‘Changes’

This blog topic is personal for me. It is not too personal. It is relatable. (I invite others, who may have a similar experience, to share. If one wants to do that.)

Last week, after more than 20 years as a customer, I ended my cable-television subscription with a mini-dish satellite-to-the-home provider who I will respectfully not name. (It was not that company’s fault.)

One reason is because I am planning on getting a new roof, on which I have not one but two satellite dishes, possibly as soon as next year. 

My decision came a few months ago. It was a matter of timing. I had a promotional price going which, along my monthly period of service, were both reached last week. I knew, around late-March, that I should time both the same with cancellation. It was good for me to observe and respond.

If I get back to wanting to watch again the likes of numerous programmers, I have several choices. Already I am supplementing my local stations package with, and I don’t mind naming the company, the separate streaming service Frndly TV. As a viewer of Hallmark Channel, I can get all screens of Hallmark—the primary along with sister channels Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama—and I get over 20 other programmers: A&E (and its sister channels which include The History Channel); Lifetime; Game Show Network; UP TV; GAC Family (and its sister channel GAC Living); QVC; the outdoor-sports programmers Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, and World Fishing Network; as well as the national feeds of some subchannels like Decades, Heroes & Icons, and MeTV.

Since this is new for me, I am not adding anything more for the time being. I want to see how it goes. I don’t feel an immediate need to sign up for, say, Sling to get more high-profile, basic-cable programmers. I considered FuboTV and Hulu Live (since I subscribe already to the ads-free Hulu and this would include Disney+). And I am on break from premium-movie programmers such as HBO Max and Showtime.

My area cable company, a few days ago, gave me a deal which actually lowers the cost I had been paying for my monthly Internet subscription. About –$15 less. Same speed level. And this now includes the locals from my Designated Marketing Area (DMA) of Detroit, Michigan. So, when it comes to having the access to my area’s broadcast networks’s affiliated stations, I’m good.

I have found myself watching more and more original content people livestream and/or publish to, say, YouTube. The trend, lately, for political content is with livestreams which last more than an hour; sometimes more than two hours; and they are pleasing for the viewers. More often than not, I catch them live—or I catch that content creator’s livestream later. (This comes in handy especially with my premium-level subscription to The Jimmy Dore Show.)

It is very interesting…this phenomenon of people cutting the cord, so to speak, with cable-television subscriptions. Some explain it as people preferring to stream. I don’t think that is fully accurate. I think what explains it, better than anything else, is that too many people—much thanks to this nation’s poor system—have it rough economically and, for that reason, they prioritize. (They have to.) In fact, when I let that satellite-to-the-home provider know I was cancelling service, that company’s rep may have assumed this also explained my decision. I simply stated I am leaving due to “changes”—and I could not go into details. This was received in a way which was suggested that I was cancelling due to a change in one’s economic situation. (The rep sounded sympathetic and wished me well.)

The cable companies have defeated the satellite-to-the-home providers with getting in on and investing, over time, on broadband infrastructure. Internet. For people who would choose one over the other: They opt for Internet before a cable-television subscription. And, yes, I agree with those who think the Internet should become a utility here in the United States.