TIRED of being nickel and dimed.

[PatrickforO]

My wife and I have Comcast. We pay for the full subscription to all the premium and network channels as well as internet and land line. When I think about how much we pay, it makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, because it is over $2,500/yr. We also have Netflix streaming so my wife can have immediate access to anything she wants to watch, ever.

Now, imagine my dismay when she called up an NBC show, Hannibal, and NBC was trying to charge us $2.99 per episode ON TOP of the usurious amount I already pay Comcast.

I called up Comcast to complain, and was told that yes, NBC, CBS and Fox all have decided to charge fees for shows after the week or so they put it out for 'free' on Comcast. Comcast, in spite of the fact that I have a SUBSCRIPTION to their premium package chooses to pass on any extra cost from these networks, who already insert roughly 25 minutes of commercials in one hour of programming.

So, I went on the NBC site and complained, but I have only just begun. I will be writing the corporate offices of each of these firms and voicing my discontent with the idea that I will just quit Comcast if the issue isn't resolved. In addition, I will pay for ONE episode of Hannibal and then write the corporate offices of every company that has advertised during the show and tell THEM of my discontent. Because I think it's time I quit being an obedient consumer and began pushing back.

Yes, I am aware that in this neoliberal capitalist utopia, the shareholder has primacy over both the customers and the workers, but I'm TIRED of it. So I'm pushing back using the strategy of hitting them in the pocketbook. Yeah, I'm one guy, but if 500 or 5,000 people start doing this maybe we can fight this price creep.

Aren't you SICK of always having to pay MORE for LESS?

[DFW]

1. Talk about paying more for less

Every time I'm back in the USA, I have to travel by air domestically. You don't have to tell ME about being nickeled and dimed!

[NorthCarolinaL]

2. Screw cable.

The cable companies surveyed neighborhoods about 1970. Asking people if they would pay for TV. Stupidest thing I had ever been told. Apparently, enough of them said yes because cable is a media bonanza.

I really don't know why people have cable. Up until a few years ago, most of the best programming was on network TV. For example, sports on network TV: World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, NFL title game, NCAA Final Four, major tennis and golf tournaments, Olympics, all-start games, etc.

Cable has slowly grabbed up some of these (e.g., two Stanley Cup games on cable) because, I think, people are sucker enough to pay for it. The very best sports (e.g., Super Bowl) are still on network TV because that is the largest audience. They are slowly shifting these over because people are dumb enough to pay. I actually listened to the NCAA Football final four on radio. Could have gone to my wife's job to watch, but no big deal.

And movies? I go to Good Will and buy great movies for 75 cents. The VHS movies last a whole lot longer than DVD. No complication with set up.

Screw cable.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Having over the air tv as I grew up

may have contributed to my unwillingness to being forced to pay for what used to be free.
The most expensive part of watching tv back then was if you had to buy rabbit ears, cause for a long time most houses had antennas on the roof, that stayed with the house if you moved.

[NorthCarolinaL]

18. I remember those roof

antennas. We just bought an antenna. It's a Turk for about 90 dollars. We still have to move it around quite a bit. I'm living in the past. lol

[angstlessk]

3. You already have netflix

get Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus

Just check their programing to see if you would loose something you need...then find if you can get THAT online

CUT THE CORD!

[Initech]

4. Comcast is bullshit.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. I pay less for more.

We cut the cord a few years back, saved 70.00 a month with no tv, saved 50.00 a month by buying minutes for our cell phone instead of AT&T plan,
With that saved money, I spend 24.00 a month for Netflix dvd's, and swap out movies with friends, plus there are always online sources for damn near anything you want to watch.
Don't even have time to watch everything that is available.

Saving money, don't have to ever see a commercial. Works for me.

[hunter]

12. Yep. The only TV commercials I see regularly are posted here on DU as youtube videos

Usually the sort of commercials that have some kind of social message like:

Cute Molson Canadian ad.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10874869

I have no idea what's happening "on television" any more. After years without broadcast, cable, or satellite television, when I do see it somewhere, at someone else's house or in some kind of waiting situation, it seems extremely irritating.

People pay money for this???

Our television plays movies, that's all it does.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Another blessing of the inter tubes is..

one becomes an active participant and can make choices of when and what to watch, read etc. instead of having to passively sit around and listen to 20 minutes of blather just to catch a news story of interest.

It is that "on demand" that is killing the tv market.

[underahedgerow]

6. Why pay for anything above basic internet at all? There are hundreds of sites online that stream for

free, it's helpful if you have adblock of course. Hook the TV up to your laptop/PC via HDMI and bam, you're done. If you have a smart tv you can try as well, but without being able to use adblock, it's pretty messed up and slow.

I can watch every single one of my favorite tv shows within an hour after the original airing. What's even better, I can watch old ones, UK & Australian shows as well, and I can watch them anytime I want, not just at 8pm on Thursday.

You can write as many letters as you want, but gosh, what a lot of effort! Just get rid of all that stuff and do your tv via the internet for totally free, other than the internet subscription. You can reduce your annual cost to under 400 a year..... give or take a bit here and there.

Filmontv.com is great for UK shows, live streaming. http://watchseries-online.ch/ is for pretty much everything else. Right now the Vodlocker shows are loading the fastest, but seriously, adblock is your best friend. I use this site http://megabox.li/?tv for most of the brand new movies that come out, but often the new ones are cam copies. Once they've hit netflix or amazon though, those copies are uploaded.

[Tobin S.]

8. That's the way to go.

We have high speed DSL, Netflix, and Hulu at a total cost of about $500 a year. I've heard people complain about the ads on Hulu, but they are much less intrusive than the ads on cable and network TV.

[underahedgerow]

11. Everything that's on Hulu and Netflix is on the links I posted, and they're free. And again, Adblock

if you insist on paying for tv shows I guess via the pay sites, would eliminate all those ads too I believe.

[lostnfound]

7. I feel your pain

Cable used to be a small luxury that for me was a relatively trivial expense, and I didn't mind it for the convenience of MSNBC, world link, gardening channel, discovery...a handful of channels that I'd watch when I wanted them. Rarely an occasional movie so I didn't always subscribe to those extras.
Then with bundling and a desire for the elusive faster internet..and cable tacking on extra fees all the time...you end up with a monster of a bill. And it takes TIME to resolve.

Cell phones are the same way. I swear that half of the promises I was given when I switched from one to another haven't held out. I cancelled two phones with Verizon on a share anything plan, left behind an iPad that I stupidly thought would continue at $20 per month and because of the iPad they kept my share anything plan going for a total of like $70 for an iPad I barely use. More phone calls -- since NOTHING to terminate or reduce service can be done ONLINE although you can UPGRADE or ADD stuff online all the time.

AT&T, I was sent a message for exceeding $100 of extra roaming charges within FIVE minutes of LANDING in London, without intentionally doing anything. A big file sent to my email from work and I'm soaked, and work won't pay for that. For the rest of the trip I WORRY all the time about whether to turn cellular on for maps, to navigate the city or take quick looks on safari for museum hours.. Worry about getting ripped off, instead of enjoying a vacation. AND you THINK that turning cellular data off solves the problem? Google turns up numerous instances of cellular data turning ITSELF on, on the iPhone's, inexplicably, and that has happened to me a couple of times on this trip. Something was doing large data dumps 4 times a day (I think it might be a failed iCloud backup) and I was running overage charges for no good reason even in the states because of it. Now I shut off iCloud and I'm waiting with fingers crossed to see if that will fix the problem.

These are luxury problems. But paying for something like cable or telephone and feeling like they are vultures eating you alive is so annoying.

[Triana]

9. Time Wanker is as bad. Smarmy letter they sent saying they're raising my rates FOR NOTHING

[femmocrat]

10. We dumped Comcast when they bumped MSNBC to a higher tier several years ago.

I'm not surprised they are pulling more sh*t like this. No wonder you are outraged! That is ridiculous.

Don't pay for that episode.... When does it air? Post this in the TV Chat group, too, and maybe there are viewers there who would be willing to help out, too. I can DVR it and PM you a list of sponsors. I don't mind at all.

http://election.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1037

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. It just reminds why I don't have cable

I have an antenna. It picks up the regular networks, plus a lot of digital networks. Some are pretty good. I can get older DVDs from the library and newer ones from Redbox. If I want to stream something online, I can do that at the library too (or MacDonald's).

[4_TN_TITANS]

16. Cut the cord...

They already make their money from the 25 min./hr. worth of ads you watch, subscription fees are just icing.

[hopemountain]

17. agree with underthehedgerow

why waste your valuable time - they will not compensate you in any way. they are going to get the message when millions of cable viewers dump all cable. they are on their last legs.

[mackerel]

19. I got rid of cable, I mostly use netflix anything else relevent I find in the DU Lounge.