One in eight to cut cable & satellite TV in 2010

[Woochifer]

Resurrecting the discussion with a few new factoids.

Attitudinal surveys like the one cited in the original article are notoriously unreliable when it comes to predicting actual behavior, because they usually overestimate what will actually happen. Surveys like this ignore the simple inertia factor. For years, cable companies have ranked near the bottom of all industries in terms of consumer satisfaction, yet they continue to maintain a high customer retention rate.

This is because, aside from competition from fiber and satellite providers, consumers do not have a lot of choices and are not going to give up their programming. While internet options might address some of the complaints about pay TV providers, they don't address all of them. So, I don't buy the typical tech press meme that consumers will cut their cables because of internet TV options.

Cable TV has been losing subscribers for about a decade, but the subscriber gains from satellite and fiber have made up for it. So, the overall curve for pay TV services has continued to grow.

I haven't looked up what's happening with the major cable providers, but I know that Directv in the most recent quarter had net revenue growth per subscriber. Some of it came from service price increases, but a lot of it also came from subscribers adding stuff like HD and DVR services. That actual behavior seems to run contrary to what the survey is predicting.

I wonder where they get 90%? When they were first planning to turn off the analog stations I saw a quote of only 80% subscribing to pay viewing.

I think that 90% figure refers to TV households and it's just sloppy reporting in the original article. Roughly 10% of U.S. households don't have a TV, and that figure has been consistent for many years. Pay TV penetration is about as high as it will go right now. Any further increases will just come from population increases.

[pixelthis]

CABLE has been losing ground because of the bad service and high school dropouts
working there.
I recently went through the hassle of upgrading my cable box, something that should have
been troublefree, but I got a refurb that lasted all of FIVE minutes.
After being handed off to three different people on the phone, none of which knew what an HDMI connector was(thats what went out) I just took the box back, told them
that I WASNT GOING ANYWHERE without a new one.
Well, the new ones nice, with a lot more storage, but everytime I power up the system
it goes back to 720p, and I have to change it back.
A bother, but not compared to dealing with the friggin CABLE company.
They have been used to no competition for too long.
They are probably going to DIE a well deserved death at the hands of the free enterprize system.
BYE.

[E-Stat]

CABLE has been losing ground because of the bad service and high school dropouts

Perhaps, but my local service has been very good. My neighbor had Dish and loses signal during storms - I have no such issues and run far more sets without having to pay for dedicated boxes. Just last week, the provider called me to say that one box was no longer talking to them so THEY initiated a service call. Indeed the box was dying and the guy replaced it on the spot. Along with replacing a cable that was restricting access in the office to Speedvision. They are also my broadband provider where I get 10-12 Mbit download throughput. No complaints here.

rw

[Smokey]

Just last week, the provider called me to say that one box was no longer talking to them so THEY initiated a service call. Indeed the box was dying and the guy replaced it on the spot.

Cable company just wanted to make sure your cable box was working, so there would be no delay on charges

[Mr Peabody]

WHA? Pix is miffed at his cable company? Has hell indeed now frozen? I thought your cable company set the standard for the world according to your past posts. Maybe they hired from Charters employee pool and your people went to who E-stat uses.

Seriously though that's impressive they noticed the bad box and actually monitor them. Most cable companies have employees who act like they never heard of a cable box, let alone help service one. The cable companies are like this perpetual company that no one runs, it's just there, some how the phone people get paid unless they are mindless clones. I've tried to elevate issues or contact some one higher up and they are ghosts. If the cable companies didn't have a fixed customer base they would have gone under years ago. No company can have such a high rate of screw ups and bad customer service and remain open.

[E-Stat]

Cable company just wanted to make sure your cable box was working, so there would be no delay on charges

In my case, they simply draft my VISA card. The box was working from my perspective.

rw

[Mr Peabody]

There is no way in the world any cable or satelite company would be trusted with my credit card. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Charter keeps a bad BBB rating and Dishnet has billing only they can understand or at least pretend to.

[E-Stat]

There is no way in the world any cable or satelite company would be trusted with my credit card.

As opposed to paying how else? Remember the movie "Catch Me If You Can"? The real guy who was the basis of that story disagrees with you. He was on NPR a while back and pointed out that using a credit card was the smartest and safest way to buy anything (so long as you don't carry a balance which I never do). Checks are too easy to forge and you have very limited protection. If I ever had trouble, I would just - not pay the bill! And I get to use the bank's money for a month and they pay me to do that with a 1% rebate on all my purchases.

As for something I'll never do is give PayPal my bank account number. They can seize money directly from your account. If they do so by mistake, they might have to eventually return it, but meanwhile you are out your money. Such can never happen with a credit card. Also, my two credit cards are directly linked through Quicken, so I get a daily download of charges to match with my receipts. On the two occasions I've had incorrect billings on my accounts in the past fifteen years, I contacted the company and the charges were reversed before I had to deduct them from my payment and write a letter explaining why.

rw

[pixelthis]

WHA? Pix is miffed at his cable company? Has hell indeed now frozen? I thought your cable company set the standard for the world according to your past posts. Maybe they hired from Charters employee pool and your people went to who E-stat uses.

Sadly that is the standard.
As the service gets more and more complicated, things screw up more and more.
The phone service addition was when things really started going south, think they overreached themselves.
I have just touched the surface, the stories you wouldnt beleive.

[Mr Peabody]

E-stat, do you have control over paying the bill or do they debit your card automatically? If they debit your card then they can charge a screwed up bill if they want. I'd rather have control over my flow of money. In other words I will pay a bill if I agree it's correct. If they debit the card automatically it takes your say out of it. I know it's possible to dispute it but I'd rather not have additional complexity to an already bad situation. We do the online bill pay. That's probably more dangerous than even a check

Pix, sadly, I would believe, the stories.

[E-Stat]

E-stat, do you have control over paying the bill or do they debit your card automatically?

They first send the bill, then draft the account about five days later.

If they debit your card then they can charge a screwed up bill if they want.

And, if that should ever happen, then my simple response would be to ----- NOT PAY IT or pay the correct amount and explain their error. Which is what I would have to do if I paid by check or any other means. Since my configuration hasn't changed in four years, the amount has remained constant other than a couple of minor rate increases. They would have a challenge trying to explain why they might bill me for services or equipment that I do not have.

In other words I will pay a bill if I agree it's correct.

Obviously. Just because an entry is on my credit card bill, that doesn't mean I am going to pay it. I get the time to evaluate the charge and determine the course of action.

If they debit the card automatically it takes your say out of it.

That statement is not supported by fact.

We do the online bill pay.

That is what I do for companies that don't accept credit cards. I like getting paid cash or getting special perks by my credit card provider for all my purchases and paying one vendor instead of numerous. Call me a motivated lazy person. While my current job doesn't involve as much travel, I used to run around $50k per year through my American Express account. No troubles whatsoever and I got Medallion flight status, frequent first class upgrades and free flights to Europe. It also bumped my FICO score to just under 800.

rw