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What Happens When Subscribers to Cable or Satellite or Phone Company-Supplied TV Cancel Those Services and Go Back to Receiving Over-The-Air Stations With Rabbit Ears

Dec 6, 2010  •  Post A Comment

In a feature article about consumers who have abandoned pay TV services to return to getting over-the-air channels there is some evidence pointing to the folks who do this are "20-somethings who pair over-the-air and Internet programming," reports The New York Times.

For example, in the article a young couple, the Bayerls, are interviewed: " ‘ husband’s best friend thinks we’re big dorks for having rabbit ears and not cable,’Ms. Bayerl said. But when their introductory price for cable TV and Internet access expired this year and the bill soared to $150, the couple halved it by cutting TV. ‘It wasn’t something we were willing to pay for,’ he said.’ "

The article adds, "The only thing they do not love is how a low-flying plane, heavy rain or just a little too much movement in the room can wipe out the picture. ‘If someone is changing in there, it messes up your reception,’ said Ms. Bayerl, a legislative assistant. ‘We try to stay very still when we watch television.’ "

Says the story, "Many pay TV customers are making the same decision. From April to September, cable and satellite companies had a net loss of about 330,000 customers. Craig Moffett, a longtime cable analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, said the consensus of the industry executives he had talked to was that most of these so-called cord-cutters were turning to over-the-air TV. ‘It looks like they’re leaving for the antenna,’ he said."

2 Comments

  1. Well I don’t know about you, but I was brought up in the age of free radio; and I have NEVER paid for radio OR TV. Over-the-air free TV suits me fine to this day. I hope more people will realize they are throwing money away that could be better used elsewhere.

  2. I would say it has more to do with having no choice but to do away with everything but the bare necessities in life, due to households losing an income (or two!) and/or having to take jobs for less money than in previous years!

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