Dave C

[vegasnitro]

The concept of buying vans, equipping them with thousands of dollars of wire and repair tools and equipment, then hiring someone...paying them a good wage with good benefits is why I paid THREE times as much for cable.

I can't see how they'll continue with their current model. I realize they're ramping up to sell more services (high speed internet and telephone) but it still won't go. In this market Charter makes you "bundle" their services to get their new stuff. This means you have to pay three times as much for TV service for the privelege to buy their overpriced internet and overpriced phone service. It's an old fashioned business model based on high labor costs.

The bundle in Vegas is $99 (Cox Communications). That gets you 75 channels of TV, digital phone with all features, and 3 Mbit/s internet service. You can add HD for $10 (box rental ... no charge for the actual channels).

Either Charter's prices are WAY out of line, or you got a smokin' deal on your DirecTV John ... either way you done good. My parents have DirecTV in their motorhome, 1 receiver, HBOs, and sports package on top of the basic programming and it is $65 per month. The upside is no matter where they take the RV, they always have TV. The downside is that is a fair piece more than they pay their cable company in their home in Kentucky for LESS services/boxes.

As I was saying before, the cost of programming is not controlled by the cable/satellite companies, it is controlled by the networks. HBO is $8.95 per month (or thereabouts) no matter who you subscibe to. Sometimes you can get special rates, but that is controlled by HBO promotions, not by your local cable or satellite provider. That is why both cable and satellite try to get you to bundle channels together, for instance in Vegas if you want SpeedTV, you have to get the sports tier on digital cable. So you will wind up with ESPNU, ESPN Classic, Golf Channel, various Fox Sports outlets and some other junk just so you can watch Speed for an increase in your bill of $10, they are amoritizing the cost of the channels knowing that you will likely not watch all of them. It is the same for DirecTV.

Cable's operating overhead is surprisingly low. Once the cable is in the ground, and they got you as a subscriber, the ROI is relatively quick especially if you bundle services, because the internet is all cheese (at Cox we owned our own backbone and servers, if you had to lease bandwidth/server space, there is still a healthy profit margin in internet).

This is a 6 of one/half a dozen of the other type of argument. Some people have had good experience with satellite, some with cable and they will spend their dollars accordingly. When I worked there, I found people generally hate utility type companies, so I learned quickly not to wear company shirts out into public or volunteer where I worked to strangers, cuz then the b!tch session would begin ....

Sorry for being WAY off topic ....

 

[clwill]

This is a 6 of one/half a dozen of the other type of argument. Some people have had good experience with satellite, some with cable and they will spend their dollars accordingly.

My issue isn't price, it's service, and quality of product. We have this tiny little company, and their service and product is horrible. The neighborhoods to our west (200 yards away) and to our east (200 feet away) have Comcast, and they get great picture, a million channels we don't get, great HD, and great service for the same price. But because this crappy little company has a government authorized monopoly on our development, we're screwed. That, quite simply, sucks.

Oh -- and the ONLY way for me to get ESPN2 in HD (read: NHRA Racing) is off the bird, my little company doesn't offer it in HD. <<Maybe that'll get this thread kind back on track >>

 

[vegasnitro]

My issue isn't price, it's service, and quality of product. We have this tiny little company, and their service and product is horrible. The neighborhoods to our west (200 yards away) and to our east (200 feet away) have Comcast, and they get great picture, a million channels we don't get, great HD, and great service for the same price. But because this crappy little company has a government authorized monopoly on our development, we're screwed. That, quite simply, sucks.

Oh -- and the ONLY way for me to get ESPN2 in HD (read: NHRA Racing) is off the bird, my little company doesn't offer it in HD. <<Maybe that'll get this thread kind back on track >>

There were a couple of high profile developments in Vegas that did something similar to what you describe. The tenants successfully sued the homeowners associations/developers to open the development to Cox's services. I would be willing to bet if you dug a little deeper, you would find that small company was owned by someone in your development, or someone was getting a cut of the monthly bills of everyone in your development to maintain the exclusivity of that contract. That was the case in Vegas ....

 

[Terry]

Hey, I heard Dave Connolly will be racing in Atlanta! Anyone else hear anything about that?

 

[none]

Dave C is for Connolly??? I thought that it stood for Cable......or Charter......or Cox

 

[Alan]

Dave C is for Connolly??? I thought that it stood for Cable......or Charter......or Cox

Maybe even Comcast???

This was a big time thread-jacking.....

 

[Terry]

Maybe even Comcast???

This was a big time thread-jacking.....

No kidding! At least Alan and I have never been involved in a thread hijack! Right, Kelly?

 

[Kelly]

No kidding! At least Alan and I have never been involved in a thread hijack! Right, Kelly?

LMFAO! It's funny cuz waaaaay back I used to be accused of it all the time. NOW, everybody does it!

The way I look at it is that is how everyday conversations work anyway. Around the water cooler, does the conversation stay ONLY about one subject for very long? I'm mean really?

 

[Terry]

LMFAO! It's funny cuz waaaaay back I used to be accused of it all the time. NOW, everybody does it!

The way I look at it is that is how everyday conversations work anyway. Around the water cooler, does the conversation stay ONLY about one subject for very long? I'm mean really?

And some of the really big time derailed threads are the places where we maters really get to know each other--some of the best (and funniest) info comes out of heavily derailed threads....by the way, I have two questions--is Dave Connolly supposed to be racing in Atlanta, and has anyone heard anything about Skuza???

 

[Alan]

And some of the really big time derailed threads are the places where we maters really get to know each other--some of the best (and funniest) info comes out of heavily derailed threads....by the way, I have two questions--is Dave Connolly supposed to be racing in Atlanta, and has anyone heard anything about Skuza???

Thread jackings are great! All the good stuff tends to come from a derailment.....Heck, it was from a thread-jacking PJ I learned that I don't get the 'cred at 1000 posts, I will always be 10 posts away. Personally I think he had his pink tu-tu in a bunch because I make Countdown jokes..

 

[clwill]

There were a couple of high profile developments in Vegas that did something similar to what you describe. The tenants successfully sued the homeowners associations/developers to open the development to Cox's services. I would be willing to bet if you dug a little deeper, you would find that small company was owned by someone in your development, or someone was getting a cut of the monthly bills of everyone in your development to maintain the exclusivity of that contract. That was the case in Vegas ....

Last diversion on this topic... I promise. The original developer was in cahoots with the original cable company owner. But that was 20 years ago, both are long since gone. The issue is not the HOA (we all want it gone), but the local Public Utilities Commission who is holding to the exclusive charter. We're trying to fight it.

<<Thread Hijack Complete>>

 

[Alan]

Last diversion on this topic...

<<Thread Hijack Complete>>

What was the topic?

 

[clwill]

What was the topic?

Dave, the cable guy

 

[Terry]

Dave, the cable guy

Now, that's funny! I like that one!

 

[Johnny Mopar]

Hey, I heard Dave Connolly will be racing in Atlanta! Anyone else hear anything about that?

Is he that "PUNK" that used to kick the Professor's A$$??? If so...it'll be great to have him back. It's always special when the students teach the actual lessons!

 

[Johnny Mopar]

The bundle in Vegas is $99 (Cox Communications). That gets you 75 channels of TV, digital phone with all features, and 3 Mbit/s internet service. You can add HD for $10 (box rental ... no charge for the actual channels).

Either Charter's prices are WAY out of line, or you got a smokin' deal on your DirecTV John ... either way you done good. My parents have DirecTV in their motorhome, 1 receiver, HBOs, and sports package on top of the basic programming and it is $65 per month. The upside is no matter where they take the RV, they always have TV. The downside is that is a fair piece more than they pay their cable company in their home in Kentucky for LESS services/boxes.

Sorry for being WAY off topic ....

Chris,

Here's the standard deal with Direct TV. It's untouchable by Cable...

DIRECTV: DIRECTV - Best Offer

 

[d'kid]

And some of the really big time derailed threads are the places where we maters really get to know each other--some of the best (and funniest) info comes out of heavily derailed threads....by the way, I have two questions--is Dave Connolly supposed to be racing in Atlanta, and has anyone heard anything about Skuza???

There will be no more thread high jacking by you two....

It's better to use Low-jac... that way you always know where your thread is

d'kid

 

[Alan]

There will be no more thread high jacking by you two....

It's better to use Low-jac... that way you always know where your thread is

d'kid

Oh great Terry, now Karl has us pegged us resident thread-jackers....

 

[Alan]

Dave, the cable guy

BTW, I thought Jim Carey was in that one....

 

[Terry]

There will be no more thread high jacking by you two....

It's better to use Low-jac... that way you always know where your thread is

d'kid

Damn, Karl, I just gotta admit that is WAYYY clever even if the joke is on Alan and me!
Good weekend and good racing to all. Husker boy signing out!