Shaw Cable, What a Ripoff

[UhOh]

Why does British Columbians put up with being ripped off so much? Being a long weekend and laying low today I've had time on my hands to watch some tv.

There's nothing worthwhile on this shaw service to watch. I flick through the guide and whenever I select something that looks interesting it says SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. Meaning I have to pay even more on top of the already outrageous rate already being paid for the regular crappy selection. I look for a bill and I'm paying over $140/month for cable and internet. That alot more than Ive paid in the US for much better selection.

You do realize you're being robbed right?

 

[VanessaofBC]

Why does British Columbians put up with being ripped off so much? Being a long weekend and laying low today I've had time on my hands to watch some tv.

There's nothing worthwhile on this shaw service to watch. I flick through the guide and whenever I select something that looks interesting it says SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. Meaning I have to pay even more on top of the already outrageous rate already being paid for the regular crappy selection. I look for a bill and I'm paying over $140/month for cable and internet. That alot more than Ive paid in the US for much better selection.

You do realize you're being robbed right?

Yes, as a matter of fact I did. When I finally had my own laptop and I realized what a rip off cable was for two reasons. #1, I was barely watching TV anymore and #2, I can watch what I want, when I want on the internet.

 

[vancity_cowboy]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...rte-menu-begins-to-take-hold/article14414716/

i just read this today about the crtc demanding the implementation of a la carte programming rather than bundled channels

 

[badbadboy]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...rte-menu-begins-to-take-hold/article14414716/

i just read this today about the crtc demanding the implementation of a la carte programming rather than bundled channels

That's interesting because the history going back 20 years was the CRTC demanded bundled channels in the first place. It was to support multicultural and diverse groups who otherwise would not be supported by the mainstream viewership.

Broadcasters also had to subsidize these minority channels and could only do it via bundling them with more popular channels. I think there may be a backlash from some of the minor players on this one.

Personally I only watch HD but still have to pay for the basic package. Over 300 channels and I think I may view perhaps 10 in any given week.

 

[badbadboy]

Why does British Columbians put up with being ripped off so much? Being a long weekend and laying low today I've had time on my hands to watch some tv.

There's nothing worthwhile on this shaw service to watch. I flick through the guide and whenever I select something that looks interesting it says SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. Meaning I have to pay even more on top of the already outrageous rate already being paid for the regular crappy selection. I look for a bill and I'm paying over $140/month for cable and internet. That alot more than Ive paid in the US for much better selection.

You do realize you're being robbed right?

It's been a long time so I don't know Telus's rates. Are they less expensive? Do they still demand a three year contract? Seemed fairly similar last time I checked five + years ago.

 

[NataliaBijoux]

Is the Telus channel selection better than Shaw, or are they basically all the same channels?
I really want Investigation Discovery but i am not sure if Shaw offers it

 

[diamondd5243]

Shaw is fkn bullshite.. they kept consistently upping my monthly fee by a couple of dollars every few months. I'm now paying about $50 more than I had signed up for... great that they're adding new HD channels, but at least explain that to me and give me an option to decline rather than up my stuff without any explanation. Grrrrrrr.

 

[huggzy]

I shut off my cable TV due to their outrageous rates purely on principle. I thought I'd go through some severe withdrawal and guess what? I don't miss it one iota.

 

[huggzy]

If you have a tv with an atsc receiver you'll be able to scan for ota channles and say good bye cable

How many over the air channels can a receiver pick up? Will my HDTV receiver do the trick?

 

[mik]

How many over the air channels can a receiver pick up? Will my HDTV receiver do the trick?

http://overtheair.saveandreplay.com/OTA_Channels_Vancouver.asp

http://www.northvu.com/_blog/NorthV...Vancouver_Life_without_Cable_TV/#.UlwHU1Bjt8E

 

[Surrey's Jewel]

Is the Telus channel selection better than Shaw, or are they basically all the same channels?
I really want Investigation Discovery but i am not sure if Shaw offers it

Yes they do FINALLY .... I was gonna switch to Telus just to get Investigation Discovery, called Shaw over and over about it ... then I finally saw a spot for it on their grid ... so called again and they now have it ... yaaaaay, haven't watched anything else since ! You'll love it !

 

[VanessaofBC]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...rte-menu-begins-to-take-hold/article14414716/

i just read this today about the crtc demanding the implementation of a la carte programming rather than bundled channels

That's interesting because the history going back 20 years was the CRTC demanded bundled channels in the first place. It was to support multicultural and diverse groups who otherwise would not be supported by the mainstream viewership.

Broadcasters also had to subsidize these minority channels and could only do it via bundling them with more popular channels. I think there may be a backlash from some of the minor players on this one.

Personally I only watch HD but still have to pay for the basic package. Over 300 channels and I think I may view perhaps 10 in any given week.

What makes me giggle a little about these posts is that when I was a CHILD, I could not figure out why I had to channel surf through all these French stations. My parents explained the concept of channel "bundling". Being a quick witted little girl I asked very matter of factly why we could not buy just the channels on their own and the reason was given as above "Broadcasters also had to subsidize these minority channels"

Finally... my young wish is coming true with a la carte programming. Too little too late for me as I am now hooked on WiFi.

 

[hiddencloud]

Cable carriers and satellite providers are already mortally wounded but won't admit it to themselves yet. Streaming services will eventually kill their business model and they'll have to convert to being just commodity data carriers.

They can either adapt or die and so far they seem determined to die fighting.

 

[Man in Submission]

I like the Telus best in terms of customer service, as they have given me a bunch of 'freebies' since I signed up just over a year ago. But now that I am living by myself after a long relationship failed, I hardly watch TV, and mostly just the morning news and a few sports at that. I will probably pare down my channels to the minimum, but with Telus you have to sign a contract ... so you can't just cancel it without a significant penalty, including paying for the 'free' laptop I got for signing up.

The bundling thing really sucks and I hope they do rectify it. I wanted to get the superstation that shows the New York Mets weekend games, but had to take the other superstations (which I was OK with since you get some Cubs and Yankees games), but also this group of movie channels (which I hate). So it was going to cost $20 a month just to see my Mets get their asses handed to them every weekend, lol. The Telus agent offered the package to me for $10 a month for the six months, so I took it ... but a la carte would only be like $3 at the most.

The Telus internet is light years better and faster than Shaw and the TV picture is significantly better overall. While the phone is reasonable, I really do not need it as 99 per cent of the time I call and receive calls from my cell. Once this contract is up, Telus will have to offer up some serious concessions, including jettisoning my land line, or I will just go back to a very basic cable package with internet.

 

[deathreborn]

easy way around it for me. have a satellite dish with an fta box, pay $50 a year for a subscription to a private server which sends keys through the internet allowing me to watch virtually all of dishnetwork's programming from the states. all the normal channels like usa network, espn, tnt, tbs, spike, etc. all the movie channels like hbo, cinemax, showtime, etc. and all the ppv's such as ufc, wwe, and big boxing fights. one ppv pays for the year sub.

 

[Crumb]

i download or stream all the media I want..
get what I want, when I want, commercial free (at this time, I'm not really restricted by download caps either)

 

[Man in Submission]

easy way around it for me. have a satellite dish with an fta box, pay $50 a year for a subscription to a private server which sends keys through the internet allowing me to watch virtually all of dishnetwork's programming from the states. all the normal channels like usa network, espn, tnt, tbs, spike, etc. all the movie channels like hbo, cinemax, showtime, etc. and all the ppv's such as ufc, wwe, and big boxing fights. one ppv pays for the year sub.

Wow deathreborn, I didn't know you could still do that. I miss ESPN, MSG, etc like crazy. I had it for 5 years or so there, but they changed the data stream and with the risk of getting busted in the US, everyone pulled out of it in 2008. I still have my FTA box and the 2 satellites for DN are still on the roof pointed at the birds. Maybe I can back on stream as well? Guess I will have to check it out. Also had the Directv for years and years until they nuked all the cards with the "Black Sunday" hit about 10 or 12 years ago.

 

[rexxx]

i download or stream all the media I want..
get what I want, when I want, commercial free (at this time, I'm not really restricted by download caps either)

Well as long as when you want is the day after its aired live

 

[Crumb]

Well as long as when you want is the day after its aired live

usually 30min-1hr after it's aired live
I don't mind waiting til a season over and it's compiled into a torrent
I download movies sometimes 2 weeks before release on dvd
yes, I pirate.

 

[badbadboy]

What makes me giggle a little about these posts is that when I was a CHILD, I could not figure out why I had to channel surf through all these French stations. My parents explained the concept of channel "bundling". Being a quick witted little girl I asked very matter of factly why we could not buy just the channels on their own and the reason was given as above "Broadcasters also had to subsidize these minority channels"

Finally... my young wish is coming true with a la carte programming. Too little too late for me as I am now hooked on WiFi.

You may find it amusing but honestly after dealing with Broadcasters for years; this was their personal vendetta, to stop the CRTC because they were turning us into the Soviet Union :nod: