Media Survey Update- August, 2011
Some of you asked to be updated following your participation in my media survey awhile back. So here is an update on what I finally did.
I decided to purchase an amplified TV antenna from Radio Shack and placed it in different locations while I tested how many local stations I could receive. Finally settled on a spot in the attic above the garage where at least 30 local stations came in reliably.
Only about ten of those stations were channels we would ever watch however. The rest were either Spanish language, all-religion or 'filler' channels.
I then experimented with online methods of receiving TV. Bloomberg streams its financial programming on it's website reliably. CNN sometimes streams live video, as does MSNBC. Then I discovered a free program called Readon lets you receive live streams of many other channels including CNN-London reliably, with good quality video.
This seemed adequate, since we receive most of our entertainment from Netflix, mostly use online news sites to get information.
So I called Time Warner and pulled the plug. Told them I was dropping their pricey digital TV service and would only retain their high speed Road Runner internet program.
The Time Warner person offered to drop the price rather quickly but not by much.
Our original monthly charge for Internet/TV was $145. They offered to drop it to $100.
I said no, and so their TV service would expire.
My new higher rate for internet only would be $67 a month.
Then, a day later we received a call from a Time Warner supervisor who offered a new deal: The full digital TV package, throw in a DVR and high speed Roadrunner for-- get this: $65 a month for two years, no contract- we could still drop the service at any time.
So essentially they offered to give us cable TV and a DVR for free for two years.
I took the deal.
This tells me the cable companies must be losing customers at a rapid clip, because of the way they price their services and added competition (Netflix and AT&T in our area).
So if you don't like what you are paying for cable TV, you might call them up and see what they'll do. It won't hurt your wallet, that's for sure.
posted by NC at 2:51 PM
Thanks for participating in our Media Survey. Here are the results.
Out of 60 participants:
Six have no TV at all (but do have cellphone and internet)
12 use an antenna to receive local broadcast TV stations
3 use converter boxes on older sets 9 use HDTV sets
14 have Cable TV, Internet and Phone Bundled
Average monthly cost $153.00
High: 225
Low : 85
15 have Cable TV and Internet Bundled
Average monthly cost $138.00
High: 210
Low: 64
7 have Internet and Phone Bundled
Average monthly cost $ 85.00
High: 160
Low: 45
10 have Satellite TV
Average monthly cost $77.00
High: 108
Low: 25
5 have internet only
Average monthly cost $52.00
High: 72
Low: 32
3 have basic Cable TV
Average monthly cost $17.00
High: 20
Low: 15
18 subscribe to newspapers
Average monthly cost $16.00
High: 28
Low: 2.00
25 have cellphone service
Average monthly cost $ 105.00
High: 230
Low: 45
6 have prepaid cellphone service
Average monthly cost $21.00
High: 30
Low: 10
1 has Magic Jack Phone
Average monthly cost $1.60
2 have paid Skype Service
Average monthly cost $3.00
26 have Netflix Movie Service
Average monthly cost $ 12.00
5 donate to NPR or PBS
Average monthly donation $ 18.00
15 subscribe to magazines
Average monthly cost $ 5.80
2 subscribe to online newspapers
Average monthly cost $6.00
3 subscribe to Sirius Satellite Radio
Average monthly cost $14
2 subscribe to Pandora Music
Average monthly cost $3.00
2 subscribe to Napster Music
Average monthly cost $5.00
4 persons use iTunes to download one or more songs per month
Respondents ages ranged from 25 to 80
Average respondent age was 53
Survey results are not as complete as I had hoped because there were several apples-oranges and pears comparisons.
For example, there is no breakout of cable TV with premium channels and
I am fairly sure some did not list their cellphone subscriptions because,
unfortunately, I did not ask specifically for that information.
A few observations:
Most who have no TV were under age 35
All under age 35 do not subscribe to a newspaper
Most who subscribe to newspapers were over age 40
Several said they were able to get lower cable TV subscription rates because they called their provider and threatened to discontinue service.
Several said they are angry with their cable providers because they must subscribe to packages which include many channels they never watch.
And several said they are glad they participated because they hadn’t realized
just how much they were spending on these items.
The survey took awhile to complete because I went out of my way to get more participants from the ‘under 30’ group.
Thanks again for participating in the survey. Our plan later this summer
is to install an amplified HDTV antenna and drop cable TV completely.
An early test with a small antenna brought in 16 local channels, and we hope to get more with a stronger antenna.
posted by NC at 11:41 AM
This is a 'cost of media' survey.
We've come a long way from the days when the only TV channels were the three commercial networks and PBS. In recent years we have noticed our use of media has changed. We now get most of our news and information from the internet. And with the arrival of Netflix, much of our entertainment comes from the internet, as well.
If you will share with me your media subscriptions and monthly cost, I will compile and share the responses with all who participate (removing identities but including
demographics such as age.)
We are debating dropping cable TV altogether and going with over-the-air HDTV broadcasting with an antenna, while keeping our internet subscription. Your input will be helpful as we consider this change, and might be helpful to others who wish to compare options and cost as well.
I'll go first:
We currently subscribe to digital cable TV through Time Warner and high speed internet through the Time Warner Road Runner service. This comes to $145 a month.
We also subscribe to Netflix at $10 per month.
We subscribe to National Geographic for $30 per year and Wired for $10.
We recently dropped our long time local newspaper subscription, and instead we access local and national news on the web.
So our monthly media budget is now approximately $158.
Our Verizon cellphone bill is roughly $50 a month, and we also have an ATT Landline for $30 a month.
Please respond with your media subscriptions and monthly cost, and I will share the results of this survey with you. Please include your age.
Respond to ncstockguy@gmail.com
Naturally, I hope you will participate, but simply ignore this if you are not interested.
posted by NC at 11:46 AM
