For $15 per month I get about 65 TV channels, including seven or eight high definition stations. Is this a special, limited-time offer? No, although it may be temporary if Comcast eventually closes what seems to be a technological loophole.
My original subscription with Comcast was for Standard Basic, which included about the same number of stations I have now. I had a tube TV which was connected directly to the cable without a cable box. When I switched to an HDTV set, I simply reconnected the cable and got the same service, but now with a handful of HD channels.
Last year, Comcast warned me that I would lose channels 35-82 and be relegated to Limited Basic service and price if I did not get a cable box. Since I am a retired person on a limited income, I decided to save some money and forego the box.
However, after rescanning channels, I discovered that nearly all the channels Comcast was dropping from my service were still available under different numbers, e.g. HGTV was now 86-11 instead of 67 and MSNBC was 95-5 instead of 60. However, I no longer get CNN or TNT.
Apparently, my HDTV tuner automatically finds most stations that would ordinarily be scrambled by the cable TV box. I would guess Comcast is aware of this shortcoming but figured that the vast majority of HDTV buyers would want a cable box to access a large number of high definition stations, along with the other box services (On Demand, program recording, etc.). I guess I’m just a minimalist, i.e. cheapskate.
Many of us have the same complaint about cable and satellite TV: Why do I have to pay for a large package of junk when I only watch 15 to 20 stations? The telecommunication giants are acting like Congress: They bundle services/laws with a bunch of pork and fat.
The technology is available and, given the appropriate regulation, cable and satellite TV services and content providers could be forced to unbundle channels and programming and let people buy only the stations they want, say at 50 cents to $1 each (not including premium service). I would gladly pay $20 per month for the 20 stations I want. I’m not holding my breath on this kind of reform given the lobbying (bribing) power of the telecommunication giants.
However, broadband and Wi-Fi technology, with connectivity to TV, may eventually make this unbundling possible anyway.
Meanwhile, you can also access broadcast digital and HD stations with the new generation of roof antennas (Federal law prohibits home association rules against such antennas.). One looming danger, however, is that broadcast TV stations may eventually lose their bandwidth to other uses. Indeed, I suspect that if Comcast acquires NBC, it may switch its stations entirely to cable and perhaps drop NBC from the Limited Basic service.
The cable TV providers would probably be happy to starve Limited Basic of its broadcast stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc.) and eliminate entirely this low-cost option.