Many of you have already cut the cord from your longtime cable television provider.
I wrote about my evaluation of doing this back in 2023.
Giving up a security blanket called cable television has been hard to do. In 2023, I successfully negotiated a cheaper overall rate by agreeing to a multi-year fixed price deal with our cable television and internet service provider.
We could have opted to switch to an internet-based television provider at the time. The price difference came out to less than $10/month to switch.
My wife and I agreed that the hassles probably weren’t worth $10 per month – yet.
Three years later, it was time to go to bat with the same large cable television and internet service provider. This time, the outcome would be different.
We have enjoyed a three decade love/hate business relationship
You may have seen a number of advertisements for our current cable/internet provider during the Winter Olympic games. While watching the women’s US Olympic curling team lose the Bronze medal to the evil Canucks the other night, my wife and I saw the company’s promotional ad several times.
It proudly proclaimed, “$50/month for 5 years of 1 GB internet service. No price increases. No contract required!”
That’s funny. The same company has been charging us $99 per month for the same level of service. Why are they offering such a deep discount to newbies?
Talk about bad timing. The cable/internet company had just mailed the February bill to us late last week.
It contained a big 20% surprise!
The company raised our bill by $36.17 per month for our combined cable television/internet package (125 TV channels plus their “Superspeed” internet service).
Our former bill was $182.33 per month.
The new bill amounted to $218.50 per month. There were no added services.
Hey, that’s almost 20% more? What is going on here?!!!
Our cable television package has zero add-ons for premium movies or sports packages. Just the 125+ channel tier has been fine for us.
The menu of cable television services offered by this national provider has relatively few (five as of today) bundled packages at various price points.
Their so-called basic package isn’t cheap and generally provides an assortment of local channels.
No, thanks! That’s why I bought my $29 Phillips plug-in antenna (for use as a back-up to watch local TV stations when needed).
The next price level had been our current 125-channel line-up. My wife was happy with her favorite channels like Food Network, HGTV, and a few movie options such as USA, Freeform, and AMC. Her sports-nut husband generally watches ESPN, Golf Channel, and a few others from his 10′ x 10′ SwampSwami SportsCave in the back portion of the house.
It’s OK to laugh and call me cheap. I prefer being called “fiscally prudent” with respect to our monthly entertainment expenditures.
We played this same game exactly three years ago
We took a hard look at our options in 2023 after a similar price hike surprised us by the same folks. Here’s a link to that story.
First, we decided to get rid of one of the two cable “boxes” and saved $14/month. A $49 Roku stick on the TV back in my SportsCave allowed me to watch the same cable television offerings via our wireless internet.
We had already purchased our own internet modem ($150) to jettison another of their monthly rental fees. It paid out in less than a year.
When I was finally able to bargain to lock-in a multi-year pricing deal in 2023, the net price increase came to less than $10 month.
We opted to stick around – and watch.
Your cable company will pass along the higher prices of ESPN and others
Some television pirates like ESPN have spent billions in the past decade bidding-up the cost of sports to maintain a dominant market position.
They are quite aware that the vast majority of us sports-addicted viewers are likely to pay the higher tab.
I get it. You must also step back and evaluate your purchasing habits at times, too.
Economics 201 would define this as the Elasticity of Demand.
At some price point, people will reject your product and walk away.
Grocery and utility prices have gone up. They are passing along the incremental costs of doing business. Customers have to make some hard choices.
Watching your wife shiver on the sofa during winter because her cheapskate husband wants to keep the thermostat at 68 degrees is not easy.
Are those tears or icicles coming from her eyes?
I no longer purchase as much of the now-$9/pound lean hamburger or my favorite hot chocolate mix anymore to save a few bucks.
Tonight, it’s red beans and rice Monday at our house.
Anyone from New Orleans knows that the dish is a local tradition borne out of economic necessity.
We used to add smoked sausage to our Monday mixture years ago. Alas, not anymore.
Perhaps my waistline should send a thank-you note to our local grocer for pricing us out of few items which I loved to consume.
Time for the latest big negotiation with the cable TV and internet provider!
This weekend, I prepared myself for the upcoming discussion with a “Customer Retention” representative. You have to be willing to walk away when arriving at this level. That negotiating tactic had saved us hundreds of dollars in previous years.
I updated my 2023 spreadsheet this weekend to affirm the TV channels we most heavily watch. Then, I looked-up the top internet-based television providers to see which one best satisfies our desires at a competitive price.
By the way, here is my updated analysis of product offerings and prices for various providers as of February, 2026:
My big telephone negotiation with our giant cable television/internet provider was not centered on the rising costs charged by ESPN, the local TV stations, and our overpriced regional sports channel.
I wanted the company to defend its Winter Olympic offering a $50/month internet price to new customers while having the gall to charge us $99/month for the same speed and service level.
Since the internet arrives at our house via their own lines installed years ago, that leaves only one party responsible for the $50 monthly internet price disparity.
The cable television/internet provider’s customer service rep was quite skilled at defending his company’s $36+/month rate increase.
I countered by asking how they can justify raising our home prices $36+/month while offering new customers a $50 lower internet monthly rate than this long-time customer is being charged.
He said, “We’re probably losing money on that deal, sir. To grow our customer base, we need to entice new customers to come onboard by offering something of value to them.”
I responded, “So, you’re willing to raise the rates of a long-time customer like me who quietly pays his bill on time in order to lure others with a discount. It seems like it should be the other way around.”
He didn’t argue that point.
Instead, he quickly deflected to asking about our cell phone provider! The same cable/internet rep who raised the rates now wanted to discuss our cell phone business? He was quite sure they could offer a lower price than Ma Bell was likely charging us.
I told him that I was quite aware there were cheaper cell phone providers, but this call was about his company’s television and internet rates. Please stay on topic.
The representative mentioned their relatively new “Sports and News” TV package which is $15 per month less than our current service level. Already aware of the option, I said the service tier also contained significantly fewer channels – including several of my wife’s favorite channels.
The old axiom “Prior preparation prevents poor performance” is still valid.
Ultimately, the cable TV/internet rep failed to offer a lower price for our current level of service. He mentioned that we could save $10 month. That was only if we would allow their company to directly bill us via credit card instead of having them prepare and mail a rather environmentally unfriendly monthly bill to us.
I reminded him that their paper bill was how we noticed the significant rate increase like this one. We do utilize e-payments with business partners who do not unilaterally attempt to charge higher prices without a providing a higher level of service to go with it. No, thanks.
It was actually a rather civil conversation with an extremely knowledgeable representative who boldly held the company line.
Here’s a good rule to remember about customer service interactions. An unhappy customer will tell an average of 20-25 people about their bad experience with a company. A happy customer will only mention their positive experience to, perhaps, four or five others on the average.
Bad news travels fast, too.
Ask Cracker Barrel. Their stock price dropped by 50% in a matter of weeks last year and still hasn’t recovered.
We signed-up for and started using YouTube TV today. It was very simple and took about ten minutes.
It comes with a five-day free trial. Then the rate begins at a discounted $59.99/month level for two months. The price will convert to the current standard $82.99/month after that.
I will now receive the Big Ten Network, ACC Network, and CBS Sports Network in this package. My wife (who felt uncomfortable about making this big change) seems pleased, too.
We’ll both learn more about new internet-based TV product this week. I will plan to return the cable TV box back to those other guys soon.
For now, we are still utilizing the current provider’s internet service. Other fiber-optic providers have sent cards and letters for months wanting our business. That will be a much trickier business decision to make. I’ll be dialing for dollars to learn more soon.
There is just one negative.
We will lose MeTV (one of our favorite channels) as part of this switch. However, I just verified that we can receive MeTV via our local UHF channel in the SwampSwami Sports Cave utilizing my little ol’ $29 Phillips plug-in digital antenna.
Our “exciting” Saturday nights watching classic TV favorites (Svengoolie, Batman, Star Trek, and Superman) has been rescued!
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