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On any given area, you will find only one choice for cable, be it Comcast, COX, Time Warner, RCN etc. You will never find an area where you can choose from multiple cable companies. The only other choice is a non-cable company such as satellite TV like DirecTv, and more recently phone companies who offer TV services. The reason is simple, there is only one cable running into a house, and the cable company which owns the area, is the one who can offer you cable service. The other cable companies never compete for your service, because they know you only have one choice.
Options:
- Cable company (but ONLY ONE choice. Two or more cable companies never compete for the same customer)
- Satellite
- Over-air
- Phone company provided TV
- Internet
That is not true. In my area of northern Va. I have a choice of Verizon and Cox cable. Both lines run into my house.
That is not true. In my area of northern Va. I have a choice of Verizon and Cox cable. Both lines run into my house.
Verizon is a phone company, and you have a choice between Cable and phone company provided TV, just like I said. However, no one has a choice between two cable companies.
Verizon is a phone company, and you have a choice between Cable and phone company provided TV, just like I said. However, no one has a choice between two cable companies.
Why does the means of getting the signal matter to you? The choice is between the end product mixes. I love DirecTv because I love the packages in general, MLB in particular. If they lost the offering, and Verizon acquired it, I'd shift to Verizon.
PS, The end user price is dictated mostly by the "royalty" deals of the source.in this case what MLB gets per subscriber dictates the final price to me. Yes, it is marked up..who doesn't do that..but they also offered half year deals during the recession..no doubt due to lesser demand tied to the economy. No doubt, MLB was getting a proportinately smaller cut per subscriber, too.
I have Dish Network, and I never watch any of those sports channels, in fact I have deleted them from my customized guide list. I am not a sports fan, so it would be nice if I could delete them and get a credit on my bill, but I doubt that'll ever happen.
Dish and Direct are NOT cable. And that's just TWO, not THREE.
In case you hadn't noticed, the title of this thread is CABLE.
You: FAIL.
Calm down, Dale. We basically agree that cable companies overcharge. My quibble was only with your characterization that they hold a monopoly, which they don't.
Why do you pay for "cable"? Is it so you're provided with a physical, wired connection to the company's POP? No - you pay them for access to lots of channels of entertainment and education television, and maybe some music channels. Satellite provides the same thing. Cable and satellite providers are competitors, as is broadcast television.
"Cable" is just one technology for delivering content, and content delivery is the business, not "cable."
You named three options for content delivery - two of the three would deliver virtually identical channel lineups as a cable provider, and the third would deliver a subset of the same channels/content, at no cost.
There is no monopoly on entertainment/content delivery. If Comcast wants to run thousands of miles of cable in the same areas that are currently being serviced by Cox, they can do that. They don't, because the ROI isn't worth the cost.
Why does the means of getting the signal matter to you? The choice is between the end product mixes. I love DirecTv because I love the packages in general, MLB in particular. If they lost the offering, and Verizon acquired it, I'd shift to Verizon.
PS, The end user price is dictated mostly by the "royalty" deals of the source.in this case what MLB gets per subscriber dictates the final price to me. Yes, it is marked up..who doesn't do that..but they also offered half year deals during the recession..no doubt due to lesser demand tied to the economy. No doubt, MLB was getting a proportinately smaller cut per subscriber, too.
I am glad the phone companies entered the competition, although they did not lower the prices as hoped. I had ATT TV for about a month, and then went straight back to DirecTv, as the ATT deliver was just not up to par, with constant picture freeze-ups and re-boot requirements.
I differentiated between Cable TV and others because for the best part of the last 50 years, the cable companies WERE a monopoly, where there was no choice but the one cable company, which was the owner of the underground cables.
On any given area, you will find only one choice for cable, be it Comcast, COX, Time Warner, RCN etc. You will never find an area where you can choose from multiple cable companies. The only other choice is a non-cable company such as satellite TV like DirecTv, and more recently phone companies who offer TV services. The reason is simple, there is only one cable running into a house, and the cable company which owns the area, is the one who can offer you cable service. The other cable companies never compete for your service, because they know you only have one choice.
Options:
- Cable company (but ONLY ONE choice. Two or more cable companies never compete for the same customer)
- Satellite
- Over-air
- Phone company provided TV
- Internet
Wait.... You quote my post about checking the dictionary for the word "monopoly," and as your response, you list a bunch of different options for receiving the same content.
I am glad the phone companies entered the competition, although they did not lower the prices as hoped. I had ATT TV for about a month, and then went straight back to DirecTv, as the ATT deliver was just not up to par, with constant picture freeze-ups and re-boot requirements.
I differentiated between Cable TV and others because for the best part of the last 50 years, the cable companies WERE a monopoly, where there was no choice but the one cable company, which was the owner of the underground cables.
I enjoy the quick service with DirecTv, whether I want to add stuff, drop stuff, suspend service on rare occasions when I travel more than 30 days.I can get it done in a few minutes on the phone.
I was shocked when I needed a new remote, and it was on my doorstep 2 days later.
I wouldn't switch for anything..short of MLB being dropped..
Or broadcast... which is free. And there is much more content on broadcast than there used to be, which is, I believe, what John was talking about.
Exactly.
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