What do you pay for cable and what do you get?

[Hockeynut!]

I pay around $50 for internet through Comcast. I pay Dish Network about $110. I get:

HBO, Sho
America's Top 250
HD Receiver
DVR Service
Protection Plan
HD 250 Free ($10/Mo)

[columbia]

$72 for expanded HD service, including a sports tier.
The latter is $5 and gets me NHLN and about a dozen others.

Plus $172 for the CI package.

No premium channels.

[JeffDFD]

Bumping this thread because I want to look into Dish or DirectTV. Can anyone let me know what they are paying for what (and what is the "normal" price after the specials expire).

I want HD, DVR, all the normal channels you would get with cable,etc...nothing too special, but I may be interested in HBO or something if it isnt too pricey

[pittsoccer33]

without knowing specifics about costs, Dish is doing some really cool things technology wise.

they bought the company who created the slingbox, so they have a stb that can also broadcast your subscription to any pc or tablet

they also just showed off a great whole home dvr system code named Hopper and Joey. The hopper will record all of the broadcast networks in prime time every day, so when you go into work the next morning and a coworker tells you about something awesome that was on last night you already have it recorded. it will also allow you to get that video into every other room in the house.

[JeffDFD]

Sounds interesting. I am paying about 130 right now for the basic packge, plus an HD package, plus DVR and an extra HD box and then internet. These satellite companies are advertising "free HD" and "4 set top boxes" "free DVR- I am wondering if I can pay less going with them since I am being charged a la carte for my one extra hd set top box (so I have 2 total), DVR, and HD package.

But if after a year my charges go from $60 to $200 because now they are going to charge me a la carte for everything...maybe I am not interested.

Anyone out there with satellite TV?

[mac5155]

Check your PMs Jeff!

[blackjack68]

I've had DirecTV for about 11 years now and love it mainly because of Sunday Ticket.

I have just about every channel and exclusive of sports packages (Sunday Ticket, Center Ice, etc.) I pay about $120 per month for one HD DVR in the family room, standard def DVR in the bedroom and a standard def set top box in the computer room.

If you use my name and account number as a referral we both get $100 in bill credit...just sayin.

[JeffDFD]

So you are paying 120 and then you also have to get internet from somewhere else! I am paying around 130 with my cable provider and that includes internet. Looks like if I want to save any money it will pretty much be util the contract expires then I will have to go through the hassle again

[mac5155]

So you are paying 120 and then you also have to get internet from somewhere else! I am paying around 130 with my cable provider and that includes internet. Looks like if I want to save any money it will pretty much be util the contract expires then I will have to go through the hassle again

I save money in year 1 and break even in year 2 compared to cable/internet as opposed to dish/internet...

I'm sure your cable company is running a promo for internet.. We have $15.95 for 6 months of internet for new subscribers. Once that runs out, it's going in my fiancee's name..for the same promo rate!

[pittsoccer33]

so I just called Comcast to remove services from my account. My bill jumped from $79.99 a month to $155. Now that I'm on my own again I wanted to get something under $75 a month while I get my new budget worked out.

Their first response was to offer a DVR for $10 more a month. What kind of script did they have?

Second response was to give me what I had for $120 a month. When I said I don't care about the movie channels at all and at this point the only channels I'd like are cable news and Root, they offered me a more limited package at $99 for tv and internet. Would be nice but not right now.

At that point I said I understand the price of internet is more when it is alone ($62.95), but for right now thats about all that fits in my budget. She then offered me basic (which is just the locals) and internet for $55 per month. I understand the idea of giving a discount for multiple services, but that seems silly to me, so I took it.

Since I use a cablecard and not a box (which few people there understand) I would sure be great if they didn't put the change of service in correctly and I went home to everything I've always had. But I figure I'll make due with this for right now.

[mac5155]

Are there franchise agreements where yinz all live? There is one w/ Armstrong Cable (I don't know, subsidiary of Comcast??) and I feel the franchise agreement prohibits anyone (ie Comcast) from coming in. For as bad as ya'll say Comcast is.....I've dealt w/ both. Armstrong is way worse. I have the highest rated internet and barely ever top 1 mbps.

[JeffDFD]

Are there franchise agreements where yinz all live? There is one w/ Armstrong Cable (I don't know, subsidiary of Comcast??) and I feel the franchise agreement prohibits anyone (ie Comcast) from coming in. For as bad as ya'll say Comcast is.....I've dealt w/ both. Armstrong is way worse. I have the highest rated internet and barely ever top 1 mbps.

Armstrong is it's own company. I have Armstrong.

I have the regular internet (not the value) and I get 10 download consistently.

They have good customer service, but less to offer yet have similar prices

[Eismann]

just got off the phone with atlantic broadband actually. they accidentally charged me $42 for a service call that was concerning outside connectors.

i pay $179 or so after taxes. get HD, a showtime package, hundreds of worthless channels, internet, dvr and modem rentals. i could cut that to about $160 a month if i let them add a land line and then they'll give me HBO too, but i don't feel like scheduling the appointment (mostly because i'm moving soon and may not stay with ABB - though they have the best customer service of any big company i've ever dealt with (if you call the local number) - though i have had to call them 25 times in 1 1/2 years.

That's pretty much me w/ Comcast. My bill went up about 25% last month after the last offer period expired. HBO and Starz are practically useless to me. I just bought a new led tv for the kitchen and asked about getting hd for it. Bunch of nothing with the first rep.

Formulating my arguments in my head first, then will go straight to the Loyalty Dept. when I call back. I'm asking for the bill to go back to where it was, plus a free hd box for the kitchen, then we'll see where it goes.

I got a pretty good reduction in the montly rate plus the free hd box. Not all that I wanted, but good enough.

[mac5155]

Are there franchise agreements where yinz all live? There is one w/ Armstrong Cable (I don't know, subsidiary of Comcast??) and I feel the franchise agreement prohibits anyone (ie Comcast) from coming in. For as bad as ya'll say Comcast is.....I've dealt w/ both. Armstrong is way worse. I have the highest rated internet and barely ever top 1 mbps.

Armstrong is it's own company. I have Armstrong.

I have the regular internet (not the value) and I get 10 download consistently.

They have good customer service, but less to offer yet have similar prices

I have Zoom 500, as well as my parents, and at most times my 3G ATT connection is faster. must be the area we're in.

I have DirecTV for TV though.

[pittsoccer33]

just as a refresher - was paying $57 a month
$45.95 for internet
$9.90 for basic tv - just the locals

I saw an add on Comcast's website that would give me faster internet and some more channels (Root was listed as one of them) for $79.95 a month. More than I'd like to spend but I could swing the extra money through the playoffs.

I ordered it online and found out contrary to what their site says, Root was NOT one of the channels I recieved. I immediately called to cancel, and I was given my slower internet back, along with Digital Starter (which includes History, Root, ESPN, MTV, CNN, etc) for

$42.95 for digital starter (12 months)
$19.99 for performance internet (for 6 months - then back to 45.95)

so I'll take this through the end of the playoffs. by then summer will be in full swing and I can cancel.

[mac5155]

How do you survive without root

[pittsoccer33]

ive been listening to the games on the radio the last month - the few sunday games on NBC were a godsend, and i went out with friends to catch a few others, but mostly ive been listening to the x.

[Nuge]

Are there franchise agreements where yinz all live? There is one w/ Armstrong Cable (I don't know, subsidiary of Comcast??) and I feel the franchise agreement prohibits anyone (ie Comcast) from coming in. For as bad as ya'll say Comcast is.....I've dealt w/ both. Armstrong is way worse. I have the highest rated internet and barely ever top 1 mbps.

When I lived in Armstrong country i was wishing for Comcast. Now I'm stuck with Atlantic Broadband and it is probably the worst cable service offered anywhere. I wish I had Armstrong.

[mac5155]

Are there franchise agreements where yinz all live? There is one w/ Armstrong Cable (I don't know, subsidiary of Comcast??) and I feel the franchise agreement prohibits anyone (ie Comcast) from coming in. For as bad as ya'll say Comcast is.....I've dealt w/ both. Armstrong is way worse. I have the highest rated internet and barely ever top 1 mbps.

When I lived in Armstrong country i was wishing for Comcast. Now I'm stuck with Atlantic Broadband and it is probably the worst cable service offered anywhere. I wish I had Armstrong.

I had ABB for cable in college and I remember it being about as good as Armstrong. We only had basic cable + slow internet.

My fiancee's sister in law has ABB and I keep telling them to switch to DirecTV. They have a 65" LCD and don't even get more than like 30 channels in HD.. which are sent through at horrible resolutions.

[pittsoccer33]

I just called Comcast to eliminate my tv subscription

When the lady asked why I said very simple:

1) I moved from the basic cable tier to the expanded tier to watch NHL games

2) There are no NHL games because your company and 29 others are locking the players out

3) I get to eliminate something I am not using and voice my displeasure at the lockout at once.

It's still cheaper to get internet+basic cable than just internet. Strange but true so thats what I did.

[mac5155]

I didnt get much luck in that other thread - can i lower my directv tier package without facing increased fees?

[pittsoccer33]

I've been trying to bump my subscription back up to something that includes Root, but I can't get away with the 20mbps internet and Root for less than $90something a month.

Comcast internet goes from 3mbps to 20mbps on the next tier. i wish there was at least one in between that.

from talking to comcast.com people on the phone (they are different than "normal" comcast employees) it sounds like they are charging more for tv service in pgh than other places. one fellow said it was very surprising there were no "double play" bundles available to pittsburgh zipcodes.

105.9 the X it is

[tifosi77]

Our DirecTV bill is like $130 or $135 a month. 210 channels (not sure how many in HD) which includes locals, the Sports Pack, HBO and Showtime, and we got Sunday Ticket for free this year for half a season.

For Innerwebs we have AT&T U-Verse High Speed Internet Max Plus, which - at 18 Mbs down - isn't really all that high speed, plus phone. It's ~$50 a month, but we're still in the early period of the account so I'm paying like $15 a month extra for the start up costs. I might upgrade the higher tier at 24 Mbs, tho.

[pittsoccer33]

every time i talk to a rep on the phone they try to sell me telephone service and my reply is always the same

"i dont have any friends and i can order pizza over the internet. what would i need a phone for?"

[Rylan]

Our DirecTV bill is like $130 or $135 a month. 210 channels (not sure how many in HD) which includes locals, the Sports Pack, HBO and Showtime, and we got Sunday Ticket for free this year for half a season.

For Innerwebs we have AT&T U-Verse High Speed Internet Max Plus, which - at 18 Mbs down - isn't really all that high speed, plus phone. It's ~$50 a month, but we're still in the early period of the account so I'm paying like $15 a month extra for the start up costs. I might upgrade the higher tier at 24 Mbs, tho.

DTV is supposed to be about 180 HD in that package (guessing it is choice extra). At least that was how I was taught to quote.