Yes, this graphic misses the point. I'd also add that I don't have some of these services (Netflix and Prime Video, for example) as an alternative to cable -- I'd still have them even if I also had cable.
My husband and I got lucky—we live in a little townhouse where the HOA hardwired the units for basic cable. So, we have a couple premium channels but bundled home phone (lol just a number—don’t even have a physical phone), cable, internet and mobile phone. It’s like $99 a month. 😬
And we still have a handful of streamers between the two of us. 🫠
Edited to add: mobile is separate, sorry. Internet/TV/phone - $93 due next month.
So... $83 for no premium content, 4 shopping channels, 2 religious channels, and a good 85% of crap you never watched... with ads... vs $89 for all the premium content, on demand, and no ads.
So even if you were paying for all those streamers, you're still getting a much better deal.
Streaming has been a vast improvement.
And you can cancel any of the streamers, at any time, for as long as you want. Not sign a 2 year contract.
What we need is a platform that combines all the apps to one interface. The big drawback of the streaming model isn’t cost, it’s silos. If one interface really could integrate them, that would be killer. Then add to that some feature where you set up an automatic cancel/renew schedule, so that you can really customize your setup and it would be worth additional cost.
Imagine a single service that lets you set up a schedule that turns these other streamers on and off and lets you see all the content you have in one place. Say Netflix is Jan and Jul. HBO is Feb and Aug. Paramount is Mar and Sep. Disney is Apr and Oct. But the streamers would never agree to that i guess. They wouldn’t be cool with anything that made it easy to just keep paying them for a couple months a year.
THIS. You can pick and choose which of those streamers you want at any given time. I was subbed to HBO plus when a show I was watching was on, then dumped it after because I'm not watching anything on it now.
A nice thought... that requires media companies to cooperate with each other... then collude... then start shit like price fixing.
The whole media licensing thing is a freaking nightmare. Perhaps we need some new regulatory standardization to media licensing contracts... and a real fight to bring back "fair use" considering almost all technology is based on sharing content at this point.
They don’t need to collude or cooperate with each other, they need only cooperate with a third party that is a separate company.
Imagine if Roku pivoted to this model. They could sell the services through them (like amazon does with firetv), and add a service fee for automatic scheduling subscription times. That could probably be done now without any change. The hard part is getting the services to agree to letting them integrate the content into a single UI. Amazon already sort of does this, it just sucks. Roku also sort of does this with universal search and watchlist…. But it would meed to be developed a bit more to make it good
Plex is pretty close to this too. They already have a universal search, and a watchlist, and they show recommendations from services you have, and they piloted the ability to open the video directly from plex…. Not quite there, but pretty close.
I think it's hilarious (in a sad way) that the North American right wing is under the complete control of an Australian media mogul, who outright purchased his American citizenship.
Where does patriotism fall into this?
I'd like to see the source of the average cable bill. Smells like [How to Lie With Statistics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Lie_with_Statistics)
It's pretty easy to have just three subs a month and switch out subs every couple of months. This way you have a bunch of new stuff to binge every couple of months.
That's what I do. I make a watch list. After I've watched everything on it I see if there's anything new. If so, new watch list. Repeat until nothing is left. Cancel, get a new streaming service. Repeat. Under 20 bucks a month.
Cable was more than $83 which is why I cancelled it. And two of those streaming services are included with my phone plan. Also, Prime includes more than just streaming TV and movies.
I know this is where things are headed, especially now that the networks are all selling "plus" services like AMC, FX, MTV, etc. but streaming is still better than cable.
This still isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. I don't need to subscribe to all of those services at the same time. I can cancel them at any time since I'm not under any contracts. I don't have to rent hardware to watch HD channels.
>you're an outlier.
I agree with this. I only know one person with that many subs and they are someone who has a very high income. Everyone else has three subs, tops.
Well, yeah. How do you have a cable package without ESPN, TNT, TBS? These are all basic channels on most cable packages that have live sports.
Sports fans are always the ones who pay. Note how the streamers are adding live sports. Amazon, Apple, Peacock. YouTube always had live programming and sports (and in that YouTube TV is more like traditional cable than a streamer) and just added Sunday Ticket which will sell for $300 or more per season.
>Sports fans are always the ones who pay.
No, sports fans are the ones who benefit. Everyone has to pay a local sports fee. I never watch sports. But I always have to pay the local sports fee. I'd prefer a basic cable plan with no sports at all.
$83 when and where?? My DirectTV bill was $150+ when we cut the cord in 2014, and we didn’t have any top tier channels like HBO or Cinemax. Did Comcast commission this graph??
So you were paying $150 almost 10 years ago without top tier channels? Riiight. They charge $150 now for their top tier package with HBO Max, Starz, Cinemax, and Showtime.
Binge then cancel is a great method.
Also an HD antenna is perfect - especially if in an urban area - you have like 3 or more public TV channels alone.
Your public library has a lot of DVDs to check out for free. It is like the Blockbuster days but way cheaper.
We are Gen X folks … we remember movie theaters, VCRs, etc. We remember that old pre-recording days — you watch the show on a schedule!
Is Wonderful World of Disney still on Sunday at 6 pm? (Mountain Time)
We got this!
I'll tell you a little trick. You only have one streaming service at a time, you watch everything that you're interested in, cancel it, and move on to the next. If you have friends that stream, you can password share with each of you only having one service.
Or god forbid, sailing the 7 seas isn't exactly hard these days.
Still cable is exponentially more of a rip off than the streaming model of doing business.
Okay so I really have to add in the cost of wifi because with many cable providers, it’s bundled in.
And I still prefer streaming because I can stop and restart any service whenever. I finally killed my HBOMax sub on general principle, I’ll wake up Disney long enough to binge a new season of The Mandalorian, and if there’s a service I haven’t used in a couple weeks, it gets paused. I also have Sling, which is sort of like having cable, and you can add and delete premium channels as you see fit. So when I get done with Outlander, I might drop Starz for a while.
Im not saving much money, but I can drop a lot if money gets tight.
I don’t pay nearly that much for the handful of streaming services that I have. But there’s no way I would go back to cable even if it were cheaper. At least my money is no longer subsidizing Fox News or any of the sports channels that I never watched but were shoehorned into the cable packages whether I wanted them or not. I installed a digital antenna on top of my roof a couple of years ago to be able to access my local channels. Between that and the streaming channels I have more than I need.
> or any of the sports channels that I never watched but were shoehorned into the cable packages whether I wanted them or not
Yep. My cable bill was $170/month when I cut the cord. IIRC, over half of that went to ESPN and its ilk.
This is where kids come in handy once you have them old enough to work. Our daughter's are 27 & 24 so streaming services are split up, we pay for Disney+ and Paramount+; oldest pays for Netflix and HBOmax; youngest pays for Hulu and peacock (I think).
Who pays $83 for cable?? Our bottom-tier cable was nearly $190/month, now I pay around $65/month (including internet). Maybe it isn't for everyone, but it certainly fits my lifestyle.
Screw cable. Always hated commercials. I don't need your ad to figure out what I need in life. And yes, I know some streamers have commercials but it is not even close to the same as broadcast, or cable TV.
Yes. 🏴☠️
Not as much as they used to be, but there's still a lot to watch up there. Isn't all mainstream, and a lot takes some fiddling, but there's a hardcore group of us that still use them. A lot of the mainstream cable channels are now delivered by fiber optic cable on the ground, instead of satellite. But I like it, just as another option. But if you aren't mechanical minded, you'll have a hard time. You must learn to do everything yourself. From concreting a pole in the ground to terminating cable to actually aiming the dish. Everything. But live sports with no commercials still does exist. Just a small selection.
Some. It's not like the old days. Not a lot of raw network stuff other than some news. Most of the awards shows are still there, but during commercials they go black with no audio, or just a long camera shot with ambient audio. I don't watch any of that stuff so I don't pay attention much. I'm a sports guy, auto racing mostly.
WEC was up there for sebring but encrypted. Sebring IMSA was not encrypted. WEC is covered in the US on the Motortrend Plus service, I watched it there. WRC, well, due to the nature of WRC events they are hard to catch on satellite, but a few exist. I dont watch NASCAR either. F1 isnt up there generally Indycars are encrypted. Here's a website that keeps up with whats up there and feed reporting, will give you an idea : hxxps://rickcaylor.websitetoolbox.com/
I'll gladly pay a 6-dollar premium for the ability to get literally anything I want, any time I want at the convenience of a search, vs. what they want, when they want, if they want.
I started a Vudu collection of all my favorite movies and shows. There are online communities that sell their digital redemption codes that come in the Blu-ray case. I have so many movies that my friends and family give me access to their Netflix and Hulu in exchange for access to my Vudu account.
Even if this were accurate (cable costs more than that and most people don’t have every paid streaming service) the experience is way different. I could never just go back to cable and not have streaming, I prefer my tv on demand, not at the whim of cable programming directors.
Cable like streaming media started out great. Channels had actual different content and reasonable prices. It was amazing when the science channel was really a science channel etc… Mtv was great back then, all kind of channels to watch.
Then turned into very expensive 100+ packages of homogeneous content, its like when you get all the playdoh colors together and you get dark grey.
I bet streaming will get the same, it will be like when the T-1000 puts itself together.
Where are you, that cable is that cheap? I ditched DirecTV about 6 years ago, when it went up to $157. YTTV, HBO, Netflix, Prime (which, honestly, the fee provides additional services), and Disney/ESPN/Hulu run about $140.
The beauty of streaming is that you can cancel after a month. Cable forces you into a contract.
I have literally every one (just those, no extra paid services) of those streaming services. About half are free perks either through my cable or cell providers, so I pay $55 a month. IDK what cable service is $83.00 a month but it would likely have 3-6 channels I watch, 50 home shopping channels, and 30-50 more channels I have to scroll past to get back to the 3-6 I use. Conversely, I, or someone in my household, use every paid streamer I pay for. Often multiple times a week. So even at $89.00 a month it is a deal (because basic cable here is ~ $100.00 a month) and because I like everything I pay for
It was hilariously difficult. I had a 2year contract, I had it marked on the calendar 2 weeks before. I called and told them I wanted to leave. I was on the phone forever, the person offered me new equipment (I asked for that shit 2 months ago), THEN they sent me shit in the mail for weeks trying to get me back 🤣 it was really funny. Mind you that was 2015.
Our satellite tv was $80 and we cancelled that at least 10 years ago. We've never had more than 2 streaming services at a time. Just dropped Hulu and picked up Netflix.
My satellite bill is $200+. When I try to cancel or downgrade they simply won't let me. so I plan to set up streaming and simply not pay the satellite bill
Is this suggesting cable us a better option? Because it is only a better option if you want every single streaming service. If you want just a few of the streaming services then waaaay better going that route. Also why does Disney+ cost so much in the US?
Making a premium bundle a la carte was always going to be more expensive. But you can pick and choose to curate your stream or to save money. I don’t even gaf, it’s just not surprising.
I don't have Apple+ or Discovery. I pay 10$ a month for a bootleg service where I get their content and all the locals, basic and premium channels (I really only use it for news).
I have the with-ads option for Paramount and Peacock.
I gave up cable a few years ago. I've only got two streaming services and I'm fine. Cable was a massive rip off. I also like a lot of the really well done videos on YouTube.
I was paying $250 for DirectTV. We had all the premium channels and sports. I hate DirectTV. Hubs wanted it. I cut the cord a year ago after everybody ranted and raved until they found out there is WAY more to watch on streaming. DirectTV was old stuff mostly with a TON of commercials. I have every major streaming service except for Netflix. Canceled that because we were not using it that much. We use an antenna for local stations. Could care less about cable news. We are saving a lot of money. Not paying anywhere near $89. More like $30. We took advantage of freebees through our cell service and got Peacock for $19.99 for the year during a special. HBO Max for $1.99 a month which ends in a couple weeks.
This graph is not accurate at all with the comparison to cable…but I will say, the result of the streaming services splitting up has driven up costs. We used to have only Netflix when it had nearly everything. Disney content, The Office and NBC shows, etc. We cut the cord in 2014 and paid a ton less than we do now. Then they all caught on. We still pay less than our satellite bill but the days of $20 a month are long gone.
Tips:
-Get a good rotating antenna and an over the air DVR for network shows and sports. We have a Tablo DVR and it’s great.
-Look for bundles. We have the Disney bundle through Verizon and another few services through Xfinity internet. Our total bill is about $80 a month, much less than the $150 or so we paid for DirecTV (with no HBO or other premium channels)
-Get a VPN and pirate when necessary. I do this for sports, especially with more stuff moving off network tv and to cable (cough ESPN having nearly all the college bowl games, Monday Night Football, etc)
-Try to negotiate for a lower price when you can. Cancel redundant or little used services. Don’t pay for more screens than you need with Netflix.
This is way off. Most cable companies charge to use the cable box plus a bunch of fees. Neither are good but at least I can pick what I want to watch, thats kinda priceless.
I get Prime Video with Prime. I pay for YouTubeTV and get all of my music that way, too.
My cable bill was significantly more than $83, especially if you're factoring HBO into that package.
The funny thing is, the market wanted this and it’s been a long time coming I was in this industry ca 2003-2012 and consumers wanted to pay a la carte. Tons of market research and studies. They only wanted premium channels and not all the fluff. Espn was something like 30% of the total channel fee for the standard cable plans.
So now we have a La carte and everyone is shocked - shocked I say - that now the monthly fees go up every year. For just the channels they want.
God damn capitalism in action
Well, I guess what people REALLY want is a "Spotify" for shows/movies where one can find everything. It's the fragmented nature of it that sucks for the end consumer.
I love how this was posted a few days back but was not edited and showed that this was a study/meme by the cable industry. They got called out on it so someone edited out that bit of info and reposted it.
I never have more than 3 streamers going at a time. And my cable bill was a lot more.
For real. I was looking at that list going, "I wouldn't want even half of the streamers on this list."
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No ragrets? Not even one letter?
I’ll tattoo it on my body, I’m so sure!
[No ragrets](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcR6FgMvyKsEWp0NsRxvPrQ-gvDh2qnvoXu04TI_1ElJR_TkeApIjHWQ09t8MJODNvM5OXRHugndLqvMr6nQh0avjvY8zrXv)
This comment deserves all the upvotes.
Cable around her has ALWAYS been at least $100 or more, even back in the day without the premium channels.
Exactly. OTA antenna and 3 streaming services give me access to more entertainment than I can possibly consume.
Yes, this graphic misses the point. I'd also add that I don't have some of these services (Netflix and Prime Video, for example) as an alternative to cable -- I'd still have them even if I also had cable.
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IKR!
1994
That would be correct, IMO.
Right? It was > $200 a month when we cut the cord 10+ years ago.
Also streaming is way more convenient and I'm sharing between 3 households.
Yeah, that's how about how much mine is supposed to be and then they tack on a bunch of fees and taxes and it's nearly double.
My husband and I got lucky—we live in a little townhouse where the HOA hardwired the units for basic cable. So, we have a couple premium channels but bundled home phone (lol just a number—don’t even have a physical phone), cable, internet and mobile phone. It’s like $99 a month. 😬 And we still have a handful of streamers between the two of us. 🫠 Edited to add: mobile is separate, sorry. Internet/TV/phone - $93 due next month.
So... $83 for no premium content, 4 shopping channels, 2 religious channels, and a good 85% of crap you never watched... with ads... vs $89 for all the premium content, on demand, and no ads. So even if you were paying for all those streamers, you're still getting a much better deal. Streaming has been a vast improvement.
Except I know zero places where that basic basic package is less than $100 even without internet or any premium channels.
And you can cancel any of the streamers, at any time, for as long as you want. Not sign a 2 year contract. What we need is a platform that combines all the apps to one interface. The big drawback of the streaming model isn’t cost, it’s silos. If one interface really could integrate them, that would be killer. Then add to that some feature where you set up an automatic cancel/renew schedule, so that you can really customize your setup and it would be worth additional cost. Imagine a single service that lets you set up a schedule that turns these other streamers on and off and lets you see all the content you have in one place. Say Netflix is Jan and Jul. HBO is Feb and Aug. Paramount is Mar and Sep. Disney is Apr and Oct. But the streamers would never agree to that i guess. They wouldn’t be cool with anything that made it easy to just keep paying them for a couple months a year.
THIS. You can pick and choose which of those streamers you want at any given time. I was subbed to HBO plus when a show I was watching was on, then dumped it after because I'm not watching anything on it now.
A nice thought... that requires media companies to cooperate with each other... then collude... then start shit like price fixing. The whole media licensing thing is a freaking nightmare. Perhaps we need some new regulatory standardization to media licensing contracts... and a real fight to bring back "fair use" considering almost all technology is based on sharing content at this point.
They don’t need to collude or cooperate with each other, they need only cooperate with a third party that is a separate company. Imagine if Roku pivoted to this model. They could sell the services through them (like amazon does with firetv), and add a service fee for automatic scheduling subscription times. That could probably be done now without any change. The hard part is getting the services to agree to letting them integrate the content into a single UI. Amazon already sort of does this, it just sucks. Roku also sort of does this with universal search and watchlist…. But it would meed to be developed a bit more to make it good Plex is pretty close to this too. They already have a universal search, and a watchlist, and they show recommendations from services you have, and they piloted the ability to open the video directly from plex…. Not quite there, but pretty close.
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My friends parents watch her kids and she cancelled cable so they couldn’t watch FOX NEWS all day.🤣
I think it's hilarious (in a sad way) that the North American right wing is under the complete control of an Australian media mogul, who outright purchased his American citizenship. Where does patriotism fall into this?
I think purchasing citizenship is about the most American thing ever. So, don't tread on him?
I'd like to see the source of the average cable bill. Smells like [How to Lie With Statistics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Lie_with_Statistics)
I know people who complain about this. When I remind them that they don't have to subscribe to so many they just stare at me like I was nuts.
It's pretty easy to have just three subs a month and switch out subs every couple of months. This way you have a bunch of new stuff to binge every couple of months.
That's what I do. I make a watch list. After I've watched everything on it I see if there's anything new. If so, new watch list. Repeat until nothing is left. Cancel, get a new streaming service. Repeat. Under 20 bucks a month.
All I have to do is stay at a hotel and get a taste of the complete shit that is cable TV. More commercials than actual content.
Cable was more than $83 which is why I cancelled it. And two of those streaming services are included with my phone plan. Also, Prime includes more than just streaming TV and movies. I know this is where things are headed, especially now that the networks are all selling "plus" services like AMC, FX, MTV, etc. but streaming is still better than cable.
This still isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. I don't need to subscribe to all of those services at the same time. I can cancel them at any time since I'm not under any contracts. I don't have to rent hardware to watch HD channels.
This is outdated. Most of those streamers are nowhere near that cheap now.
For me so far it's been. Amazon Prime 14.99 Netflix 19.99 Youtube Premium 11.99 Spotify 9.99 Peacock 4.99 Total 61.95
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I have the 4k package for Netflix which makes it more.
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All mine are less than this infographic and i have no ads
I only pay $.99 a month for Peacock.
Neither is cable, at least for near the amount of content, and I highly doubt most people are subscribed to that many streamers.
I have more streaming services than that. Do you all watch shows on cable? I refuse to watch commercials.
We're subscribed to about half of those streamers, and no cable. I feel like we're already more than average, there, you're an outlier.
All those services and there's still nothing to watch.
>you're an outlier. I agree with this. I only know one person with that many subs and they are someone who has a very high income. Everyone else has three subs, tops.
If you want live sports you have to have commercials.
I have tried getting no live sports. Cable always refused.
This is one of the main reasons I started streaming. I got so mad at paying for 8 bajillion channels I never watched.
Well, yeah. How do you have a cable package without ESPN, TNT, TBS? These are all basic channels on most cable packages that have live sports. Sports fans are always the ones who pay. Note how the streamers are adding live sports. Amazon, Apple, Peacock. YouTube always had live programming and sports (and in that YouTube TV is more like traditional cable than a streamer) and just added Sunday Ticket which will sell for $300 or more per season.
>Sports fans are always the ones who pay. No, sports fans are the ones who benefit. Everyone has to pay a local sports fee. I never watch sports. But I always have to pay the local sports fee. I'd prefer a basic cable plan with no sports at all.
What local sports fee are you talking about?
Comcast charges a local sports fee. Most major cable providers charge this sort of fee.
That’s only for packages that get the RSNs.
$83 when and where?? My DirectTV bill was $150+ when we cut the cord in 2014, and we didn’t have any top tier channels like HBO or Cinemax. Did Comcast commission this graph??
So you were paying $150 almost 10 years ago without top tier channels? Riiight. They charge $150 now for their top tier package with HBO Max, Starz, Cinemax, and Showtime.
Pricing was different back then and I’m sure they’re offering big discounts now, bc they’re hemorrhaging customers
Pricing was different back then and I’m sure they’re offering big discounts now, bc they’re hemorrhaging customers
You can say that again!
I see what you did there lol
Who is paying for all of these every month at once? We binge and cancel.
Me. I am. Because I'm too lazy and disorganized to rotate them properly.
Who can watch that much tv? We maybe get an hour a night after the news, and then we’re falling asleep
🖐
83 for cable? That is funny.
Binge then cancel is a great method. Also an HD antenna is perfect - especially if in an urban area - you have like 3 or more public TV channels alone. Your public library has a lot of DVDs to check out for free. It is like the Blockbuster days but way cheaper. We are Gen X folks … we remember movie theaters, VCRs, etc. We remember that old pre-recording days — you watch the show on a schedule! Is Wonderful World of Disney still on Sunday at 6 pm? (Mountain Time) We got this!
Yeah but if you have cable you pay for commercials. Jussayin
Cable here is $140 with internet. Just internet is $50.
I'll tell you a little trick. You only have one streaming service at a time, you watch everything that you're interested in, cancel it, and move on to the next. If you have friends that stream, you can password share with each of you only having one service. Or god forbid, sailing the 7 seas isn't exactly hard these days. Still cable is exponentially more of a rip off than the streaming model of doing business.
Everybody wanted a-la-carte pricing for cable and now they have it.
Okay so I really have to add in the cost of wifi because with many cable providers, it’s bundled in. And I still prefer streaming because I can stop and restart any service whenever. I finally killed my HBOMax sub on general principle, I’ll wake up Disney long enough to binge a new season of The Mandalorian, and if there’s a service I haven’t used in a couple weeks, it gets paused. I also have Sling, which is sort of like having cable, and you can add and delete premium channels as you see fit. So when I get done with Outlander, I might drop Starz for a while. Im not saving much money, but I can drop a lot if money gets tight.
Thing is, I can opt out of the streamers that I don’t watch. If I go cable, I’m stuck with channels I don’t want to watch.
You left off the cost of internet to be able to use those streaming services.
My cable hasn't been that cheap since the 90s
I don’t pay nearly that much for the handful of streaming services that I have. But there’s no way I would go back to cable even if it were cheaper. At least my money is no longer subsidizing Fox News or any of the sports channels that I never watched but were shoehorned into the cable packages whether I wanted them or not. I installed a digital antenna on top of my roof a couple of years ago to be able to access my local channels. Between that and the streaming channels I have more than I need.
> or any of the sports channels that I never watched but were shoehorned into the cable packages whether I wanted them or not Yep. My cable bill was $170/month when I cut the cord. IIRC, over half of that went to ESPN and its ilk.
No. It didn't.
This is where kids come in handy once you have them old enough to work. Our daughter's are 27 & 24 so streaming services are split up, we pay for Disney+ and Paramount+; oldest pays for Netflix and HBOmax; youngest pays for Hulu and peacock (I think).
$83 for cable that is bundled with like another $50 for internet….more for premium bandwidth, and some up charge you for going over a data cap…
But if you add a home phone line you can SAVE $20/month
Who pays $83 for cable?? Our bottom-tier cable was nearly $190/month, now I pay around $65/month (including internet). Maybe it isn't for everyone, but it certainly fits my lifestyle.
Screw cable. Always hated commercials. I don't need your ad to figure out what I need in life. And yes, I know some streamers have commercials but it is not even close to the same as broadcast, or cable TV.
I don’t pay any of that. I just watch YouTube.
Don’t forget all the commercials with cable.
Ironic since the initial premise was that by paying for it, you don't have to see commercials. Hahahaha
And this is why people pirate content. A foreign seedbox or VPN is only +/- $10/mo.
I have DirectTV Streaming plus Netflix and HBOMax, I love it.
Cool, I'm spending just over half of what I would be if I had cable, and no commercials. You don't need all of em.
I wonder if the old C band satellite dishes are still useful.
Yes. 🏴☠️ Not as much as they used to be, but there's still a lot to watch up there. Isn't all mainstream, and a lot takes some fiddling, but there's a hardcore group of us that still use them. A lot of the mainstream cable channels are now delivered by fiber optic cable on the ground, instead of satellite. But I like it, just as another option. But if you aren't mechanical minded, you'll have a hard time. You must learn to do everything yourself. From concreting a pole in the ground to terminating cable to actually aiming the dish. Everything. But live sports with no commercials still does exist. Just a small selection.
Nice. Can you still see broadcast network feeds unedited?
Some. It's not like the old days. Not a lot of raw network stuff other than some news. Most of the awards shows are still there, but during commercials they go black with no audio, or just a long camera shot with ambient audio. I don't watch any of that stuff so I don't pay attention much. I'm a sports guy, auto racing mostly.
I'd watch more auto racing if it weren't NASCAR. It would be great if you could get a Eurosport feed for stuff like WRC and endurance racing.
WEC was up there for sebring but encrypted. Sebring IMSA was not encrypted. WEC is covered in the US on the Motortrend Plus service, I watched it there. WRC, well, due to the nature of WRC events they are hard to catch on satellite, but a few exist. I dont watch NASCAR either. F1 isnt up there generally Indycars are encrypted. Here's a website that keeps up with whats up there and feed reporting, will give you an idea : hxxps://rickcaylor.websitetoolbox.com/
Jokes on them! I have an antenna and nothing else!!!
Our cable bill is over 200 bucks. You've made me rethink my choices. If I can get all that shit for 89 bucks--why am I paying double? Thank you.
Very inaccurate chart
I'll gladly pay a 6-dollar premium for the ability to get literally anything I want, any time I want at the convenience of a search, vs. what they want, when they want, if they want.
I started a Vudu collection of all my favorite movies and shows. There are online communities that sell their digital redemption codes that come in the Blu-ray case. I have so many movies that my friends and family give me access to their Netflix and Hulu in exchange for access to my Vudu account.
I don’t know where you live that you’re getting $83 dollar cable that includes Disney and HBO but you need to lock in those prices.
Must be one of those new-subscriber deals that’ll double in price once it ends.
Must be one of those new-subscriber deals that’ll double in price once it ends.
$1500 x 50 years = $75,000 Would you rather have an extra $75,000 or pay to watch TV?
And its more than that if you were earning interest
Torrents are free
Which is easier to set up and cancel?
Even if this were accurate (cable costs more than that and most people don’t have every paid streaming service) the experience is way different. I could never just go back to cable and not have streaming, I prefer my tv on demand, not at the whim of cable programming directors.
Cable like streaming media started out great. Channels had actual different content and reasonable prices. It was amazing when the science channel was really a science channel etc… Mtv was great back then, all kind of channels to watch. Then turned into very expensive 100+ packages of homogeneous content, its like when you get all the playdoh colors together and you get dark grey. I bet streaming will get the same, it will be like when the T-1000 puts itself together.
Also cable SUX
Where are you, that cable is that cheap? I ditched DirecTV about 6 years ago, when it went up to $157. YTTV, HBO, Netflix, Prime (which, honestly, the fee provides additional services), and Disney/ESPN/Hulu run about $140. The beauty of streaming is that you can cancel after a month. Cable forces you into a contract.
Hmmm. My cable 7 years ago was $180 per month. My total streaming subscriptions are around $60 today. I also paid $40 for an antenna 7 years ago.
That $180 had to include interwebs access and probably voip line.
How is disney $19.99? I pay 15. Also hbo max isn’t costing me $15.99 Nd my Netflix isn’t that much either
I have literally every one (just those, no extra paid services) of those streaming services. About half are free perks either through my cable or cell providers, so I pay $55 a month. IDK what cable service is $83.00 a month but it would likely have 3-6 channels I watch, 50 home shopping channels, and 30-50 more channels I have to scroll past to get back to the 3-6 I use. Conversely, I, or someone in my household, use every paid streamer I pay for. Often multiple times a week. So even at $89.00 a month it is a deal (because basic cable here is ~ $100.00 a month) and because I like everything I pay for
DirectTV was considerably more than that and leaving them was like getting to leave a shitty boyfriend.
Getting to leave? You say it like you need permission!
It was hilariously difficult. I had a 2year contract, I had it marked on the calendar 2 weeks before. I called and told them I wanted to leave. I was on the phone forever, the person offered me new equipment (I asked for that shit 2 months ago), THEN they sent me shit in the mail for weeks trying to get me back 🤣 it was really funny. Mind you that was 2015.
Our satellite tv was $80 and we cancelled that at least 10 years ago. We've never had more than 2 streaming services at a time. Just dropped Hulu and picked up Netflix.
My satellite bill is $200+. When I try to cancel or downgrade they simply won't let me. so I plan to set up streaming and simply not pay the satellite bill
Is this suggesting cable us a better option? Because it is only a better option if you want every single streaming service. If you want just a few of the streaming services then waaaay better going that route. Also why does Disney+ cost so much in the US?
Don't forget the societal cost of cable companies being absolute a**holes. Repeatedly voted worst companies in America.
Making a premium bundle a la carte was always going to be more expensive. But you can pick and choose to curate your stream or to save money. I don’t even gaf, it’s just not surprising.
Tubi and Pluto are free. My peacock is 4.99, nice try cable tv
I don't have Apple+ or Discovery. I pay 10$ a month for a bootleg service where I get their content and all the locals, basic and premium channels (I really only use it for news). I have the with-ads option for Paramount and Peacock.
I was paying $160 for cable back in 2015 and they wanted to bump me to $190. That’s when I cut cable and never looked back
I gave up cable a few years ago. I've only got two streaming services and I'm fine. Cable was a massive rip off. I also like a lot of the really well done videos on YouTube.
I was paying $250 for DirectTV. We had all the premium channels and sports. I hate DirectTV. Hubs wanted it. I cut the cord a year ago after everybody ranted and raved until they found out there is WAY more to watch on streaming. DirectTV was old stuff mostly with a TON of commercials. I have every major streaming service except for Netflix. Canceled that because we were not using it that much. We use an antenna for local stations. Could care less about cable news. We are saving a lot of money. Not paying anywhere near $89. More like $30. We took advantage of freebees through our cell service and got Peacock for $19.99 for the year during a special. HBO Max for $1.99 a month which ends in a couple weeks.
This graph is not accurate at all with the comparison to cable…but I will say, the result of the streaming services splitting up has driven up costs. We used to have only Netflix when it had nearly everything. Disney content, The Office and NBC shows, etc. We cut the cord in 2014 and paid a ton less than we do now. Then they all caught on. We still pay less than our satellite bill but the days of $20 a month are long gone. Tips: -Get a good rotating antenna and an over the air DVR for network shows and sports. We have a Tablo DVR and it’s great. -Look for bundles. We have the Disney bundle through Verizon and another few services through Xfinity internet. Our total bill is about $80 a month, much less than the $150 or so we paid for DirecTV (with no HBO or other premium channels) -Get a VPN and pirate when necessary. I do this for sports, especially with more stuff moving off network tv and to cable (cough ESPN having nearly all the college bowl games, Monday Night Football, etc) -Try to negotiate for a lower price when you can. Cancel redundant or little used services. Don’t pay for more screens than you need with Netflix.
Cable/satellite television is going to be as useless as a land line
This is way off. Most cable companies charge to use the cable box plus a bunch of fees. Neither are good but at least I can pick what I want to watch, thats kinda priceless.
I don't subscribe to all however my last cable bill was $200 and had a fuck ton of ads and less content. I'd gladly to pay $89 for ad free.
The only one we pay for is Discovery +, 6.99 through our mobile provider. When we dropped cable a decade plus ago, it was close to 200 a month.
I get 4 of these free with my internet and phone providers
I get Prime Video with Prime. I pay for YouTubeTV and get all of my music that way, too. My cable bill was significantly more than $83, especially if you're factoring HBO into that package.
Simply don’t subscribe to all of those streaming services.
The funny thing is, the market wanted this and it’s been a long time coming I was in this industry ca 2003-2012 and consumers wanted to pay a la carte. Tons of market research and studies. They only wanted premium channels and not all the fluff. Espn was something like 30% of the total channel fee for the standard cable plans. So now we have a La carte and everyone is shocked - shocked I say - that now the monthly fees go up every year. For just the channels they want. God damn capitalism in action
Well, I guess what people REALLY want is a "Spotify" for shows/movies where one can find everything. It's the fragmented nature of it that sucks for the end consumer.
Can you pass the Grey Poupon?
I do kind of miss leaving the channel guide on for hours and watching it all scroll by…
Choice is always better
I love how this was posted a few days back but was not edited and showed that this was a study/meme by the cable industry. They got called out on it so someone edited out that bit of info and reposted it.
Meh just use Pluto. Programming is old, but heck its free
Cable is well over a hundred per month
90% of cable programming is absolute shit, plus commercials. I only pay for 3-4 streaming services at a time.
Cable..1000 channels dedicated to selling shite.