[mythtv-users] US Pay-TV loses subscribers for the first time ever

[Yeechang Lee]

Another Sillyname <anothersname at googlemail.com> says:
> $130 for just cable, that must include some pretty specific local
> sports content or something.

That large a cable bill will typically pay for several dozen HD
channels, plus hundreds of SD channels. My San Francisco cable system
offers 43 HD channels only accessible via cable or satellite plus 10
over-the-air HD channels, and the system's lineup is somewhat smaller
than offered by Comcast/Time Warner (the two largest cable companies),
Verizon/AT&T (the two largest phone companies), or DirecTV/Dish
Network (the two national satellite providers).

> I dropped Sky in the UK when it hit £33 ($50) a month a few years
> back, here however we do have proper national digital tv that is
> required to have 90% national area coverage and IIRC 96% of the
> population so we get about 30 proper channels for free anyway.

If I didn't want to pay for TV for my MythTV setup I'd still be able
to get via my windowsill antenna the 10 above-mentioned HD channels,
three or four more HD channels not carried on cable, plus about two
dozen non-duplicate SD digital channels on various
multiplexes. Overall, it is very similar to the Freeview model except
that many more HD channels have been available for years. (Most of the
SD channels are as worthless and/or narrow niche-oriented as
Freeview's too.)

While San Francisco is one of the country's largest markets, the vast
majority of the population has over-the-air access in HD to at least
five of the six commercial English-speaking national networks, one
non-commercial network, one or two Spanish-speaking networks, and at
least one independent local channel, plus one to two dozen
non-duplicate SD digital channels.

-- 
MythTV FAQ Q: "Cheap frontend/backend?" A: Revo, $200-300 @ Newegg
Q: "Record HD cable/satellite?" A: Hauppauge HD-PVR, $200 @ Newegg
Q: "Can't change Live TV channels w/multirec!" A: Hit NEXTCARD key
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