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Good Bye Comcast and TV in general...

post #1 of 23
7/21/03 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
I have terminated my cable service with Comcast. At $80.00 a month I couldn't afford it anymore. Was I really getting my money's worth anyway?

I won't miss is current television in general. There actually isn't much on that appeals to me at all. I never was into sports so that takes about 90% of what I won't miss. Who needs to see cop/lawyer shows, "reality" TV, rehashed sitcoms, infommercials (commercials in general), redundant news (if I see another scrolling text bar anywhere I will smash the TV it comes from), idiot religious broadcasting and the general moronic garbage spewing from the media.

What I will miss?

1. The Daily Show
2. 6 Feet Under
3. Turner Classic Movies
4. IFC and the Sundance Channel...though they have become redundant lately too.

What will I do with the TV? One device and service will probably save my sanity:

The device is the Playstation 2. I have gotten really addicted to games to some extent . Well, it is a fun alternative. The PS2 also can play DVDs so I'll probably get rentals of movies and games for my entertainment (I also still have a VCR)...so that's the service (Probably TLA Video here in Philly as far as movies and Blockbuster for games).

As far as "basic" channels I will probably have to get a good antenna (any advice?) because as anyone knows who lives in a city...reception sucks ass...hey, I still need my Public Television access....

So, goodbye cable and the media of the masses...I really don't think I'll miss you at all. If I need the news I'll read the paper or check it out other resources online. Ah, reading...that's also another fine alternative too.
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post #2 of 23
7/21/03 at 12:53pm
Just so you know, Comedy Central does post lots of Daily Show clips on their website, so you won't have to miss out too much. But I agree with you, TV as a whole pretty much sucks. The only reason I'm paying for cable is because I can split it with my housemates so it only costs me $9 a month. $80 is ridiculous.
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post #3 of 23
7/21/03 at 1:00pm
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What TV do I miss? News, news and news. Oh and TdF. Luckily for me most danish news and political programs are on archive on the net. And I can see TdF live on a 450 KBit/s feed

And I have learned a lot about politics seen from US, English, French and German perspective.
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post #4 of 23
7/21/03 at 1:43pm
I would miss the history channal right away if we got rid of our cable. Gotta have it on all the time.
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post #5 of 23
7/21/03 at 1:56pm
i would miss sports. i would miss sopranos. (i subscribe to hbo ten minutes before the first episode and cancel while the credits are rolling on the last episode.)
i would miss paige davis
and carol smillie







my kids would miss nick jr.

my wife would miss anything with biography in the title.
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post #6 of 23
7/21/03 at 1:59pm
who is "carol smillie" and why do i have a sudden urge to watch her show?
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post #7 of 23
7/21/03 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally posted by keyboardf12
who is "carol smillie" and why do i have a sudden urge to watch her show?

well paige is from Trading Spaces
and carol is from the original british series Changing Rooms (that trading spaces is drawn from)
and has a scottish accent to die for!
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post #8 of 23
7/21/03 at 2:16pm
Artman, go here and find out what's available in your area. You might find some digital broadcasts.

US $960 per year. Yowch, 'ighway robbery, that is!

In Other News,
Cablevision just launched a direct broadcast satellite system to compete with DirecTV and Dish Networks. Could the DBS competition to cable just be warming up??

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post #9 of 23
7/21/03 at 3:39pm
I got my cable cancelled in January. I don't miss it all that much although I would watch stuff if I had it. You watch it if you just kind of see something on but there isn't really much that I would specifically set out to watch. The two things or primary interest to me are college football and the Mariners. I will have to get the shit hooked up again soon though cause I sure as hell cannot go without ESPN during college football season. Nowadays I try to go for exercise while the Mariners are playing and then listen to the game on the radio at the same time.
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post #10 of 23
7/21/03 at 4:39pm
6 feet under will be out on DVD so no problems there.
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post #11 of 23
7/21/03 at 5:01pm
$80 a month for cable television? What do you get 5352089325098235 channels or something?!?!?! You are getting raped up the ass big time by Comcast buddy.
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post #12 of 23
7/21/03 at 5:11pm
Holy crapnuggets $80 a month? How the hell can you spend that much on TV?

My family has never had cable except for one time we got basic cable because our reception was bad. But we have good reception now so we don't need it. I honestly don't see why anyone really cares... TV is kinda boring anyway.

Well I could see paying maybe $20 a month for cable and maybe $40 or something for satellite, although I wouldn't personally spend that much. But what does $80 a month actually get you?
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post #13 of 23
7/21/03 at 5:21pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
Holy crapnuggets $80 a month? How the hell can you spend that much on TV?

I don't think it's that hard. Just getting the broadcast channels over cable costs about $15/mo. Basic Cable cable is like 25, with the "standard" extras you're talking 40ish, with a few premiums 60ish, and for all the premiums and movie channels $80 sounds about right.

I lived without cable for about six months, but finally broke down and signed up for broadcast basic when I discovered that the ridge of Viewridge stood right between my rabbit ears and the downtown broadcast antennas. Bah. I don't miss cable TV so much. I wanted broadcast for news more than anything else - it was a few weeks before the war that I broke down.
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post #14 of 23
7/21/03 at 5:37pm
No cable/Dish network TV here.. I didn't miss anything on TV.
My AOL Broadband allows me to watch many live video stream.. just like TV.

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post #15 of 23
7/21/03 at 6:13pm
I pay about $70 a month for cable, but that includes 3Mbit broadband.
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post #16 of 23
7/21/03 at 6:19pm
My family had television for a while, but three years ago, we switcheds $45 TV Cable for $45 High speed internet Cable.


Its much better cause i never watched tv as a kid, and dont ever want to now.
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post #17 of 23
7/24/03 at 7:01pm
Thread Starter 
Here's what Comcast raped me for...

Monthly Services:

Digital Silver
45 Channels of Digital Music (they all suck)
33 Digital Basic Channels (80% shit)
Interactive programming guide (annoying bullshit)
38 Channels of Indemand PPV (what, PAY AGAIN for GOOD TV?)
14 Channels of HBO (do I need HBO Espanol? No...)
With
Wholehouse Premium Access and
Maintenance Service

Total Monthly Services: $72.95

Taxes & Fees:

Sales Tax: $1.91
City Sales Tax: $0.49
Franchise Fee: $4.02
FCC Users Fee: $0.05
__________________________________________________ _
Total Taxes & Fees: $6.47
Total: $79.42

Yes, I did call them about A La Carte Service but I would still be paying too much money for too much bullshit I don't need.

It's all out of my price range and out of real good content. Don't get me wrong, I see the sports connection is top rate. But I would guess their hard core subscribers are men anyway. Plus women addicted to QVC and the Home and Garden Channel...

I've got a great idea...how about making ALL of cable TV like an A La Carte menu. Pay only for what you WANT to see...oh wait...that's the real world...

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post #18 of 23
7/24/03 at 8:13pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Artman @_@
I have terminated my cable service with Comcast. At $80.00 a month I couldn't afford it anymore. Was I really getting my money's worth anyway?

I won't miss is current television in general. There actually isn't much on that appeals to me at all. I never was into sports so that takes about 90% of what I won't miss. Who needs to see cop/lawyer shows, "reality" TV, rehashed sitcoms, infommercials (commercials in general), redundant news (if I see another scrolling text bar anywhere I will smash the TV it comes from), idiot religious broadcasting and the general moronic garbage spewing from the media.

What I will miss?

1. The Daily Show
2. 6 Feet Under
3. Turner Classic Movies
4. IFC and the Sundance Channel...though they have become redundant lately too.

What will I do with the TV? One device and service will probably save my sanity:

The device is the Playstation 2. I have gotten really addicted to games to some extent . Well, it is a fun alternative. The PS2 also can play DVDs so I'll probably get rentals of movies and games for my entertainment (I also still have a VCR)...so that's the service (Probably TLA Video here in Philly as far as movies and Blockbuster for games).

As far as "basic" channels I will probably have to get a good antenna (any advice?) because as anyone knows who lives in a city...reception sucks ass...hey, I still need my Public Television access....

So, goodbye cable and the media of the masses...I really don't think I'll miss you at all. If I need the news I'll read the paper or check it out other resources online. Ah, reading...that's also another fine alternative too.


Having been on vacation and getting my first real/recent taste of modern day cable TV, I'd say that it's just full of crap/trash/unethical influence anyway. I certainly will not fund that crap ever.

Once they allow people to sign up for channels or individual content, without giving your money to trash content, I might be interested.
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post #19 of 23
7/24/03 at 8:13pm
We switched to da dish. About $20 cheaper, with the same number of channels (but a higher proportion of those we'd be likely to watch - like National Geographic), and the same HBO. I am tempted to bag it all together and just get my news from the net, but here's what I'd miss after my first year of da dish:


NHL Center Ice! I swear I must've watched 5 games a week on average and never tired of it. The Canadian stuff was the best. Every time there was NOTHING on the other channels, I could go and catch a Canucks game. It was like clockwork.


Six Feet Under. Best show on television, period.

National Geographic.

A couple of the Discovery channels.

Food and Travel channels occasionally have some unique / interesting stuff. Usually not.

The rest is crap by and large.


I'm always tempted to "kill my television" but now that I've been spoiled by NHL Center Ice, I just... can't... do it.

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post #20 of 23
7/24/03 at 9:20pm
Digital Cable...craaaaaaap.

Comcast is currently charging me $60/mo for net access alone. Grr monopolies.
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post #21 of 23
7/25/03 at 5:04am
Quote:
Originally posted by Artman @_@
Here's what Comcast raped me for...
$79.42



Get Direct TV. it is a lot cheaper. I refuse comcast for tv(and even AT&T and Media one before it) they are a big rip off.
and directv you get better picture quality
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post #22 of 23
7/25/03 at 7:30am
Oh i forgot one salient point: digital cable quality is degraded / dithered about 3x as often as the same dish channels. AT&T/Comcast DC sucks when it comes to picture quality. And I've had bad weather knock out service - for maybe 20 minutes - twice in the last 11 months or so. So the old "oooo, dishes are susceptible to bad weather" is a load. Not to mention, the cable went out almost every time there was a lightning strike nearby.

Cable sucks.
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post #23 of 23
7/25/03 at 7:36am
Cable here is 75ish channels and for the last two years it came with my apartment for "free". But I am moving and I don't want it... except college football is coming and there is no way in hell I won't have ESPN for college football season.

I'll have it from September 1st to January 1st.
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