The WSJ says that the FCC has sent letters of inquiry to 11 cable companies asking why their customers are paying the same amount each month, even as the companies move channels to digital cable.
The WSJ says:
Some consumers are complaining that they are getting fewer channels now on their analog cable service, as cable companies move channels to more-expensive, digital tiers. Once a channel is moved to a digital tier, it is unavailable to analog customers, who still make up about 40% of cable subscribers.
Agency officials said the investigation stems from concerns that cable companies could be trying to use the transition to digital-only television broadcasts in February to lure their subscribers to move to these more-expensive digital tiers.
Cable subscribers don’t have to do anything to prepare for the digital transition, because that will affect only consumers who rely on TV sets using antennas. Cable subscribers aren’t required to upgrade to digital tiers of service, either.
We can’t wait for the explanation.
Reader Tim, who sent the article in, says:
I’m glad the FCC is finally investigating the questionable practices of cable companies, including RCN, who is now forcing converter boxes on their subscribers at a cost of $4 per TV per month and creating a new “digital tier” and essentially forcing consumers to subscribe to this new “premium” package just to get the same channels as before.
FCC Opens Investigation Into Cable-TV Pricing [WSJ]
(Photo: Getty)
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There’s dish network and direct tv…but there’s other things as well
Just using an antenna with a hdtv isn’t that bad as you can get maybe two dozen channels
theres free channels from satellite as well, it’s more hobbiest but you can get more content. See http://www.ftalist.com
we rent and can only get comcast, we tried it and sure enough..their quality, their line up, and their prices all suck so we canceled and are now reading & listening to the radio….suck it comcast.
I could care less for the poor local service, but DirecTV seems to be a good way to go. My other family members enjoy Dish Network, which I agree has a better interface than any other cable or satellite company.
I get my local High-Speed through a small carrier (Suddenlink) and only pay $30 a month. I hope to never deal with Comcast, Time Warner, etc. again.
Use hulu.com That is a great website. You can’t watch anything. But that site is getting bigger and bigger every single week. You can watch a lot of movies and shows for free with not that many comercials.
I have limited basic cable with Comcast, with that I dont need to have a cable box. They decided all of a sudden to take away the TV Guide channel and said that if you want to have a guide you have to rent a cable box.
What a bunch of bastards! They have to make every single penny they can off of us!
I do just fine with basic cable, so I don’t really care. Mind you, it’s my roommate that wants the television hooked up. I could care less, and would rather not have cable at all.
Yep – it’s definitely pretty lame. I wish the FCC had just told them that they could only transmit in clear QAM, as it would have prevented most of these problems.
I like how DirecTV took HD channels that I always had and moved them the HD Extra Pack and want me to pay an extra $5/month for 5 channels.
Wouldn’t this be a violation of the 2 year contract I signed?
@TheFuzz53:
?? I haven’t noticed this.
If they did it to me, I would send them an email. I have a lot of channels that say “Not purchased,” but for some reason I keep finding new ones. I found one called Chiller that shows scary movies, and one called “Sleuth” that plays mysteries and movies. I watched “Play Misty for Me” and “Dog Day Afternoon” on subsequent weekends on that one. Woo hoo!
The only way to get cable companies to lower their rates is for consumers to take a stand and cancel their cable packages,the lower the demand,lower the prices. Comcast is the biggest rip off put there, with horrid customer service to boot.
This is also a fun way to gouge more money from subscribers even if they already have made the transition to digital cable services. I lost about a dozen channels over the summer, but because I had a box to get HD channels on one TV, I now needed to shell out more money for a second cable box to be able to watch channels (like SciFi, TLC, etc) which were analog channels. Talking with customer support was worthless, even when you called them on the fact that the digital transition had nothing to do with the changes they made.