Tag Archives: bundling

Cable Bundling Blues

I think you misspelled "overpriced."
I think you misspelled “overpriced.”

It’s a common complaint about cable TV: to get the channels you want, you have to buy a bunch of channels you will never watch. It’s called Bundling and, if you don’t like it, you are invited to come down to our dirty, depressing office next to the check cashing place and drop off your cable box.

So, it’s a little ironic that the cable (and dish) companies are now the ones complaining about bundling.

Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt has made no secret of his distaste for the bundles of channels his and other cable companies are forced to accept in order to carry the few channels that customers actually watch. Now, says Britt, it’s time to actually do something about it.  The Consumerist

Now is the time, you see. Not all these years we have been screaming to cut the bundle, but now, because the cable guys are losing money. They have reached the point where they can’t pass any more of the cost on to us. Time Warner lost 140,000 subscribers in the past quarter alone.

If I had been a Time Warner customer, I would be among the 140K. Nothing personal, it’s just dollars and cents. I did the math, cancelled my subscription and went with a Roku box, digital rabbit ears, Netflix and Hulu. I am saving $100 a month, but your mileage may vary. And there are drawbacks like waiting, sometimes a while, for shows to land on Netflix or Hulu.

How about you? Do you feel, as Springsteen once said, “there’s 57 channels and nothing’s on?” Would you ever cut the cable?