DescentBB

So, I'm going to be moving soon, and am looking to cut down on my utilities some. My primary target is cable- I figure I don't need all of the fancy channels, and really the only \"cable\" channel that I really care about is Comcast sports net, so I can watch the Flyers.

I go on their site, and look at the packages... they have a \"basic\" package listed at $15 a month (I'm willing to pay that) and it's description says that it includes \"local sports coverage\", so I'm like sweet, $15 a month, and I basically keep the broadcast channels + a couple junk channels + CSN, right?

Wrong. CSN doesn't come until the \"Extended basic\" service... which happens to cost $43 a month. It's basically a standard package, relabeled in some fancy way. Anyways, I'm not willing to pay $43 a month... it bothers me that they force you into a full cable package just to get local sports coverage.

I ditched my cable TV (kept the internet service) but never unplugged my TV from the wall socket. I now have some channels in HD (never did before), plus I still get the Weather Channel and a few other low-end channels. Comcast sucks, but at least they are nice enough to give me better-looking channels now that I'm not paying for them...

Unfortunately, most providers (dish and cable alike) cannot offer channels ala-cart. First because the technology just hasn't been there, altho its now available, implementing it is easier said than done because Congress has given the broadcasters and the Programmers (the people who make the TV channels you watch) all the negotiating power when it comes to the retransmission agreements. They are the ones that dicate how much your cable bill is, and how they can be packaged together, to an extent.

15 for limited basic, and 43 for expanded basic, is actually the norm for analog cable, and trust me, most of that the cable company doesn't get.

As for your channels coming through, the traps that give you internet only service aren't perfect, they have to be cut a few channels before the carrier frequency, which is why you get a few channels, traps just aren't that precise - and they're different for each provider depending on where their carriers are, so you may get a few freebies, while someone the next town over on the other provider may not, even if you have equivilent packages.

Yeah,

I'm moving to a house that isn't even wired for cable, and I'm not planning on cable internet... thus, I won't be getting any cable channels, paid for or not.

stopped watching TV 5 years ago and never looked back. All the stuff I really want to see (Lost, House, Chuck, Firefly, etc.) I can rent as a DVD and watch on the computer. It is amazing how much time you suddenly have when the TV is gone!

Hulu + Highspeed DSL is making me look hard at that cable bill too...