‘What the hell?’: TV screens go dark as Spectrum cuts channels, raises prices

[Machiavelli]

John Cheves
Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky)
April 28, 2017

The television screen went dark a month ago as Daniel Fitzgerald watched “American Pickers” on the History Channel.

Perplexed, he grabbed the remote and surfed through CNN, Disney, Comedy Central and the rest of the standard cable lineup. Many of them were gone, too. In their place was a black background with a small block of text advising him that his subscription no longer provided those channels.

“I thought, ‘What the hell? I just paid the cable bill,’” Fitzgerald recalled last week in the tiny Lexington [Kentucky] apartment he shares with his disabled 16-year-old son.

Fitzgerald called Spectrum, the subsidiary created last year when Charter Communications of Stamford, Ct., acquired Time Warner Cable, which was then Lexington’s cable provider. A Spectrum representative told Fitzgerald that he hadn’t been paying Time Warner enough for the standard cable package. If he wanted those channels back, his monthly bill for cable and Internet would jump from $103 to $139, effective immediately.

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[truth_seeker]

When Frontier took over Verizon Fios in my area, they upped the prices. When I contacted them, some rude lady gave me a bullsh!t reason, and essentially insulted my intelligence.

Within a year I cancelled 4 set top boxes, and over $100 per month in cable TV fees.

We were "lucky" because we had two competing cable service options; namely Time Warner, and Verizon Fios.

Now the two surviving firms are Spectrum, and Frontier. Both bleeding customers.

Maybe TW and Verizon saw the writing on the cable TV business wall, and got out while the getting was good so to speak.

[geronl]

Sooner or later those companies will be ISP's as people get their viewing content from the web.

[truth_seeker]

Sooner or later those companies will be ISP's as people get their viewing content from the web.

I expect they will start jacking up the Internet fees. But there are two major options. So unless they collude, we may stay level for awhile.

The big cable firms are developing streaming bundles right now, since they see the writing on the wall.

They lost $100 per month from me. They might get part back with the right "menu" option.

We have SlingTV for the time being, but are deciding if we need it at all.  That is another $25 mo. saved, if we delete it as well.

[roamer_1]

@the_doc @roamer_1
Good. CableTV is eating itself. Good riddance.
Let's see how their liberal programming survives in an ala carte environment.

[jmyrlefuller]

I expect they will start jacking up the Internet fees.

That has already begun.

I noticed that the lowest speed Internet that my local cable provider (there's only one around here) is now almost the same cost as the highest one they offered a few years ago.

[Fishrrman]

roamer wrote:
"Let's see how their liberal programming survives in an ala carte environment."

I believe google is making some kind of move in that direction. A select group of channels served up over an ordinary internet connection.

This must give the cable companies the willies.
But they've brought it upon themselves.

I'd like to see "a menu" of, say, three or four hundred possible channel choices.
Pick any 50 for a fixed fee.
Pay only for the ones you want.
Send it in over an ordinary internet connection, perhaps with some kind of dedicated controller box to connect to the tv (instead of running through a computer).

[Sanguine]

roamer wrote:
"Let's see how their liberal programming survives in an ala carte environment."

I believe google is making some kind of move in that direction. A select group of channels served up over an ordinary internet connection.

This must give the cable companies the willies.
But they've brought it upon themselves.

I'd like to see "a menu" of, say, three or four hundred possible channel choices.
Pick any 50 for a fixed fee.
Pay only for the ones you want.
Send it in over an ordinary internet connection, perhaps with some kind of dedicated controller box to connect to the tv (instead of running through a computer).

Sling is already doing it.  Remarkable selection and cheap!

[roamer_1]

roamer wrote:
"Let's see how their liberal programming survives in an ala carte environment."

I believe google is making some kind of move in that direction. A select group of channels served up over an ordinary internet connection.

This must give the cable companies the willies.
But they've brought it upon themselves.

I'd like to see "a menu" of, say, three or four hundred possible channel choices.
Pick any 50 for a fixed fee.
Pay only for the ones you want.
Send it in over an ordinary internet connection, perhaps with some kind of dedicated controller box to connect to the tv (instead of running through a computer).

@Fishrrman
I run it through a computer, and I can watch absolutely everything from this years movies (90 days late, on average) to this weeks episodes, for free, and with no commercials. It's ALL out there.

Not that I DO anymore...  I find the content to be appalling, now that I am unplugged and unprogrammed. I mostly watch youtube. Bushcraft, mountains, mud pits, guys fixing cars, blacksmiths, homesteaders, gun nuts.

Real people doing real sh*t. They ain't pretty, they talk funny, and they don't wear clothes that would cost me a years wages... Hell, I have only seen one of them get out of a limousine, and that was a one time thing.

I wouldn't go back to TV if they gave it away for free (which is what they will inevitably do). The glory days are over. They are going to have to learn to live with advertising dollars alone.

[Frank Cannon]

Sling is already doing it.  Remarkable selection and cheap!

There is also Plan B...

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Whore House (more or less TWC around here, more or less) was kind of sleazy.  Around once a year they'd send me a mail saying the promotional plan I was on was expiring and now I'd be moving to the regular rate of $10-$15 more per month.  Then a few months later they'd let me know that I wasn't actually eligible for the promotional plan they had offerred me (wait, I thought I was no longer on a promotional plan?) and want another $5 or so.

You want to raise your rates, fine.  Just be honest about it.

Then spectrum took over and took it to a whole new level, losing my business in about a week and a half.

[ConstitutionRose]

We need big bandwidth for our office or I'd pull the plug entirely.  MIL lives with us watches all that crap.  Nothing on cable I want.  We do Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.  We rarely even go to Hulu.  May drop it.

End of March one of our business customers was switching to Spectrum for more bandwidth.  Big deal included moving phones, security, webpage, domain provider.  Someone (someone!) cancelled the order.  So all these techs sitting around and waiting.  Called Spectrum.  Oh so sorry.  We'll send "someone" as soon as we can.  "Someone" arrived 5 hours later.  Office shut down, paying techs etc. for a cut over that took 15 minutes to accomplish and about 45 minutes to verify. 
 

[Sanguine]

There is also Plan B...

I'm afraid of heights.