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Are any other non-Americans here as genuinely shocked as I am by the idea of paying $175 a month for TV?

Drakim 11y ago
Yes! $175 seems like an absurd cost, and I bet it's full of advertising too. It seems especially strange when I think about what other things I could get for 175$.
soylentcola 11y ago
American here and the only reason we have cable TV is because it's nowhere near that expensive when bundled with internet access. Since cable is our only option for broadband where I live, it breaks down like this: Just internet access for $70/mo Internet access plus HBO and several channels and a tuner/DVR rental for ~$110/mo Now, there are some limitations. On HBO, only the "main" HBO is in HD. The other HBO channels are only SD. Same goes for other cable. The "big" channels and network re-broadcasts are in HD or SD but many of the more niche channels are only in SD. Additionally, with the phasing out of unencrypted QAM, you can't easily use your own tuner. I used to use a simple Hauppauge card in a PC along with a software tuner/DVR program to handle all of my channel flipping and recording but now I have to use their crappy cable box. In theory I could get a different PCI or USB card/box and rent a CableCard to handle the decryption and use my own tuner/DVR but CableCard is very poorly supported both in terms of software compatibility and cableco support. In the end, we decided to keep cable for now even though I watch maybe one or two shows on traditional cable every week. The vast majority of my watching is done on Netflix or HBOGo. Still, my gf likes the convenience of just being able to flip through channels and she does a lot more "casual" watching of stuff that wouldn't be found on Netflix. If we swapped cable for Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and whatever other OTT subscription services, it wouldn't save a whole lot of money and you'd be stuck dealing with various apps and websites to find the specific thing you're looking for. If it was just me, I'd probably skip cable TV but since it's both of us, we have to balance the actual savings against the very real issue of convenience, usability, and options. I think a main issue is that there's not always an easy way to find the cheaper cable plans. They aren't well advertised and we typically get these offers after specifically asking for them from a cable customer service rep.
grandalf 11y ago
As an American I think it's absurd too, which is why I don't do it. I get 120 Megabits/second internet for under $100/month and use netflix, etc. if I want to watch a show or movie.
bsharitt 11y ago
I'm and american and I've never paid that much for even my combined internet and TV.
joezydeco 11y ago
To explain to non-Americans: $175 for "TV" doesn't mean just the typical channels you would receive over an antenna or clear satellite. $175 is typically the largest premium package, which includes about 100-200 specialty/sports channels plus about 20-30 movie channels.
- theandrewbailey 11y ago
  And with that, you get over 1000 channels, but almost none of them have anything interesting on.

Yes! $175 seems like an absurd cost, and I bet it's full of advertising too. It seems especially strange when I think about what other things I could get for 175$.

soylentcola 11y ago

American here and the only reason we have cable TV is because it's nowhere near that expensive when bundled with internet access. Since cable is our only option for broadband where I live, it breaks down like this: Just internet access for $70/mo Internet access plus HBO and several channels and a tuner/DVR rental for ~$110/mo Now, there are some limitations. On HBO, only the "main" HBO is in HD. The other HBO channels are only SD. Same goes for other cable. The "big" channels and network re-broadcasts are in HD or SD but many of the more niche channels are only in SD. Additionally, with the phasing out of unencrypted QAM, you can't easily use your own tuner. I used to use a simple Hauppauge card in a PC along with a software tuner/DVR program to handle all of my channel flipping and recording but now I have to use their crappy cable box. In theory I could get a different PCI or USB card/box and rent a CableCard to handle the decryption and use my own tuner/DVR but CableCard is very poorly supported both in terms of software compatibility and cableco support. In the end, we decided to keep cable for now even though I watch maybe one or two shows on traditional cable every week. The vast majority of my watching is done on Netflix or HBOGo. Still, my gf likes the convenience of just being able to flip through channels and she does a lot more "casual" watching of stuff that wouldn't be found on Netflix. If we swapped cable for Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and whatever other OTT subscription services, it wouldn't save a whole lot of money and you'd be stuck dealing with various apps and websites to find the specific thing you're looking for. If it was just me, I'd probably skip cable TV but since it's both of us, we have to balance the actual savings against the very real issue of convenience, usability, and options. I think a main issue is that there's not always an easy way to find the cheaper cable plans. They aren't well advertised and we typically get these offers after specifically asking for them from a cable customer service rep.

grandalf 11y ago

As an American I think it's absurd too, which is why I don't do it. I get 120 Megabits/second internet for under $100/month and use netflix, etc. if I want to watch a show or movie.

bsharitt 11y ago

I'm and american and I've never paid that much for even my combined internet and TV.

joezydeco 11y ago

To explain to non-Americans: $175 for "TV" doesn't mean just the typical channels you would receive over an antenna or clear satellite. $175 is typically the largest premium package, which includes about 100-200 specialty/sports channels plus about 20-30 movie channels.

theandrewbailey 11y ago
And with that, you get over 1000 channels, but almost none of them have anything interesting on.