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How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

latimes.com

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Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#31

Post by pasbesoin »

jasode wrote: post #21

I have a FiOS Motorola QIP7232 cable box with a builtin 320GB harddrive (circa 2013).[1] My last bill shows them charging me $21.99 per month for that box. (That's $263.88 a year not including taxes.) Last week, I called Frontier FiOS to cancel the cable TV but keep the internet. After the customer rep cancelled the tv, I asked if she was mailing out a shipping box so I could return the Motorola. She said she wasn't…

You might want to hold onto it for a bit. I read the occasional "horror" stories about people getting big bills for "unreturned equipment" that they were previously told not to return. Or that was returned but never logged; suggestions are, for example, that if you return your Comcast box to one of their storefronts/offices, you make sure to get a receipt, preferably one having the equipment ID's on it.

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#32

Post by treve »

BonesJustice wrote: post #23

I'm reasonably certain the $231/year figure the author quotes is not the amount paid for a single set-top box (as he says), but the average total paid by a household for all their set-top boxes. That averages out to around ~3 boxes per household at rates similar to those quoted in the story, which is about what I'd expect. That said, the charges are still a ripoff, and just one of many reasons I do not miss paying fo…

The average household has 3 set-top boxes? That sounds like a lot. Even median would be a lot. Who needs to be able to watch basic cable in 3 rooms in a house?

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#33

Post by dionidium »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #20
dionidium wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an assumption in this statement that doesn't survive scrutiny. This is original reporting. What makes you think there's an equivalent alternative? † † This perception is obviously a huge problem for papers like the L.A. Times (and for writers, in general). For better or worse, this is how people see it, now. If you don't like the source, then you just imagine substituting in another one, like you're buying po…

The assumption may be that any worthwhile article will immediately be "reported on" (restated with no new information) by a dozen other sites. Edit: I'm not saying that's a good thing, guys. I agree with dionidium.

Right, exactly, which is to trivialize original reporting beyond the dictates of fairness. An original piece of reporting and the blog post that summarizes it are not equivalent content.

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#34

Post by dublinben »

reaperducer wrote: post #19
drblast wrote: post #5

I have the same reaction every time I read about any cable company, and that's, "WTF are you all still giving them your money for?!" They have a monopoly on a dying service you literally don't need at all, and most people hate having to deal with them. The pricing and contracts are antagonistic to customers. Is it just momentum at this point?

you literally don't need at all Unless you live in a place without broadcast television, or little broadcast television, and with little to no internet service. So pretty much 20% of the United States. The nation is much larger than the east and west coasts.

Satellite television has been an option for decades, and serves these markets better than cable anyway.

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#35

Post by randomdata »

treve wrote: post #32
BonesJustice wrote: post #23

I'm reasonably certain the $231/year figure the author quotes is not the amount paid for a single set-top box (as he says), but the average total paid by a household for all their set-top boxes. That averages out to around ~3 boxes per household at rates similar to those quoted in the story, which is about what I'd expect. That said, the charges are still a ripoff, and just one of many reasons I do not miss paying fo…

The average household has 3 set-top boxes? That sounds like a lot. Even median would be a lot. Who needs to be able to watch basic cable in 3 rooms in a house?

No one needs to watch basic cable at all, but having a living room with a TV, a rec room with a TV, and a bedroom with a TV seems fairly common amongst my travels to different homes. Anecdotally less common in big city homes, presumably because space is at a greater premium.

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#36

Post by tomjakubowski »

reaperducer wrote: post #19
drblast wrote: post #5

I have the same reaction every time I read about any cable company, and that's, "WTF are you all still giving them your money for?!" They have a monopoly on a dying service you literally don't need at all, and most people hate having to deal with them. The pricing and contracts are antagonistic to customers. Is it just momentum at this point?

you literally don't need at all Unless you live in a place without broadcast television, or little broadcast television, and with little to no internet service. So pretty much 20% of the United States. The nation is much larger than the east and west coasts.

Most of the people living in the US between the coasts still live in urban areas. Only a few states have a minority of urban dwellers: Maine, West Virginia, Mississippi, Vermont. Many large interior states have overwhelmingly urban populations: Arizona (90%), Colorado (86%), Illinois (89%), Michigan (75%), Ohio (78%), Nevada (94%), Texas (85%), Utah (90%).

https://www.icip.iastate.edu/tables/population/urban-pct-sta...

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#37

Post by radicalbyte »

dgzl wrote: post #25
drblast wrote: post #5

I have the same reaction every time I read about any cable company, and that's, "WTF are you all still giving them your money for?!" They have a monopoly on a dying service you literally don't need at all, and most people hate having to deal with them. The pricing and contracts are antagonistic to customers. Is it just momentum at this point?

For the past year, I've been trying to convince my grandparents to ditch cable for internet TV, and the transition has been surprisingly difficult. After two attempts (I don't live near them), I am still not successful, however I did reduce the TV/phone/internet bundle from $250 to $200. Next time I see them, I'm coming prepared with the items that prevented me from succeeding before, and hopefully I'll be reducing t…

Is running an Ethernet cable not an option?

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#38

Post by [deleted] »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #9
drblast wrote: post #5

I have the same reaction every time I read about any cable company, and that's, "WTF are you all still giving them your money for?!" They have a monopoly on a dying service you literally don't need at all, and most people hate having to deal with them. The pricing and contracts are antagonistic to customers. Is it just momentum at this point?

In the US, cable companies are generally the only source of high-speed internet, and they sometimes charge a higher sticker price to provide internet-only service vs. bundling with TV service.

[deleted]

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#39

Post by BonesJustice »

treve wrote: post #32
BonesJustice wrote: post #23

I'm reasonably certain the $231/year figure the author quotes is not the amount paid for a single set-top box (as he says), but the average total paid by a household for all their set-top boxes. That averages out to around ~3 boxes per household at rates similar to those quoted in the story, which is about what I'd expect. That said, the charges are still a ripoff, and just one of many reasons I do not miss paying fo…

The average household has 3 set-top boxes? That sounds like a lot. Even median would be a lot. Who needs to be able to watch basic cable in 3 rooms in a house?

I think the average number of TVs used per household is something like 2.x a month. But many households probably have a set top box hooked up to a lesser-used TV (guest room, rec room, etc.) that they're paying for even when it sits unused.

My parents are middle-class empty nesters, and IIRC, they have boxes in the kitchen, living room, home office, and maybe another in the master bedroom?

Clearly they do not 'need' that many, yet they have them. This is just another way in which the rigid, inflexible model of legacy television generates excessive revenue: one cannot carry a TV and cable box around the house as easily as they can a tablet PC or iPad.

Re: How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don't ask

#40

Post by mikeash »

reaperducer wrote: post #19
drblast wrote: post #5

I have the same reaction every time I read about any cable company, and that's, "WTF are you all still giving them your money for?!" They have a monopoly on a dying service you literally don't need at all, and most people hate having to deal with them. The pricing and contracts are antagonistic to customers. Is it just momentum at this point?

you literally don't need at all Unless you live in a place without broadcast television, or little broadcast television, and with little to no internet service. So pretty much 20% of the United States. The nation is much larger than the east and west coasts.

Are there still places with cable TV but not cable internet?
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