Trying to hurt comcast by switching providers won't hurt them really.

[redirish28]

As long as you watch MSNBC thru another provider comcast is still receiving money because when TV COMPANY A places MSNBC or NBC or Syfy or any Univeral owned stations/shows they need to pay the company for the right to broadcast that channel/show/program... so comcast still makes money if you don't boycott by not watching.

[thunder rising]

1. But never consider turning off the fucking TEEVEEE ... gotta be entertained constantly.

With loud noise and primary colors.

[global1]

2. Switching To A Satellite Network - Comcast Might Still Make Money But......

not as much as if one was paying them directly for Comcast cable. They would suffer some loss of monies.

[crazylikafox]

3. yea but they get a lot more money from the $100 plus a month they get from each suscriber

Tracking their number of subscribers is a big deal & wall street tracks that trend (among a lot of others) to justify their stock price.

[Submariner]

4. Comcast broadband internet is my only option

I can't afford phone landline, and go back to dial-up. DSL not available from Verizon cuz I live out of range for it.

It sux to be tied to comcastsux.net for $65/month. No cable competition because system is rigged for monopoly's.

[pipi_k]

5. A boycott won't hurt them at all, actually...

Look at the outrage that happened against BP and its subsidiaries (and nearly all petroleum-based products) after the oil leak.

People were hell-bent on doing as much damage as possible to BP.

BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT!

What happened?

nothing.


In fact, I would bet that many of the people screeching the loudest over boycotting BP conveniently "forgot" they were supposed to be doing it once the leak was plugged and then they went right back to business as usual.

How many calls to boycott have there been here over the years? A couple of dozen? How can people be expected to remember where they're not supposed to shop or patronize?

It's all bullshit in the end, except as a way for people to feel like they have control over something they have absolutely NO control over.

It would take more than just a few hundred people on DU to make a difference.

[Waiting For Everyman]

6. Comcast is going to lose $100/mo. from me X how many people?

And I won't watch MSNBC anywhere. They're DONE. So yes, it will hurt them.

And btw, these posts about how nothing we do has any effect, are bullshit too.

[elocs]

8. Well, obviously they have to be bullshit because you say they are.

My guess is that Comcast loses thousands of customers every month and the noble boycotters will simply be lumped in with that number. It's a fantasy to believe that a boycott will really hurt them. It does make the boycotter feel empowered and better about the choice they make and there's nothing wrong with that on a personal level.

[pipi_k]

9. and for every customer they lose...

they'll sign up a replacement who either doesn't know, or doesn't care about what happened to Keith Olbermann.

Count on it.

So their numbers might remain in a state of homeostasis for a while...just until people forget that they're supposed to be pissed off and go back to watching what they were watching before.

[elocs]

7. For the most part the point of boycotts is to make the boycotter feel good

about their actions, not that it actually accomplishes anything. In general, to be effective a boycott needs to be local and focussed.