The (Not-Quite) New Austerity
Jan. 5th, 2011 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanI grew up with cable tv. My parents got it the moment it was available in our town -- with a family of five, it actually WAS cheaper than going to the movies, even then. I've had it for most of my life, except when I lived in dorms, and thought the cost justified. But the two years I lived in New Haven, I went down to Basic Cable (translation: the major networks and a few smaller channels that didn't have enough ooomph that Comcast thought it could get extra for them. Although I was sad not to get Food Porn or Sci-Fi or TNT, I survived just fine (visiting friends when there was something I HAD to watch).
When I moved down to NYC three years ago, Cablevision made me a decent offer for bundled "Family Plan" cable with my internet, and so suddenly I had All. Those. Channels*, and more. And it was glorious....
Until, the past year, I started to realize that I was watching a lot of repeats, bad movies that weren't amusing me any more, and only two or three shows (mainly on TNT/SyFy)that I ended up buying on DVD as soon as they were available, anyway. And yet, Cablevision kept increasing the rates. Was it worth it?
Last week, I decided that no, it really wasn't. The $500/year difference between Basic Cable and "Family Plan" could be better used elsewhere (like buying a Nook and a lot of books to put in it!).
So I am now down to the so-called "free" channels, for $15/month (and they increased the cost of my Internet connection by $5 to $49, because I no longer had a "package." Classy, Cablevision.) I'll let you know if I start to get the shakes when the new season of Leverage starts, and I have to wait a few days to see it....
*still no HBO or Showtime, though, as that would have been even more money, and I am a Humble Freelancer
When I moved down to NYC three years ago, Cablevision made me a decent offer for bundled "Family Plan" cable with my internet, and so suddenly I had All. Those. Channels*, and more. And it was glorious....
Until, the past year, I started to realize that I was watching a lot of repeats, bad movies that weren't amusing me any more, and only two or three shows (mainly on TNT/SyFy)that I ended up buying on DVD as soon as they were available, anyway. And yet, Cablevision kept increasing the rates. Was it worth it?
Last week, I decided that no, it really wasn't. The $500/year difference between Basic Cable and "Family Plan" could be better used elsewhere (like buying a Nook and a lot of books to put in it!).
So I am now down to the so-called "free" channels, for $15/month (and they increased the cost of my Internet connection by $5 to $49, because I no longer had a "package." Classy, Cablevision.) I'll let you know if I start to get the shakes when the new season of Leverage starts, and I have to wait a few days to see it....
*still no HBO or Showtime, though, as that would have been even more money, and I am a Humble Freelancer
