Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Comcast wins again…
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April 16, 2013 at 11:06 pm #607187
smokeycretin9ParticipantApril 16, 2013 at 11:27 pm #788380
PatrickKeymasterAs the Guild Navigator told Padashaw Emperor Shaddaam IV, “I see plots within plots.”
Intel’s potential new in-set receiver would create a la carte cable whether the cables companies like it or not. Then there’s Aereo, a cloud-based tv service which, if it clears the legal hurdles, will have every possible tv show on demand.
Roll those up together and you can smell the fear.
April 17, 2013 at 2:42 am #788381
singularnameParticipantReally dumb move on their part. I guesstimate about 20% of my friends and coworkers have already ditched the cable for Netflix, Hulu, Xbox LIVE, and so many other alternatives via Internet. And so far these are either super-cheap subscriptions or pay as you go/want. Heck, the current content on YouTube can keep me entertained for my lifetime. I’m a minute away from doing it myself, as well as about another 20% of folks I’m on social media with.
April 17, 2013 at 3:05 am #788382
ghar72ParticipantI’m a little confused. We cut the comcast cord awhile back and have an antenna to get the basics…abc, nbc, cbs, pbs, fox. When this comes to the Seattle market, does it mean our antenna won’t work anymore b/c the signal will be scrambled? I’m obviously not very tech-savvy. Thanks for the education!
April 17, 2013 at 4:06 am #788383
KenParticipantantenna should work fine. The problem is all those customers that were told by Comcast, that they did not need a digital converter when they (tha gummint) were handing out vouchers. Now they are counting on the notorious poor memory of their consumer base as well as culling the less gullible from their system as “cord cutters”. This will allow them to up their advertising rates.
I used a pole lopper to cut my cord back in 06.
I have 4 tv’s. two used as monitors and one used once in three years and the other used for dvds.
Local tv (except PBS) is excrement anyway and PBS shows are mostly available online.
April 17, 2013 at 4:31 am #788384
ghar72ParticipantThanks Ken!
April 17, 2013 at 4:34 am #788385
EdSaneParticipant…I read the article (despite the easily bypassed pay wall). Anyone under 30 (with basic computer skills) does not pay for cable/satellite. Either the business model adapts or fails. Overly compensated ‘crappy’ shows with little production value are on the way out. This is progress.
April 17, 2013 at 1:53 pm #788386
kayoParticipantWe ditched cable 6 years ago and have not missed it at all. It is a waste of money with all the other options available. Wish we did not have to use them for Internet, but they are the fastest available currently. We use rabbit ears for our local stations which works well from our location.
April 17, 2013 at 2:16 pm #788387
cjboffoliParticipantMy interpretation for one of the motives behind this move is that it could hobble DVR recording devices. Most television content is available – almost immediately after broadcast – on BIttorrent sites. The people feeding those sites are grabbing shows off their DVRs. There are lots of people out there who don’t even need to have cable because they can get their favorite TV shows from Bittorrent for free and without commercials. By encrypting the content you could potentially end the recording and dry up the stream feeding Bittorrent, thereby forcing people into resubscribing for cable TV.
April 17, 2013 at 2:32 pm #788388
kgdlgParticipantDitched basic cable. Problem is we are paying the same for our Internet because our bundle was cheaper than Internet alone. Really? Please what is our alternative to this for Internet?
April 17, 2013 at 4:13 pm #788389
SueParticipantWe’ve had Comcast’s limited basic cable ($12/month or so) for about 6 years. They don’t even tell you that it exists – you have to know about it. When they did the last digital upgrade, they warned how we weren’t going to get the channels without a box. We ordered the converter boxes (free). The newer main TV in our livingroom played our channels without hooking up any boxes. We lost a few channels, gained some others. It was all good. But our 20 year old TV in the basement, we tried hooking up the box, and it just wouldn’t work. My husband is not a stranger to hooking up this stuff, so he knew what he was doing, and it wasn’t going to work. We called Comcast and they tried to troubleshoot over the phone, telling him to do what he’d already done, and then ultimately decided that they needed to come out and charge us for a repair visit. We declined, and just don’t use that TV anymore. So it’s going to really piss me off if we can’t use our upstairs TV now (if we can’t get the converter box running), especially since we have a computer hooked up to it as a makeshift DVR – not sure how that would work with a converter box (or if it can). I hate the idea of having to go from $12/mo. cable to paying 4-5 times that for channels I don’t even want.
April 17, 2013 at 4:50 pm #788390
CMPParticipantI’m one of those cord-cutters, thank goodness. Downgraded to basic cable about eight years ago, then disposed of my TV three years ago and haven’t missed it at all. Comcast gets me on my internet bill, however, so now that I’m moving, I’m going to try out Century Link since they’re more affordable. I watch Netflix DVD’s on my laptop and occasionally stream a TV show for my entertainment. My friends think I’m weird for not owning a TV but I think it’s fantastic. Plus Comcast isn’t getting money from me for crappy service which makes the decision to go without cable even easier!
April 17, 2013 at 7:16 pm #788391
DianeParticipant“Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts received $29 million in compensation in 2012”
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April 17, 2013 at 7:44 pm #788392
DianeParticipantSue, one of my tv’s is nearly 30+ yrs old (I bought it just before college), and the one I use for most recording; I use Comcast digital box at main tv and had old tv connected directly to cable for forever, until forced 6 mos ago to use adapter; so I had no access to anything on that one til last month; I contacted their exec customer service to get a technician out to install the adapter and make sure it works; it even took him about ½ hr; I made sure when setting up appt that there would be no charge; the tech told me they do not charge for installs, that he’s currently doing about 20 per day, but they are starting to charge people for the adapters, that I was “grandfathered in”; they are certainly looking for every way possible to squeeze fees out of subscribers they have left
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just went through my every 6 mo having to renegotiate rate with Comcast (which I hate); I was seriously considering dropping to limited basic, which according to the city office of cable communications, that rate is now $16.35 plus tax/fees, and those customers alone will be charged $1 each for adapters; ridiculous; anyway, then I went to Comcast site to get rates/channels currently offered; I searched everywhere on Comcast website and could not find cost of limited basic cable (except promo rate for new customers) and they have no list of channels for limited basic on their website anymore; so yes, you are so correct, they are trying to hide the cheapest rates that are still available
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many many many people I know have dropped to limited basic (and as mentioned, they then use appletv, hulu, netflix, etc)
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limited basic includes up through government channels, which are important to me; seattlechannel I love and watch daily, king county gov’t, state gov’t, c-span and c-span2, and strangely includes 19 which is Hallmark, some frivolous fun old shows like Cheers, Golden Girls, Frasier, Little House, I Love Lucy, etc
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and for anyone who is 65+, disabled, or low income, you can get a $5/mo discount on limited basic cable through the city office of cable communications 206-684-8498
April 18, 2013 at 2:42 am #788393
JiggersMemberCable is nothing more but a bunch of reruns and BS TV shows. TV programmimg today is 93% geared for women. There is not one show on today that I am interested in watching. I don’t have cable or a TV for the matter. And like the latter said, I have Netflix, Hulu and free Internet. Far cheaper.
April 18, 2013 at 3:19 am #788394
DBPMemberI’m really going to miss all the ads and talk shows and soap operas.
And the gripping live news coverage of Easter Egg hunts and dogs that get stuck in trees. Who’s going to fill that void? Some computer thingie? Psssh! Don’t THINK so!!
And where will I go of a rainy evening when I need to sit there in the comfort of my own home, swilling cheap beer for hours as I watch the unfolding drama of fake reality, jiggly boobs, and gratuitous non-stop violence?
(And that’s just the football games.)
April 18, 2013 at 3:35 am #788395
ghar72ParticipantSue, you can’t find their rates online. I talked to a rep once and they told me you have to request them to be sent to you. Ridiculous.
April 18, 2013 at 3:41 am #788396
SueParticipantghar72, I’m not surprised. They are not very transparent. I got a call recently trying to get me to upgrade to some other tier at some amazingly crazy low rate. I asked them what the regular rate would revert to after the intro period, they tried to avoid having to answer me.
I did find this rate chart online: http://www.seattle.gov/cable/comcastrates.htm
April 18, 2013 at 8:35 am #788397
DianeParticipantSue, that’s what I was referring to at city office of cable communications, listing rates
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funny, when I saw your link; I thought it was a spoof page with play on words for com-castrates
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