: Poll: Pulling the plug on tv service.

( I just read that tv cable/satellite service is deeply down in the last year due to various reasons,
so wanted to see what DU folks are doing about their tv watching.
We are planning to cut the cord in a few months)

So, if you would please........


Have you in the past TWO years cut off your tv
or
Are you seriously planning on cutting off tv service

because of:

[Mass]

1. I dont have cable. The only TV I watch is broadcast TV.

But I never cut my service.I just never had it.

[Warpy]

8. I was like that until 4 years ago

and used cheap DSL to make up the difference. It was OK.

4 years on, the novelty of having a satellite dish is wearing off, but I still like to have old movies on TCM, artsy stuff on Ovation, and weird stuff on Documentary. There is still programming here and there that's worthwhile. Then there are nights I just listen to good music.

I did, however, pull the plug on broadcast news 5 years ago. I just got sick of being lied to, if only by omission. I've never redeveloped the habit with cable stations. Screw it.

[Skink]

15. government issue set top box here.

I love it. Took the cable out years ago.

[chillspike]

52. What's that?

[Skink]

55. A digital converter box.

the govenment mandated dtv so in order for an anntena to work you must have the converter. You might already have a television with it built in.

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. Oh duh me...I had not even realized broadcast tv is still available.

Guess I have spent too much time living in out of the way places.

[TheMuse]

2. I voted other

Although I can afford my cable bill, I still feel it is too high. I desperately want to just cut it off. I can watch most of my shows online, but cannot go without live sports.

If I can't watch the Bears on Sunday, I think I would go crazy. And if I had missed the Hawks winning the Cup, I would never forgive myself. So I am still a slave. Need the local channels, ESPN, Big Ten Network. Sucks.

[pitohui]

50. what??? are there no sports bars? are there no casinos????

i don't know or care who the bears or the hawks are but in this corner of the universe if i want to watch espn, local sports, etc. that's what the poker room is for my friend

and for my non gambling hubster it's what the sports bar is for

TWO DAT!!!!!

[Pab Sungenis]

3. Today, with digital over the air television

you can get better reception in many areas than you can with cable. (There's less signal compression.) And the subchannels can often be fascinating.

For those in rural areas, you can get a lot with free-to-air television, including a lot of network affiliates.

[murielm99]

36. That's what we do.

We are in the country, but we have DSL, so we can have TiVo. We get many interesting subchannels. We get public broadcasting and the retro network, too. It is cool because we have an antenna, and are able to get Rockford IL, Madison WI and Quad Cities - IL and Iowa stations. We have a huge selection that we can tape and watch as we please. Who needs cable? If we miss something good, we can always find it later on the Internet.

We are not big on getting our news from television. We may watch once in awhile, but that is all. We gave up on the Sunday morning gasbags before the last election cycle.

Yes, there is a lot of crap on TV. But that has always been true. Turn it off. Listen to music. Go for a walk. Read a book.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Several reasons:

1) Can't afford it
2) Even if I did, the shows aren't that interesting
3) Don't have the time to watch
4) Even if I did have the time to watch, except for PBS, nothing worth it on broadcast TV
5) Internet is far more interesting than television
6) Only watch now for special items on news broadcast

[Upton]

5. I think my DirecTV bill is a little high..

$129 this past month, but there's absolutely no way I could do without it.

So, one of your options should address those of us who have no intention of pulling the plug.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. I know there are reasons that people are keeping tv.

My focus was on reasons NOT to keep it, because we are thinking of pulling the plug, and I had just read of all the options available on the net.

Having said that, last Friday the apparently ONLY computer line leading to our county was accidentally cut
and no puters, no bank machines, no debit card machines,
no nothing except satellite tv and cable tv.
No cell phones, but land lines worked.
So one thought we had was maybe having backups is worth the price.

[peace frog]

6. Other

My cable bill is high but I would be willing to pay a bit more to be given greater choice of channels, rather than being offered "packaged" basic and/or premium channels. But that would be just too darned convenient for the customer and difficult for the cable company, wouldn't it? Heavens to murgatroyd, we can't have that! OTOH, if the companies offered more choice for personal variety, they might increase their customer base.

[Seedersandleechers]

7. I get MSNBC

online which is nice since I'm in the UK. No need for cable.

channelsurfing.net

[HereSince1628]

9. With national geographic channel hung up on a dog whisperer

history channel stuck on conspiracy theories about UFO's and both running shows about hunting Ghosts and other spectral fantasians I just have no place to turn to to avoid new jersey housewives, competitive cupcake making and non-news.

I'm sure this is a generation gap thing, but damn, TV has become mostly not worth the time. Honestly, it was time to admit that I have a serious psychological problem when Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Trucker became the highlights of my week.

[virgogal]

30. Your post gave me the best chuckle I've had all week. I go way

back to Omnibus days, and live drama like Playhouse 90.

Your humorous post summed up today's TV quite well.

I don't even think Newton Minnow ever envisioned this garbage.

[Dappleganger]

10. Other: just a few days ago I reduced our DirectTV bill

Called them up (we've been w/them for 10 years) and told them we were trying to cut all of our utilities in every way possible. I may have mentioned the word "broke", as in "these bills are all going up and our income has gone way, way down so I guess we may broke on any given day in the month."

The CSR to her credit was as sweet as could be and offered a non-published packages which was far less than what we'd been paying. We cut down a few other things during that phone call. I don't miss any of the channels, but ds misses one show (and he found it on hulu). If it was up to me we'd not have it at all,only OTA HD and netflix/hulu is fine by me.

If anyone else with DTV wants to know the details of the unpublished package feel free to send me a PM.

[kevinbgoode]

11. I did that with DishTV about a year ago. . .

and ended up getting a "welcome package" that costs me $20.99 a month. Even better, it has Comedy Central and MSNBC, but no Faux News!

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. Negotiating for reduced prices works, I found.

There are even websites that tell you how to do it.

We have cut our DISH by 30.00 a month, phone/dsl by 20.00 a month, cell phone by 15.00 a month.

However, I find the computer LED flatscreen is so much better for watching movies than is the regular tv, as my eyes get older, that we are probably going to dump the tv sets.
Sell them, cheap,

[Melissa G]

38. What cell phone do you have? n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

46. AT&T.

Well, I do not have any cell, only the land line.
Mr. D. has the AT&T cell, last week he went in and negotiated the bill down by 15.00 per month for his Blackberry phone.
( after I nagged him about it for 2 months)

[Melissa G]

58. ATT is pretty high to start with, but good to know. Thanks! n/t

[HuckleB]

12. We've never had cable/satellite, whatever.

Well, I did as a kid at home in the early '80s, and then at college. But not since I graduated from college. 18 years. I think I'm doing fine without it.

[Codeine]

13. I get TV, intarwebz, and phone from AT&T.

I still enjoy television enough to pay for it.

[raouldukelives]

14. No cable/dish going on 6 years now

However I do still use my TV watching DVD & VHS movies.

[hlthe2b]

16. > six years cable free; no dedicated tv (lcd monitor w/ tuner only)

Originally quit because I was sick and tired of fighting with the cable companies over errors in billing and their poor service (same as with Qwest and my land phone).

Now, refused to renew or buy satellite because it is just a worthless and expensive time drain. That said, there is some good stuff on cable channels and pbs that I find a way to see--either online streaming or by renting the video.

[hlthe2b]

17. How about posting a link to the article you mention....

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. Gladly.

http://blogs.investors.com/click/index.php/home/60-tech/1867-consumers-dropping-pay-tv-services

http://blogs.investors.com/click/index.php/home/60-tech/1986-13-in-us-expect-to-dump-their-pay-tv-within-a-year

[hlthe2b]

29. Thanks!

(love a bit of schadenfreude);)

[onenote]

33. The article confirms that cable/satellite subscriptions are not "deeply down"

A mere two-tenths of one percent net drop in basic subscriptions. And while the article doesn't mention it, one reason for the drop is that cable and satellite picked up a bunch of new customers in 2009 among people responding to promotions relating to the digital transition. As those promotional deals have expired, many of those customers are re-upping. When the 3rd quarter data comes out after September, it will be interesting to see whether the decline continues, accelerates, slows, or reverses.

[dixiegrrrrl]

53. Good point.

[IDemo]

18. Other -

Dumped DirecTV two years ago, since I generally only watched Keith and Rachel. I get virtually all of my news online now.

[lpbk2713]

19. I have Basic Cable.

About 70 channels or so.

I've been seriously considering getting "Expanded" cable (about 250 channels) just hoping that there might be more of a chance of there
being some older shows worth watching. The selection I have available to me now isn't worth crap. Thank God(dess) for NetFlix.

[onenote]

20. Not sure who is claiming subscriptions are "deeply down". Its about .2 percent

The second quarter of 2010 is the first quarter ever in which total subscriptions to multichannel subscription television service declined overall. Cable companies lost around 700,000 basic video subscribers (around 1 percent); satellite companies and other multichannel video providers picked up around 500,000, so the net drop was around 200,000, which is two-tenths of one percent of the total universe of 100 million multichannel video homes in the US. Plus, while basic subscriptions dropped, the customers who remained bought more stuff -- more digital, more HD, more Internet -- so revenues actually were up for most cable companies.

[Citizen Worker]

22. I pitched the idiot box in October '96. Seldom have I missed the vacuuous cyclops.

[chill_wind]

24. Our TV broke a couple years ago. We never replaced it.

We were in the process of moving, and it was low on the list of moving and new household expenses.
We did high speed internet instead, and just watch and catch what we can on the net. There is so much available- we can both watch different stuff at the same time in the same room on laptops with head phones. Don't miss the endless, endless commercials. To be honest, we wouldn't mind getting a larger flat screen at some point for better viewing, but I can't see us going back to cable or dish now, expense wise or otherwise.

[dixiegrrrrl]

28. Commercials......ugggghhh

For years, I have muted the remote whenever a commercial came on.
there just seem to be so many of them, and the networks have sneaky ways of sticking them on in the middle of what you think is a news story
( Yes, Rachel and KO, I am talking about YOU )
and that is one of the reasons I found myself watching less and less tv.
Now, on the rare times I have it on, the remote is right at hand, I have not seen a commercial for ages.

As for MSNBC News, by the time I watch it, I have already read the stories because of DU !!!

[Alcibiades]

25. Switched to satellite

In our area, it's much cheaper than the Time Warner monopoly.

[NoPasaran]

31. I'd quit heroin before I gave up my TV

You can have the remote when you drag it from my cold, dead fingers

[Melissa G]

39. LOL! what are your addictions? Not that I will likely know them

since I have no cable and have given up the tube except for an occasional netflix moment. I read lots of trashy novels though and waste waayyy to much time on DU! :hi:

[Vehl]

32. The only TV programs i watch are documentaries

like the science channel/natgeo/discovery...and even then only if they are not available online

apart from that i really don't use the TV anymore.

[Arkansas Granny]

34. I voted other. I haven't had cable/satellite service for years. I watch PBS

more often than not for news and entertainment. I haven't watched network news on a regular basis for several years. I want more fact and less sensationalism. I also get a lot of my news online.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

35. Ditched it because I couldn't affort it as well as eliminating another distraction...

from my schoolwork. I may go back in a couple years when I get my degree.

[bigwillq]

37. Haven't cut service. Don't plan to.

I enjoy watching TV, when I get the chance to.

[End Of The Road]

54. Me, too. It's a waste of money, but...

I can't live without "Dexter".

[mike_c]

40. voted "other" because I turned mine off nearly two DECADES ago...

...and haven't missed it one whit. In fact, I watch television two or three times a year when staying in hotels, just often enough to remind myself what an utter waste of time and technology it is.

[MilesColtrane]

41. I don't have cable...never have.

Rabbit ears have worked fine, and will until the internet becomes the main delivery system for content.

[MrSlayer]

42. I have DirecTV, not planning to cut it anytime soon.

I don't personally watch a lot of TV except for news, sports and HBO/Showtime. My daughter watches a lot of crappy shows like Jersey Shore and the like. My son doesn't watch TV at all. I could probably live without it but I don't see any reason to.

[old mark]

43. Actually, I think TV is getting better in spots, (Except for news)...we have

Dish and we really like it.

mark

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. We have DISH also, but are not watching much tv.

I think it is a function of our aging eyes.
The new flatscreen LED computer monitors are so nice to ruse , out old tv sets look blurry and dull by comparison.
Of course we have the option to buy a flatscreen tv...
if there were more interesting shows on tv and no commercials.

[old mark]

51. We are thinking about a flat screen, too - but our 10 year old+ Sony

refuses to die, and actually looks good with HD programs, so it may be some time till we actually get one.


mark

[Radical Activist]

45. There are several reasons I don't have cable.

It's a waste of money and time. There's very little worth watching. I follow a few shows on broadcast and online. As long as I have the internet then cable isn't necessary.

[DearAbby]

47. When the switch went over to digital

we didn't even bother with it. We seldom watched it anyway. We use it now to watch movies before bed.

[pitohui]

48. i have never had a paid tv service, i guess i'm nouveau poeur...but you won't miss it

i've lived this many decades w/out paying for teevee i guess i never will pay...i just don't have time to sit and look at it

if i paid for teevee i would feel guilty for not sitting still but since it's free i can hop up, clean house, wander in from time to time and see what the score is and not feel bad about my short attention span for visual media...


my husband had cable teevee as a teen in his parents' home, he never missed it either

there are not enough hours in the day as it is frankly...

have to admit since they went all digital and sent us the coupon to "upgrade" our ancient TV set from 15 yrs ago (even my 80 yr old dad laffs at my teevee) we have a BEAUTIFUL picture for no cost

why pay for tv, you'd be amazed at how good yr pic is even in the countryside w/out cable

[L0oniX]

49. Internet connection was more important ...no more DishNetwork.

[HopeHoops]

56. I pulled the plug in 1981. Can anyone top that?

Besides, the Internet is far more efficient for gathering news. Curiously, sites like DU and Crooks & Liars are some of the best places to start. We've got local feeds from all over the country (and even the world to a lesser degree) with links to the primary sources and you can pick which threads to read based on your personal interests. That beats the hell out of sitting through two hours of bullshit delivered by a fake blond with an IQ lower than her shoe size, big hair, and fake tits or a guy with spray on hair and no penis just to get a 30 second clip that barely addresses the topic you're interested in learning about.

[realisticphish]

57. I voted for the internet

I download or stream pretty much everything I watch. the only downside is sports, but there are starting to be more streaming sites for that.

Why pay for cable AND internet, when you can just pay for internet

[Roland99]

59. Cable/Satellite-free for 3 months and loving it!!!