It's Not The Cable Company, It's The Content Providers
Reading some of the posts on this thread I see there are a few folks who misunderstand how the programming tiers are set up and who sets the cable rates.
First: It's not the cable company, but the content providers who determine where the various channels will appear in the programming tiers.
Second: It's the content providers who drive the cable rates. While the present Viacom kerfuffle is threatening to make some of their channels go dark on Metrocast, it must be understood that the only negotiation Viacom is interested is in is how much more Metrocast is going to pay them for their programming. The cable companies/satellite providers have to pass any increased cost onto the subscribers. (Most cable companies make very little profit off of video these days, so there's very little wiggle room in regards to absorbing cost increases.)
Third: Cable companies/satellite providers also have to carry channels that no one watches because the content providers make it a condition of receiving their other channels. When that happens some times other channels have to be dropped from cable lineups because the cable company has limited bandwidth available. (Satellite providers have a lot more bandwidth available compared to cable. A lot more.)
Fourth: Satellite providers can usually offer better deals because they don't have the infrastructure to support like cable companies, meaning they make more profit even with lower rates than cable.
I could go on and on, but some things needed to be said because of the misconceptions out there.
Not that complaints about the quality of service are unwarranted (I've had both good and bad experiences with cable companies). I think we can all relate to the good/bad service we've gotten over the years, regardless of which cable company being talked about.
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