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26% of Netflix Users May Cancel Cable TV This Year, Says Survey (huffingtonpost.com) 92

Posted by BeauHD from the bundle-and-save dept.
The future looks grim for cable TV providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. A new survey says that as many as 26 percent of Netflix users may cancel their cable TV service by next year. Huffington Post reports: Where are they going? If you say "Netflix," you're not exactly correct. The fact is that, according to a recent survey by CutCableToday, 67 percent of Netflix subscribers still have cable. That's pretty much right in line with last year's numbers, insinuating that Netflix isn't necessarily synonymous with cord cutting. However, perhaps a more interesting statistic from the study shows that 26 percent of Netflix users may not have cable by next year. More specifically, 11 percent of Netflix users say they're going to cancel their cable contracts. 15 percent say they are unsure if they'll keep cable or cut the cord. What about the other 74 percent? The survey goes on to say that the most common reason people aren't canceling is due to Big Cable's greatest weapon. The bundle. The survey states that 80% of Netflix subscribers have their internet bundled with TV or phone service.
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26% of Netflix Users May Cancel Cable TV This Year, Says Survey More

26% of Netflix Users May Cancel Cable TV This Year, Says Survey

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  • And 26% of Netflix users will switch to Usenet.

    • I am a Netflix user and I will NOT cancel my cable. Reason: It costs me $0. The Comcast bundle of Internet+TV+Phone costs me exactly the same as just Internet. I have never actually watched cable, and it is not even connected to my TV, but it is nice to have it just in case someday there is something worth watching. In the meantime, it costs me nothing. The free landline phone is also handy when I misplace my cellphone somewhere in the house and need to make it ring so I can find it.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by davepk ( 691946 )
        I'm a Netflix user and i will not cancel my Usenet.
      • But then that just means you're being overcharged for Internet.

        • But then that just means you're being overcharged for Internet.

          Only if you assume that it costs them more than $0 to provide the TV service. Since all the bits are delivered over the same cable, the marginal equipment cost is zero. So if they make more in advertising revenue than they pay in licensing fees, the cost is negative, and the "Internet only" people are being undercharged.

          The likely reason they give TV away for free, is so they can claim a larger audience, and thus charge more for TV ads.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

            The likely reason they give TV away for free, is so they can claim a larger audience, and thus charge more for TV ads.

            Yeah, because the people buying adspace are retards who blindly trust the TV providers and do no market research of their own.

            I prefer to asssume that the people who are actually making a living doing something are atleast as knowledgeable about their job as me.

      • Time Warner is all digital, the ploy is to force one into renting the box for a few dollars more a month. We have only internet, not paying them for a cable box I don't need for a service I have no desire of There are far to many commercials on cable anyway and the programs are abysmal at this point. I am so done with cable TV. I go to my mother in laws house a couple times a month and a couple of hours of cable programming cures me of any desire I might have for cable TV service. Also, I am grown up a

      • Re:Usenet (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jetkust ( 596906 ) on Saturday September 17, 2016 @01:59AM (#52906211)
        smh. Have you ever thought why they are offering these "extra" services for no extra charge? The end result is you end up getting a bill for services you didn't want. You DON'T have control over this. They can charge you whatever they want regardless of anything they told you. My guess is the internet only option scares them because it's harder to find a way to sneak extra incomprehensible costs into your bill.

      • I am a Netflix user and I will NOT cancel my cable. Reason: It costs me $0. The Comcast bundle of Internet+TV+Phone costs me exactly the same as just Internet.

        Indeed. Comcast's wisdom was in bundling. However, there needs to be a movement to force public ISPs to offer Internet only at a FAIR price.

        I have never actually watched cable, and it is not even connected to my TV, but it is nice to have it just in case someday there is something worth watching.

        You are not missing ANYTHING! Cable TV is a 'bundle' of channels that repeat shows over and over and over and over .... and ... over and over...
        And, the shows are, at best, mediocre. It is obvious that Comcast is buying the cheapest shows at whatever deal they can get. There is NO consideration for consistent quality. It is the POOREST VALUE of any service I have ever

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Karlt1 ( 231423 )

        I looked into that recently. Comcast charges you the following fees on top of the quoted prices:
        - box rental
        - HD technology
        - regional sports
        - broadcast TV
        - universal Connectivity (for the bundled landline)
        - Regulatory Recovery (not a government fee)
        - TV communications fee (some states but you wouldn't have to pay the fee if you don't have TV service)

        https://consumerist.com/2016/0... [consumerist.com]

        Most of these fees can be avoided if you go Internet only. Also if you want Internet without a cap, it's an additional $50 for

  • Another one, just like the other one. How come nobody told me it was Finger in the Air day?

  • 67% of netflix subscribers still have cable!
    74% of netflix subscribers aren't going to cancel cable!
    15% of netflix subscribers are uncertain about canceling
    11% of netflix subscribers are going to cancel ... or is that 74% of the 64% of subscribers who have cable?? ...carry the 1..
    anyone understand reverse polish notation?

    • People are always saying they're going to cancel. When push comes to shove, they want that one sports channel that is only available by cable or satellite, or the cost of just internet access comes out to only a few dollars less, or the company offers them a deal that is too good to pass up. The cable companies and satellite providers have way more experience playing this game than the 26% who say they're going to leave.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cyberax ( 705495 )
        Fortunately, more and more people are getting cured out of the "sportsball watching" disease.

      • Me and my brother's solution to that (neither of us have cable) is to drive over to my parent's house on Sunday to watch football. My folks still like their cable shows, so they stay subscribed, and it gives the family a nice excuse to spend the day together, yelling at the TV (nothing like a nail-biting come-from-behind win to get the blood pumping) and sharing a meal together afterwards.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by DeBaas ( 470886 )

          and now 26% of parents of Netflix subscribers are thinking about cancelling Cable......

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Some sort of gif Venn diagram or a new look MONIAC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] using fluidic logic and a series of tubes to model the intentions of captive consumers.
      Actions like data caps, loss of usenet, deep packet inspection, slowing p2p, a la carte television, the costs of just profiting from expensive new fast internet could all be explored for shareholder profits.
    • I DO!

      Yet I do not understand this article!
  • Nice! Now I can cancel my Comcast television! And pay more for Comcast internet. And pay $10/month for Netflix, and $12/month for Hulu because I want to watch recent shows, not just seasons from two years ago (without commercials, since I can't fast forward like my DVR can), maybe another $9 if I want Showtime. And then $8.25/month for Amazon prime to fill in some gaps. And I like John Oliver and Game of Thrones so just $15 more a month. Oh! And I watch Stephen Colbert on CBS which was free for like 70 year

    • If you're that concerned about your media selection, perhaps cord cutting is not for you.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by KitFox ( 712780 )

      It's okay.

      Cost for me for Internet (Very Fast) + Cable TV == $270 a month, plus $22 cable box rental plus $15 for HBO + $15 for Showtime. == $322 per month.

      Cost for me for Internet alone: $150. $10 Netflix. $12 Hulu. $15 HBO, $11 Showtime. $10 one time OTA antenna of 3-day delay for CBS Online (Which is fine for me ), and of course Amazon Prime, which costs me $8.25 a month and saves me hundreds a year in shipping fees. But yeah, folks who like to watch sports are screwed, with NFL games online starting at

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by asylumx ( 881307 )

        There will always be some folks who have no choice but to get the TV service.

        Watching TV is a choice. No, I'm not the guy who has no TV, but I do at least recognize that I've made a choice by having one at all.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lgw ( 121541 )

      Most people get internet + Netflix + torrents (and already have Amazon Prime for the shipping). Just sayin'.

    • Try sling.. I'm going to be trying it out as the end of my Comcrap "contract" comes up soon. If Sling is as good as they claim I'm cutting the cord. :D

  • Bundling is monopolistic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by somenickname ( 1270442 ) on Friday September 16, 2016 @08:39PM (#52905013)

    So, basically, you have a physical monopoly (the connection coming into your house), that we, the taxpayers subsided, that is now being abused as a content monopoly. "Sure, you can have just an internet connection. But, it will cost you the same as getting internet/phone/tv. Oh, and we are going to cap your internet connection so, I highly recommend you take the bundle." I really can't wait until these fuckers finally generate enough hate among their users that it becomes a re-election issue for congress critters. The *only* way this problem will be solved is if the outrage of the voters outweighs the lobby money from the monopolies.

    • So, basically, you have a physical monopoly (the connection coming into your house), that we, the taxpayers subsided, that is now being abused as a content monopoly.

      I think it's a bit more complicated than that. Customers who have both TV and internet service are more likely to watch TV shows via the TV service. Particularly for cable, that comes out of a different bucket of bandwidth than if you watch TV shows via an internet streaming service. In short, cord-cutters will use more--and likely far, far more--internet bandwidth over time than will TV subscribers. Building out infrastructure so that any given subscriber can reliably stream around the clock costs mone

  • you're not allowed to make less money this year then you did last year. At least not if you're a corporation. Nintendo has enough money to lose $250 million a year for the next 20 years and they were scared enough of their investors to make an endless runner for iOS...

    We're backing the cable companies into a corner. The FCC is about to take away their exclusive set top boxes and 20 billion a year in revenue there. Netflix is attacking them on caps and ESPN is putting sports online.

    It begs the questio

  • Give me local news and I'll cancel (Score:3)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Friday September 16, 2016 @09:00PM (#52905143)
    Used to be football and news, but after the realizing last year how hard the Spanos family was totally fucking Chargers fans and San Diego taxpayers I don't really care about football anymore.

    Don't say "antenna", I live in San Diego and with all the mountains I might get 1 or 2 stations.
    • Give me the Hallmark Channel as a streaming service and I'll cancel. Until then, doing so would place my life in imminent jeopardy by my wife.
      • yeah, I hear these 30% will cancel cable...and I think 100% of those are single.

        Even if you could get all the equivalents via streaming...it took my wife a few years to get the hang of Tivo. Tivo! that bastion of stupid simple TV watching. I haven't yet seen a decent interface that can really qualify as luddite friendly and encompass streaming, internet and likely some OTA.

    • Have you tried a big honkin' ass antenna mounted on a tower? Just a suggestion.

      I can get most of the football games I want over an antenna, all the soccer, and then there's just the problem of hockey. I'm thinking of going to SlingTV for that. I just received one of those flat "Leaf" type antennas today and try that out for a few months. If not that, I might have to try to be handy and put something better up in the attic.

    • I had the same problem. I ended up getting a Roku. CBS, ABC, and BBC have pretty good free global news channels. And there's a channel called NewsON [newson.us] which gives you access to local news feeds. (The app used to be really flaky and crashed a lot, which is why its rating on Roku isn't very high. But an update this summer greatly improved reliability and usability.)

      And I would get a Roku 2 instead of a Roku 3. The button layout on the 3 remote is brain-dead. The select (OK) button is below the navigat [roku.com]

    • Go to TVfool.com and put in your address, and about 20' antenna height. Anything -120dBm or above, you can get with good antennas and a mast mounted preamp. I'd bet big money you can get most local stations, and for under $200 total.

  • We should get out more (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Friday September 16, 2016 @09:46PM (#52905385)

    I'd be happy to see more and more people dumping, (in addition to cable), Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc. Go out and take a walk, talk to your spouse and kids and parents and siblings, get together with friends to play some old-fashioned board games. Too many people, (myself included), are excessive consumers of prepackaged entertainment authored by other people.

    BTW, I suppose I should add Slashdot to that list of stuff to devote less time to. Gotta go kiss my girlfriend now... Bye!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I'd be happy to see more and more people dumping, (in addition to cable), Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc. Go out and take a walk, talk to your spouse and kids and parents and siblings, get together with friends to play some old-fashioned board games. Too many people, (myself included), are excessive consumers of prepackaged entertainment authored by other people.

      BTW, I suppose I should add Slashdot to that list of stuff to devote less time to. Gotta go kiss my girlfriend now... Bye!

      This has nothing to do with that dribble and you really need to stop preaching. You can be plenty interactive and still take advantage of modern technology and entertainment. Stop even implying that things are bad because you have self control issues. If you're so addicted to something that you literally have to make a special effort to kiss or talk to your SO you have a severely addictive personality. If you stop doing X you'll just find Y to fill it. Netflix, Facebook, online gaming, porn, etc... aren't t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jetkust ( 596906 )
        So true. One of the most insightful posts on Slashdot in a while, and may be completely ignored.

      • This has nothing to do with that dribble and you really need to stop preaching. You can be plenty interactive and still take advantage of modern technology and entertainment. Stop even implying that things are bad because you have self control issues.

        Whoa, slow down there Sparky! Touched a nerve there did I? I just read your response to my GF - the first words out of her mouth were "Transference, much?", followed by "you might want to mention that when you're watching too much TV or too many movies it's usually with me".

        If you're so addicted to something that you literally have to make a special effort to kiss or talk to your SO you have a severely addictive personality.

        Again, whoa! That's quite a jump from 'an excessive consumer of prepackaged entertainment' to 'severely addictive personality'. Leapt right over that vast middle ground between the two, didn't you? Probably didn't even notice it whizzing

    • get together with friends to play some old-fashioned board games.

      I think people don't try this as often as you wish because many people find Internet cheaper than airfare and/or cab fare to travel to where their friends live.

      • get together with friends to play some old-fashioned board games.

        I think people don't try this as often as you wish because many people find Internet cheaper than airfare and/or cab fare to travel to where their friends live.

        Too true. Sigh...

  • A few years ago, I asked my wife "Hey, do you watch almost $1000 a year worth of TV?". We decided we didn't.

    Don't miss it, have Netflix and Amazon Prime, and a 30 antenna to watch the superbowl (and Downton Abby on PBS for the missus, in HD, off the air, for free.)

    We can afford it, we just decided it was a waste of money.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      Yep this.
      I actually get better content since I cut the cable, from my antenna than the $60/month cable plan I had with Cox.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ZipK ( 1051658 )

        I actually get better content since I cut the cable, from my antenna than the $60/month cable plan I had with Cox.

        Indeed. If you like to watch movies and reruns from the 30-70s, and live in a broadcast-rich city, the number of networks (e.g., Movies!, GetTV, LAFF, MeTV, Cozi, Decades, Escape, Grit, Bounce, Ion, The Works) on sub-channels is pretty amazing.

  • and I cut it off. now I'm paying $69.88.

    With HBO.

    Look, cable is "fair" at $50 a month. Any price over that- I'm looking for alternatives.

    I have netflix and it's still okay.

    I just can NOT afford to pay $100 a month for TV. I WILL not pay $100 a month for TV.

    • This! I am an employee who gets a 50% discount, and I am STILL CONSIDERING CORD CUTTING because TV is just so SHIT! It fucking amazes me how people can afford to pay so much for TV.. like HOW FUCKING BORING IS YOUR LIFE?! KILL YOURSELF!!

  • So this Netflix thing... it's kind of like paying for Kodi and Exodus on a Raspberry Pi except that you have less choice of content?

    I don't get it.

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  • We've just about watched everything on it by which we are really excited and it has been working for shit lately while Amazon has been working just fine. Maybe that's a result of our junior-grade internet connection but as it's literally the best thing I can get here, that's quite irrelevant. We will probably pick up Comedy Central when we drop Netflix, assuming it works worth half a shit.

  • Both cable and satellite companies are forced to bundle by the network providers. I can't get just TruTV, I have to purchase every Turner network channel to include CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network, and the ton of other channels. Because of this, we are force to pay high costs to obtain a single channel from the network. I ditched my satellite provider almost a year ago and have been using a plethora of free providers and a couple paid providers (Hulu and Amazon Prime). There are a few things I miss, but it isn't
  • I hate Comcast so much that I wish I could cancel them a second time.
  • The only time I have had cable in the house is when I had young children, and they were only allowed to watch public TV.

  • Never had it, never wanted it.

    In Houston, I get about 70 broadcast channels (of which I watch about 3). With Netflix and Amazon, and Sling TV for ESPN during football season, I have no need for cable.

  • Unlikely this scare tactic article will affect Comcast - the 800 pound gorilla monster finessing it's way deeper into your wallet...

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