Another example of corporations squeezing ever penny out of the populace.
I realize there are some DUers that are anti cable television or just television in general. But the majority of Americans have a form of satellite or cable in their homes. Even if they are poor.
Here is the rub. All cable companies are going digital. That's probably a good thing but the 'going digital' mantra has become a tool for extorting even more money from people whose only source of news or contact with popular culture is their television.
The change is this. It used to be that basic cable was a matter of just plugging the cable into your television. Now a box will be required even for basic cable. Even if you own a digital television that can receive over the air digital signals a box will be required for cable television. I realize that free over the air digital requires a box but you are only buying the box and not paying a continuing monthly fee. Now all cable companies are requiring you to get a set top box and having to pay a monthly fee for that box on top of the payment for basic cable. If you have two or more televisions and maybe have premium channels on one and the rest are basic, you will eventually, very soon, have to have a box for every television. The programming technology is there to provide digital signals to digital TV's via cable or satellite without a set top box but there is more money in a monthly fee.
I post this because it's another symptom of corporate creep. This will limit a lot of people from even knowing what is going on in the world because they don't receive a newspaper or have the internet and can't afford that extra seven to ten dollar fee.
I think the cable companies are shooting themselves in the corporate foot because people will drop cable and go more for the internet and free, over the air, TV and TV manufacturers will sell fewer televisions. This may be a good thing because one day TV's will be antiquated and all broadcasting will be internet or a concept not yet invented.
I found this out during a conversation with my own cable company. I plan to drop cable all together and use the internet exclusively.
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She has Charter cable and was upset because she didn't understand the change they were making to having to have a cable box. She has a limited income and after a year they will start charging her for the box and maybe for the remote control. She'll have to decide then if she wants to keep cable. An antenna is out of the question because she lives too far away from a Digital source.
I have Time Warner (so far) and have standard basic which may be 24 or so local channels of which a third are duplicates (digital and analog) for $24.50. Because of the package deal if I drop cable my internet then would cost $10 a month more than the total I'm now paying for both.
If they decide to add cable boxes then I'll just cancel cable and take the hit. I probably go through the cable changes maybe twice a month, if I'm that bored. I mostly use Roku, Netflix, and Plex for Roku and I can still see the network shows I like and the ton of YouTube programs that I have set for "Watch Later".
I don't think that they will sell less TVs, with most TVs hooking up to the internet now. My 1989 Sony finally gave up the ghost and so I bought a 32" TV that is big enough for regular viewing and I also use it as my computer monitor.
