About cable and other TV services

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

So, we all know RCN has turned off their analog signal. (They got my neighborhood today.) I phoned up RCN and asked them to disconnect my service. I thought I might share some information on our alternatives.


I was paying about $65/month for standard cable from RCN. I don't remember what their "basic" cable price was.

Comcast doesn't seem to want to divulge their pricing on their web site. They offer a promotional price for roughly equivalent service to what I had (except with box) for about $40/month, but it says that's only for 6 months and then you get charged their regular price, whatever that is. Their lowest package starts at a promotional price of about $30/month, and again, they don't divulge what you'll be paying after 6 months. A comcast guy just stopped by my house to offer me a special of about $90/month for cable, phone, and internet, with no contract. I'm guessing that's also only for 6 months, I forgot to ask.

Dish Network offers roughly equivalent service for about $33/month. Their cheapest package starts at about $20/month. If I understand correctly, with them you don't have to buy the equipment (dish and box) and if you get the basic equipment they don't charge extra for it. They usually have some kind of promotional deal about installation charges.

DirecTV has packages from about $30/month up, but like Comcast, those are promotional prices - after 12 months you'll be paying more. (But hey, 12 months beats 6 months, and I'm sure most providers will raise their prices in a year anyway.) DirecTV requires you to own your own equipment, but they'll apparently give you some equipment for free, depending on what you want.

I'm not going to get any of these right now. I'm going to take the money I was spending on cable and use it for legal downloads of TV shows. You can purchase downloads of popular shows from iTunes and Amazon Unbox, as well as getting free shows for streaming viewing on Hulu, Joost, and I understand a few shows are now being put on Youtube too. If you, like me, only watched a few shows anyway, these alternatives may actually get you what you want for less money. I'm going to give it a try, anyway.

Comments

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

doesn't seem to want to divulge their pricing on their web site

Is that legal?

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, due to local regulations, taxes and different network capabilities (a lot of cable companies buy existing networks that have..limitations and need to be upgraded) prices can't be quoted flat out. I know this was the case when I worked for RCN, they'd put their general price with fine print (available in these states, etc etc etc) but in many places, pricing was different.

On the comcast website they require that you put in your address to find out pricing and availability, which makes sense with the above theory.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

Or, alternatively, you could just stick with RCN.

Has Comcast switched from analog to digital yet? I just don't want to hear someone singing the same song in a different key three weeks from now (or whenever).

[truered.livejournal.com]

If they haven't, they will soon, and you get to pay their hefty start-up fees to boot.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

It's not gauenteed that switching to digitial requires a box. My understanding is that RCN has decided abandon their boxless customers. There's no indication that comcast will do the same...

however, we are talking about comcast here.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

i'd also add to the list of alternatives to cable: netflix, they have tons of TV shows and and can keep a household full of watchable media for anywhere from $5-$18 .

and also, your local library is free and has lots of movies and tv shows. if a show isn't available at your library, just ask your librarian if you can get it on loan from another library. cost: $0

cable is a ripoff no matter what the price. its a million channels of crap with a few good things sprinkled in. it's time that cable providers realize that if people can't watch what they want, they aren't going to be so eager to shell out money for something they aren't that into (in a recession, even!).

[ron_newman]

But if you are a fan of local sports teams, living without cable is a challenge. I remember when at least half of Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics games were on local broadcast stations. Now they're almost all on NESN or Fox Comcast Sports Network.

This year, even the baseball playoffs were only on cable (TBS). Both the ALDS and ALCS.

[inahandbasket]

Yeah... RCN may have fumbled this whole thing but they're still better than the other games in town if you want broadband and basic cable.

[elizethesleaze.livejournal.com]

this! i cant get rcn cause im over the medford line, and my 6-month price for comcast cable and internet (70/month) is what i was paying permanently with rcn before... itll be almost 100/month after my 6 months is up, ill probably be switching.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

I don't own a TV and am therefore better. :)

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

You suck at life.

[0bsessions.livejournal.com]

For the record:

I have a relatively basic internet and cable TV package with Comcast. We have two digital boxes for getting basic cable (TNT, Comedy Central, NESN, all that) in HD. I do not have any movie channels or digital channels (Such as FUSE or my much coveted Nicktoons TV).

Our total monthly bill is a whopping $142. This is on top of shitty customer service, terribly spotty service and a complete apathy toward their customer base.

If you have ANY option outside of Comcast, it should be taken. I would probably sooner give my money to Bob Barr than Comcast if he offered me broadband internet and a proper sports channel. I say this as someone so forgiving of corporations than I am often playing devil's advocate for Bank of America/Verizon/Wal-Mart in conversation. Comcast makes Wal-Mart look like a fucking local fifties corner drug store.

I only wish RCN were an option in my neighborhood. Then I could at least choose who's raping me in the ass for internet and Red Sox games.

[ron_newman]

If you're getting HD channels, doesn't that mean you're getting digital channels? I don't think analog HD exists.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I would cross Comcast off the list. We're talking about a company that has epically vile customer service (just look up the tag "comcast" on the Consumerist), has been caught violating federal computer crime laws, and has engaged in all sorts of questionable behavior. A year or so back, when net neutrality hearings came to Boston, they paid college students to pack the room so they could dominate the hearing and block out anybody who disagreed with their opinion.

I'm sure RCN has its faults, but I doubt they're worse than Comcast.

Introductory Rates Forever!

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about the intro rates vs regular rates. The regular rates are easy to get discounted. I've personally been on RCN's "Introductory Rates" for about two years now. They will extend the introductory rate over and over again if you just call them.

When I first signed up, my intro rate was only for 6 months. I dropped a note in my Google calendar 5 months from my signup date. I called RCN and told them Comcast had some great deals and that I was considering switching. They offered to price match Comcast or keep my intro rate. I locked in the rate for another year, stuck another message in my Google calendar, and called them back at the end of that time. Same process, same great intro rate. I'll probably be calling them every 6 months or so to keep my rates low forever.

RCN discount on cancelation

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, when I called to cancel RCN, they offered me a permanent $15 reduction to my bill after I said price was a factor. I didn't take it though, satellite is still about $30 cheaper than what I was paying for RCN.

It also occurred to me that if they are happy to have me as a customer with a permanent $15 reduction to my bill, that means they've been overcharging me by $15/month and they know it.

[0bsessions.livejournal.com]

The basic cable HD channels are transmitted digitally, yes. There's separate tiers of basic cable and "digital cable." Basically, I get channels 1-80, approximately, and then whatever's available of those in HD (Which is channels 800-870ish). The separate digital channels are the ones between like 100 and 300.

So basically, I get around 75 channels and then another forty of those in High Definition. I could save about eight bucks a month by switching to standard def boxes and that's about the lowest I can get if I want to watch Red Sox games. Honestly, it just pisses me off because it's really just baseball that keeps me over the barrel on this. Outside of Sox games, all I watch on TV in any routine manner are Heroes and Lost, both of which could be readily picked up with a quality HD antenna.

(For some reason this posted at the bottom of the thread instead of as a reply to Ron as I clicked)

(Also, I fucking hate this prove you are a person BS. It seems less like an anti-spam filter and more like a brain teaser for people who have 20/10 vision)

[0bsessions.livejournal.com]

Okay, twice now I've replied to this under Ron's response and twice now it's shown up at the bottom of the thread instead. Fuck it, just pretend I'm talking to Ron two posts up.

February is going to be harsh

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

What all these recent threads are demonstrating to me is that these wonks on TV saying "you must have been living under a rock not to know what's coming and what to do ... heh heh heh, it's only the over 80 set that will be confused ... heh heh" are WRONG.

Lots of people (even savvy denizens of DSLJ) are unclear on what is going to happen. These random shut-downs and switch-overs aren't helping things. I predict a shit storm in February. What do I win?

Re: February is going to be harsh

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Unsecured mortgage debt.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

You could pay more monthly for inferior service from comcast (or potentially superior service from dish/directv), or you could pay something like $100 onetime to get a digital converter box (there are federally subsidized coupons available by the way)

I am extremely happy with RCN, I only wish they had the same quality of on-demand as Comcast, but given the cheaper price I can subsidize my netflix subsciption with that, and am a happy camper.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

RCN will give you the digital converter free of charge. An additional box will cost you a whopping $2.95 a month. These are cable-modem sized boxes. Not full on set top boxes.

Basic Cable vs Expanded Basic - Why Pay More?

[derekp.livejournal.com]

What folks are often referring to as "Basic Cable" is not actually basic cable, but rather "Expanded Basic". Basic cable is available in Somerville from Comcast for $15.99, give or take $1 (It's been a few months since I had it).

Basic Cable includes all of the local stations + cable access stations. Basically anything you could possibly get with rabbit ears plus the stations that come as part or the cable company's deal with the city (15 and 16, I think, on Comcast). It does NOT come with NESN, ESPN, TNT, Comedy Central, etc. Those are on Expanded Basic. With Comcast, this is still analog, so no box rental is necessary. As far as I know, Comcast has no intention to go all digital anytime soon. If you have an HDTV with a built in tuner, you will be able to get all the local HD's as well (on channels 4.1, 5.1, etc).

Not a bad deal for $15.99, surely. What's even better is that given that it's an analog signal, they need to come out and install a trap at the pole to block the expanded basic signal. In every Somerville house I've lived in, they have never installed this trap. Meaning for $15.99 I actually got expanded basic service. I figure I saved a solid $30/month + for 5 years. I'm not sure, but perhaps they're unable to install the filter if you're also getting a cable modem? That's the only way I can explain it. That or every installer I have ever had just felt like being a nice guy. They always flip through the channels when they're done, so it's obvious I have the expanded channels...

Re: Basic Cable vs Expanded Basic - Why Pay More?

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

This was the case in a number of places I lived in Cambridge as well.

[moireach.livejournal.com]

RCN is no longer offering a basic cable price (the super pared-down broadcast and local channels). My roommate and I tried to switch down to it a month or two ago and it turns out it's not even an option anymore. Really sucky when the cheapest choice through RCN is that $65 or whatever.

Re: February is going to be harsh

[ron_newman]

Hmm, I wonder if the contract with the city of Somerville requires them to offer this service?

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

Does anybody here have satellite while living in an apartment? I was wondering how having a dish goes over with land owners. Did you need permission from your land lord?

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, the US Supreme Court ruled that landlords may not forbid you to put up an antenna to receive any signal you can lawfully receive. I'm sure a quick call to either directv or dish network or the FCC would be able to verify.

I don't get people who pay for cable...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

What's there that is of value that cannot be obtained through other means these days?... Just curious. I only watch cable when I'm in a hotel, which is quite frequently. But I get sick of it after the first 15 minutes. Especially basic cable. There is only crap and commercials!

Re: I don't get people who pay for cable...

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

Truly a mystery (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1569045.html?thread=17908245#t17908245)...

Wow.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Just checked the threads from the last few days. Wow, talk about redundancy. It looks like cable TV is a major issue around here.

[katie02144.livejournal.com]

I signed up with Comcast yesterday. The 1-year introductory rate for Digital Preferred (i.e., channels 1-99) was $49.99 and includes free Showtime and a Hi-Def DVR. Basic DSL internet was an additional $27.95. The total including taxes and fees for one year came out to $81.50 per month plus a one-time installation fee of $38.90.

Over-the-Air High Def

[thewrongbloke.livejournal.com]

Since I haven't seen anyone advocating OTA HD, I'll chime in with it as another alternative. I live on the eastern edge of Davis Square and receive 22-24 stations through digital broadcast, the majority of which are in high definition and Dolby 5.1.

These, of course, include the usual network stations (including an NBC-affiliate weather station). Plus 3 additional PBS (44.2-44.4) stations from WGBH - World, Create, and 1 other. Plus an SD and HD version of WGBH 2.

Add on UPN 38, WB 56, the "Ion" network (68.1-68.4), Qubo kids network, and a couple miscellaneous others, some of which come from far away cities (Worcester, Haverhill, Providence) when the weather is clear. I've lived this way for a couple of years and found it to be more than enough television for me to keep up with. Sporting events are tricky and I sometimes must visit a friend's house or sports bar to watch them. But otherwise I complement this arrangement with DVD player and a laptop connection to watch Hulu, iTunes, etc. --- Netflix would work too.

Oh, and it's all free. You will need a convertor box or newer TV (one with an ATSC tuner) to receive the digital broadcast stations, and an antenna (I recommend the $34.99 amplified one at radio shack in Porter Sq). The downside, of course, is you're giving up any cable shows. I thought I would miss the Daily Show and the endless stream of re-runs on TNT, but to be honest, life is better off without them. Now we mostly watch TV only when something is on and leave it off otherwise.

Re: Over-the-Air High Def

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

You can still watch the Daily Show a day later on their web site... Great show, but nothing so urgent I have to see it when it airs...

Most annoying thing for me

[skokefoe.livejournal.com]

We've got their DVR box and get the expanded basic (ie, we get Comedy Central, but not BBC America), so we didn't need to hook up a new box or anything, but now the channels are changed. That wouldn't be that big a deal if they changed them in a rational way, but now they are a hodgepodge of basic and premium and expanded basic and whatever other tiers they have.

Totally gone are the days of flipping through 40 channels in a row that actually come in - now you'll go to Comedy Central (for example) and then up one to Animal Planet and that works fine. Go up one more and you're on TVOne and 4 other channels in a row that aren't in the regular "expanded basic" tier. Then you get to 4 more stations that DO work, followed by 9 in a row that DO NOT work. This goes on for hundreds of channels in a row.

Even with our super-high-tech DVR box, I have not seen a way to remove these channels, so if you want to keep clicking through, you'll have to go through all the channels you don't get.

Extremely annoying to me - it feels like they are forcing you to click through all the channels you COULD be getting if you'd just spend a few more dollars a month. It's bad enough that I'm considering giving up cable all together.

Re: Most annoying thing for me

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Well, many big stores with multiple levels force you to go through an entire floor to find the stairs on the opposite side. Perhaps they plan to put ads on those channels. Or perhaps they already have subliminal ads masked as noise!!! :)

[turil.livejournal.com]

Or, ditch the TV, and do more rewarding and fun and interactive and relaxing things with all the time saved!

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

You know who else didn't like TV? Hitler, that's who. And I also hear Stalin wasn't a fan.