The average price for cable television per month is $75. Cable bills increase on average 5% per year. This is due to higher fees that cable companies have to pay the FCC, competition from other cable companies, loss of advertising dollars, higher technology costs and to makeup for the loss of subscribers each year.
Customers would have better accepted the higher costs if the cable companies sent out a survey to ask customers what technologies they would like and how much more they would be willing to pay. Instead, customers were forced to accept new technologies and higher prices.
If you feel like you are paying too much for cable or satellite tv or are frustrated by the service you receive there is hope. There are several free content websites available such as hulu.com and low fee content websites such as Apple's iTunes.
I liked analog cable and don't really care about high definition, blu-ray and fiber optics. I just want to be able to see a clear picture and don't need a picture that is so clear you can see a pimple on someone's face.
I purchased a television a few months ago and had cable installed. I wanted to see if my cable bill would be reduced. It was, by $8. Incredible. I heard good things about Netflix and am in the process of comparing Netflix options and movie selections with the number of movies I watch per week because I mostly watch movies or informational shows.
If you want to eliminate your cable bill you will not have as many channel options but it will save you a lot of money which can help everyone in this economy whether you are sinking in debt or not. Most U.S. homes can receive at least one local television station over the air and approximately 80% can watch 5 or more stations over the air.
The picture quality is clear largely in part due to the digital tv conversion that was completed last year and will still be able to see HD programming. HDTV is more expensive for local stations to produce so they may show non-HD during the day and switch to HD at night. To view the stations over the air you will need an antenna and an HDTV with a built in HDTV tuner or integrated HDTV. If you tv does not have this feature you can buy a separate HDTV tuner that connects your existing HDTV to an antenna.
For shows that you cannot see with your antenna, go on the internet to see if you can view them. Some of the shows may have commercials but it is worth it to watch them for free. If you use hulu.com you can watch shows for free and watch past seasons of your favorite shows. Hulu can be viewed on your computer, Play Station, Wii, iPhone and Xbox. You can watch unlimited shows for only $9 a month and you can cancel whenever you want.
Some sports channels can be viewed on the internet such as MLB.tv. You can also purchase single shows from Amazon.com and iTunes soon after they air on tv. You can also stream video from your computer to your tv if your computer has on output that works with a tv. Netflix allows you to watch as many movies as you want per month for only $9 and you can also cancel at anytime. Watch out cable tv, your subscribers are moving to free tv.
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