GreenTuna is often the inspiration for my infrequent posts on topics other than my new cat, Honey; her entry today, Pass The Clicker, on her Cable TV habits is a case in point.
This month my Cable TV bill will go up about 8% and I'm doing a long, slow irrational fume about it. Unlike my Green friend, I am not a channel surfer; at best I'm a TV Guide surfer. I do a quick scan of listings paying particular attention to channels I tend to watch a lot: the 3 major networks, TLC and Bravo, and Fox News. After that, I ask GreenTuna, and others in HTChat, "What's on tonight?" Thank you channel scanners for doing the advance work and always being ahead of the curve.
Why do I fume at the Cable company? Well, I don't want to pay network welfare for the myriads of channels of no interest. I want to pay for the channels I do watch, or at least choose a limited roster of channels for a prorated price. In this day and age why do we have to choose from a rediculously limited and shrewdly-crafted two-tier plus premium/PPV choice? Perhaps that will come one day with digital, or greater cable competition. In the meantime, "What's on tonight?"
3 comments:
Personally, I would like to see a "cafeteria plan" for TV/Cable. I also don't need a gazillion channels. There are a select few channels I was consistently, and there are a smaller number I tune in to occasionally, but there are a HUGE number of channels I never, ever watch. Why do I have to pay for the privilege of having those? Grrrrrrrr... And DirecTV is so much cheaper than cable (at least for me it is). That's the only thing that has shut me up about this very topic for the last 3-months.
You bring up a good point. There should be an "a la carte" cable plan where you can pick up to a certain number of channels, and then pay accordingly. Right now we pay over $100/mo. for digital cable (I think our cable modem is included in that, but still) and I probably don't watch any of the additional channels we get on digital, except for HBO. And you can't have HBO without digital.
Cable is a dirty self regulating business. There have been laws passed (I think in 1996?) that were supposed to 'level the playing field'... what a joke. Rates have risen DRAMATICALLY since that time. Unless there are sweeping changes brought about by acts of legislation (SERIOUS acts of legislation , let me rephrase that) the $ is going to be more like $$$$....and the consumer loses. :-( Makes you wanna read a book or something <joke> ...or spend some time with Honey! ;-)
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