Astros blocked CSNHouston deal?

Actually most people don't negotiate and just accept the rate increases when they come.

 

Based on the threads here about those comments and people's responses, I don't think that's the case at all.

 

Why would there be? Most sports fans have cable, and that cable already included the stations where the teams were on.

 

Took me 5 minutes to renegotiate with Time Warner 2 weeks ago. I kept the service I had and upgraded to whole home DVR for $0 more per month. Got free Showtime, too. They were out the same day to set up the new boxes.

I guess if you're not willing to take 5 minutes to call your cable company, then you will likely pay more and you deserve to do so.

 

Leroy, how do providers continue to incur higher costs without raising prices?

 

They raise prices. Most consumers don't call to complain. Heck, not one person I work with or associate with has called their cable provider to complain about rates or anything. I even got on the phone on behalf of one of my co-workers to get them a discount from DTV just to prove you could even do it.

 

It's funny. I never really did either, but it was just out of laziness. My wife, OTOH, now does takes care of this. She calls anytime our bill goes up so we're consistently getting awesome deals through Comcast.

 

And they are usually at the same rates for almost the entire country. Some even allow you to lock in your rate.

The truth is they will always tell you they have to raise rates to cover these costs. It is to get you on their side. Then they raise rates annually regardless of what happens.

 

Sure - and more and more providers are going to fight it. The evolution of this isn't over yet. My belief is that this is a huge bubble waiting to burst - great for the teams and networks that are able to secure these deals in the meantime, but this isn't going to last. The economics of it all simply don't work. That $2 billion that the Dodgers are going to get has to come from somewhere - and whoever that entity is is going to be losing money on the deal.

The whole thing is really going to fall apart the minute that ala-carte pricing finally takes hold, and that's definitely going to happen sooner or later.

 

I've gotten discounts, free DVR and free premium tiers.

The ability to watch most TV through the internet has them scared.

 

By preying on those too lazy to make a simple phone call...like RM95.

 

"sooner or later". That doesn't mean now. The procedure for getting to that point is a long, difficult one - but the economics of it ultmately make too much sense for too many people. 5 years ago, broadband wasn't nearly as widespread as today. Streaming video simply wasn't a major form of media. Netflix hadn't taken over the world and had barely launched streaming services. YouTube was only 3 years old. Hulu had barely launched. The networks weren't really streaming any of their content. etc etc.

 

So the answer is they raise prices.

 

It really is that easy.

Actually, if it were that hard, car salesman wouldn't exist. You would just pay the damn price on the car.