doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (05/06/85)
What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it?
I'm beginning to have my doubts. Are there any true believers out there
who can restore my faith? Or alternatively, anyone who has disconnected
and not regretted it?
I've had cable for three years now. The rates have tripled in that time
(well, they were indeed unusually low to begin with), and I've dropped
a number of premium services trying to keep the bill affordable. The
signal quality has improved from awful to barely tolerable.
I'm now paying $15/month for basic cable, plus $10/month each for the
two premium channels (HBO and Movie Channel), plus $3/month for FM
hookup. The company (Storer) was recently granted another doubling of
its rates by the City Council, but that authorization was suspended
because the next day Storer announced it was going to sell its local
operations to American Cable. If that increase had gone through, I'd
have cancelled on the spot (and wouldn't be writing this now).
Since a second cable hookup costs nearly as much as the first, cable
doesn't do me any good except in my living room.
For the local broadcast channels, I get a better signal from my own
antenna. And the antenna doesn't break down a couple times a week.
The "basic cable" services are not as good as I had expected. MTV was
fine for a couple of years, but recently it hasn't done a good job of
hiding what a seamy operation it is. CNN has degenerated into providing
half-hour and hour long sports shows, talk shows, business shows, etc.
ESPN is worth watching only because I like car racing. And the Weather
Channel: well, I'll try to hold my tongue. Instead of improving, these
services seem to be deteriorating with time.
The premium channels hold less and less interest for me as they rerun
movies I saw on cable last year or the year before, while the
"first-run" movies are usually two to seven years old and are available
sooner at any of the 200 video stores within a block of my home. When
it cost $3.50 a month for HBO and $5.00 a night to rent a tape, HBO
made a lot more sense than at $10.00 a month versus $2.00 a night.
(I don't often record movies to keep. If I did, that might have some
influence on the cable vs. tape situation.)
All-in-all, I have this nagging feeling that I'm justifying having
the premium channels because "I'm already paying for the basic cable
services" and that I'm justifying the basic cable services because
"they're free with the premium channels". In other words, using
circular reasoning to reach an unjustified conclusion.
Disconnection is a big step. It costs a bundle to disconnect. And
even more to reconnect if I decide it was a mistake. It's awfully easy
to continue to remain undecided. Is this how cable companies remain
in business?
--
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!dougpaver@mcc-db.UUCP (Bob Paver) (05/07/85)
> What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it? > > The premium channels hold less and less interest for me as they rerun > movies I saw on cable last year or the year before, while the > "first-run" movies are usually two to seven years old and are available > sooner at any of the 200 video stores within a block of my home. When > it cost $3.50 a month for HBO and $5.00 a night to rent a tape, HBO > made a lot more sense than at $10.00 a month versus $2.00 a night. Truer words were never spoken. The cable offerings have to either get a whole bunch better or a whole bunch cheaper.
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (05/09/85)
I'e only had cable about three months, so I'm not yet disenchanted with the premium channels. I pay roughly comparable rates. $39.60 gets me two coded channels and two cable boxes (one for the TV, one for the VCR); only one box has the coded channels. I've noticed that over half of what I record is on the cable channels. I'm particularly fond of Arts & Entertain- ment. And a third PBS station which shows stuff the new local ones don't. //I mainly watch CNN (or CNN Headlines) while exercycling. It's good newzak (the news version of muzak). The same for MTV. One suggestion: you don't need to only get cable in your living room. It's not that hard to install a signal splitter. That'll give you everything but the premium channels on your other TV(s). --Lee Gold
cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (05/09/85)
> What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it? > ...... > -- > Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug Well the answer is yes, for me. And the reason is I don't pay for any if the premium channels because the video store is within walking distance, and even if I had HBO I would have to video tape the movice to fit it into my schedule anyway and HBO doesn't broadcast in HiFi anyway. However, what cable does give me is good reception on all channels even when my old S-100 Computer is running, or the food processor. I do occasionally watch the Kung Fu movies on USA network and the shuttle stuff on CNN. At $10/Month I believe that is a reasonable cost. Our cable company is "monitored" by the City Council (What business a city has in running a cable company I don't know) and if the service were as bad as Doug describes I would be down there in a minute demanding they either get a new cable contractor or force the current one to improve service. The only time I have really seen much problems were on certain channels that they claim were getting snow from their sattelite feed. (Where the noise came from nobody knew but it did get fixed) As for additional jacks in the house, if you have a crawl space like me you can put a jack in any room simply by connecting up the coax. With twist on F-78 connectors and "tee" connectors you don't even need a soldering iron. --Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
david@tekig.UUCP (David Hayes) (05/10/85)
> What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it? > Around here, Portland, Ore., there are two or three cable companies serving different areas. Right now, Liberty Cable charges about 20 bucks a month for basic cable plus ONE specialty channel. I hooked up the FM myself, 3 bucks a mnth for the splitter/filter seems a bit high. Let us compare this to the cost of a bottom line satellite dish receiver setup. You can get an 8 foot dish, no motor drive, with all assoc. electronics for 899.00. The good ones with larger (more gain) antennas, motor drive dish, and remote control, are more. But even a good system can be purchased for 30.00 a month over about 4 or 5 years. But, is everyone going to encode their signals on the downlink?? HBO and Showtime have said they are in the process. I think I'll start looking at the dishes. dave
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (05/10/85)
> One suggestion: you don't need to only get cable in your living room. > It's not that hard to install a signal splitter. That'll give you everything > but the premium channels on your other TV(s). First, my other TVs aren't cable-ready -- I'd only get the local broadcast stations, and with a worse picture. Second, the cable company is on a holy war against unauthorized hookups, and since I call them out about once a month to try to get my signal cleaned up, they're bound to notice. Third, in my particular situation, the logistics of stringing cable include boring holes through 6-inch block, and then having to seal the hole against weather. -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug ^^^^^--- soon to be CalComp
dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) (05/13/85)
> What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it? > ...... > -- > Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug Well, since I don't have it, I'm not paying anything for it, so I suppose it's worth what I'm paying! (I'm one of those people who have never seen fit to buy a TV set.) -- Dana S. Nau, Computer Science Dept., U. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 ARPA: dsn@maryland CSNet: dsn@umcp-cs UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsn Phone: (301) 454-7932
dwl10@amdahl.UUCP (Dave Lowrey) (05/13/85)
> What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it? > We have Storer Cable in Columbia. The Basic rate is something like $13.00 and premium (HBO, TMC, SHOWTIME, DISNEY) are $10.00 each. We are probably going to drop Disney, as there isn't enough for our 4 1/2 year old to watch. I definately think the basic cable is worth the money. One advantage that we now can get both D.C and Baltimore network stations. One or the other always seems to be pre-empting the regular programming, so that is a plus. The other advantage, if you have kids, is Nickelodian! There is programming for every age, and their latest Sunday evening offering, National Geographic Explorer, is fantastic! -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Lowrey "To vacillate or not to vacillate, that is the question.... ....or is it?" ...!(<sun,cbosgd,ihnp4}!amdahl!dwl10 [ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily those of his most eminent employer. ]
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (05/13/85)
> Our cable company is "monitored" by the City Council (What business a > city has in running a cable company I don't know) Remember when the cable company dug the trench through your flower garden to lay their cable? That's why a city controls the cable TV company. The city grants the cable company a "franchise" to use the city's property, rights-of-way, easements, and eminent domain to string their cable, in return for which the city retains control over the cable system. BTW, the US Supreme Court decided a couple of years ago that cities do *not* have any immunity from lawsuits which claim that granting a franchise to just one cable company is a violation of Federal anti-trust laws. But I haven't heard of any suits being filed. -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug ^^^^^--- soon to be CalComp
ncr@sdcsvax.UUCP (NCR RB) (05/15/85)
I live 35 miles from San Diego, outside the range of my local cable company. I have been unsuccessful in getting them to come out to my semi-rural location. We get the 3 networks (2 poorly), PBS (but sometimes the xmitter goes out - especially when I'm recording), and 3 local stations of mediocre to poor quality (programming). The 2 networks are so bad, I don't bother recording them. I have a good quality antenna on a tall mast with rotor. I'm not ready to spend the ~$3k on a satellite antenna. I wish I had all your problems deciding whether cable is worth it. Steve Schlesinger NCR E&M SanDiego ...!sdcsvax!mipvax!steves
kanner@tymix.UUCP (Herb Kanner) (05/17/85)
In article <205@tove.UUCP> dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) writes: >> What do you think? Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it? >> ...... >> -- >> Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug > >Well, since I don't have it, I'm not paying anything for it, so I suppose >it's worth what I'm paying! (I'm one of those people who have never seen fit >to buy a TV set.) >-- >Dana S. Nau, Computer Science Dept., U. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 >ARPA: dsn@maryland CSNet: dsn@umcp-cs >UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsn Phone: (301) 454-7932 Now what in the world could have given you the idea that every na subscriber to net.consumers is interested in the amazing fact that you have never seen fit to by a TV set. -- Herb Kanner Tymnet, Inc.
stv@qantel.UUCP (Steve Vance@ex2499) (05/18/85)
Gee, I pay $51.61 a month, for basic cable, FM, and three premium
channels. I guess it would be even more if I got all 5 premium
channels, eh? I think it's worth it, although I also ration myself to
one movie per year in regular theatres and never rent. Also, I have a
large library of stuff I've recorded.
--
Steve Vance
{dual,hplabs,intelca,nsc,proper}!qantel!stv
dual!qantel!stv@berkeley
Qantel Corporation, Hayward, CA