Cable Sucks!

Yesterday, I read that the average American cable TV subscriber is now paying $128 a month. In 2001, the average was $48, so the cost has almost tripled in 10 years. I also see that Time Warner cable and our local CBS affiliate are in an 11th hour stare-down over fees (Warner wants to cut its fee to the local) and the station may be pulled from Warner tonight. And a good old friend of many years went to Facebook to share his frustrations over service from his cable provider, Insight.

All of which leads me to say, Cable really sucks! Remember how the Great Cable TV Deregulation of the 1980's was going to lower costs, improve service, and increase competition? P.T. Barnum saw us coming on that one! The exact opposite has occurred.

It's a case study in free market unintended consequences. Certain cable programming is very popular. A good example is ESPN (and its offspring ESPN 2, 3, U, News, Classic, etc.) ESPN is on every cable system and in every bar and hotel in the land. And they charge a pretty penny to cable providers, and raise their rates to them regularly. The cable companies pass this on directly to us (plus a little extra) and justify it by adding more and more half-assed (and cheap) programming. "Prices are going up next month, but look -- you get 25 more channels! Isn't that wonderful?"

Bruce Springsteen once sang about "57 Channels And Nuthin' On". These days, it's more like 357 channels of nothing. It is way, way more than anyone could possibly watch, TiVo, or DVR.

I don't know whether this calls for re-regulation of the industry, but I do know that we subscribers need a cafeteria-style option in what we sign up for and pay for. Not everyone wants ESPN. If you don't want it, you should be able to drop ESPN and save yourself some money. As for me, I must have ESPN, but I do not give a flying fuck about Fox News, the Oprah Channel, or the Home Shopping Network. Why should I pay for them?

With today's technology, giving us a pick-and-choose programming menu would be a snap. But cable companies have nothing but lame excuses about why it can't be done. Obviously, their existing model is more profitable.

Maybe we need that re-regulation after all.