......In the NY region, we have the phone company (Verizon) competing with the various cable companies for TV, Internet and Phone. So they're all offering all three services for $89 or $99 a month on a two year contract.....
Competing is the operative word here.
Sadly, I live in a tiny media market and it will likely be several hundred years before any real competition comes for cable. Sure, you can get a DISH/DTV hookup, but that's cumbersome/annoying and the features are sub-par to cable (ie on-demand). Plus, as with cable, once you start adding features/options, suddenly you are at $100+.
To be fair, I think nearly all companies will do the bundle deals. Those expire after a year and then it's crazytown.
Two years ago, I started with a Comcast Bundle (internet+mid-tier non-HD non-DVR digital cable for 1 TV). It was $78 and they tossed in Free HBO for 6 months. That bundle lapsed after 6 months and the rate went to $124.
After another 6 months, I was notified that the rate was going to $160 a month. I visited my Comcast store and the clerk configured my new rate to be roughly $130. To do that, she had to upgrade my two-item bundle to be a 3-bundle item (by adding landline phone and upgrading me to Blast! internet). Now, I haven't had a landline since 1999. I don't even own a phone that plugs into any wall-jack. But, to keep my rate stable, I swapped out my own cable-modem for their wacky telephone/modem combo. In one year, I never used the landline. But I still had what I considered a reasonable price for Blast! internet and mid-tier cable. I also still had on-demand HBO tossed in, but I couldn't watch "live" HBO.
A year later, I was notified that my $130 total was going to $160. At this point, I finally decided that I really needed to make a change. I analyzed what channels I had been watching and my viewing patterns. I decided to bite the bullet and make a change, so I downgraded to their $80 Blast! Internet and Digital Starter Tier. Sure, I lost 100+ channels, but the new setup still gives me 20 or so mainstream cable channels (USA, CNN, Comedy), the god/shopping/public access wasteland, and my local channels (including subchannels). Plus I get on-demand access to some random channels not in my package (MTV/VH1/TVLand/TBS/TNT) and all the mainstream channels in my package. I lost HBO on demand, but I only watched Bill Maher and Real Sports. I made the change on the day BEFORE Comcast announced their package for Blast!+Starter+HBO (for new customers only), so I imagine at some point, I may ask for HBO and see if they waive me in.
What did I lose?
ESPN. I am not a football fan, so am not missing the channel at all this time of year. In fact, I only really watched one half hour of ESPN regularly each week. I have watched the Sunday AM Sports Reporters for 20 years and will miss it. Once baseball begins again in April, I may upgrade. Then again, I may just opt for buying the Extra Innings or mlb.tv options.
Hockey. I have always been a fan and even bought the Center Ice package last year. My new package does not have NBCSN, Comcast California, or the NHL Network. The season is only a month old, but I think I won't really miss it until 2014 starts, at which point I may upgrade the cable portion, especially since much of the Winter Olympics will be carried on CNBC/MSNBC/NBCSN.
Bloomberg. Again, I only watched maybe an hour a week. Bloomberg puts all its programming online on-demand, so I will watch there.
MSNBC. This was a big one for me. The starter package includes CNN/Faux/RT, but not the Comcast-owned MSNBC. Yet I was only really watching an hour or so each day. But I can now stream the channel live via Comcast's own website or watch any prime time show on-demand (though msnbc still can't seem to load full episodes, instead making you watch segment by segment).
There are a handful of other programs on minor cable channels that I watched, but nearly all of them are found on-demand online.
Overall, I was probably watching 10 or so hours a week on those 100+ channels that I gave up. I figured to save $80 a month, I would gladly give up those 40 hours, especially since nearly all of the content could be found elsewhere (on demand or online). It's only been a week since the change went into effect and yes, it's not easy, but it's do-able.
Once 2014 arrives, I may shop around. I expect I will get deluged with Comcast for "deals" to upgrade. The Comcast infomercial advertising is always hawking "to watch channel X, upgrade for only $10 for 6 months" deals, so I will see how the next couple months go.
