Cable TV gaining popularity
It is true, while many expect cable TV to loose market share, they have instead gained.
How is this possible ?
Simple. They have embraced the new marketing niche.
They are partnering to offer bundle services where together they provide a better package deal.
This keeps all parties going and offers the consumer better deals.
TV Company Comcast
Comcast, is under the Xfinity brand, which is owned by Comcast.
Comcast is the largest cable TV provider in the country.
They have a huge customer base, with about 30 million subscribers countrywide.
They provide TV service in forty states.
You can find out whether they cover your particular area by searching their online map using your zip code.
Comcast delivers the highest number of channels for some of the lowest prices, which makes it a popular choice.
They deliver TV, home phone, internet, and even home security system bundles.
Giving the customer a wide range of choices and plenty of mix-and match options.
Comcast’s lowest cost TV Package is only $49.99 per month.
This package is TV alone and at least 140 channels to watch, including many local to your area.
For just under double that price to $89.99 and you get almost double the Qty of channels.
In every case you still pay extra for specialty movie packages or even individual channels.
Cable TV Supplier Xfinity
Xfinity offers the X1 DVR, as well, which has 500 GB of storage capacity.
It also comes with a voice-controlled search option called the Voice Rem ote.
Xfinity does not score well on customer satisfaction ratings, but has made an effort to improve in recent years.
They have met with some success in that endeavor, as evidenced by somewhat improved customer satisfaction scores.
The company with the largest share of the telecommunications market is trusty old AT&T.
However, they are only the second largest provider of cable TV.
They have over 25 million subscribers through their AT&T, DirecTV, and DirecTV Now brands.
They cover every state in the country to at least some extent.
You can look up AT&T coverage maps online to find out if they offer service in your particular area.
There is an 800 number you can use to contact the company if you are still not sure if they offer service to your zip code.
AT&T offers TV, internet, landline phones, and cellphone services.
There are, of course, a fair number of customer service complaints against them.
However no more than usual in an industry that has long been known for its poor customer service.
The company must be doing something right, though, to have a customer base as large as it has.
TV Supplier Spectrum
Charter Communications owns the Spectrum brand, and is the third largest cable TV provider in the United States.
Their desire to increase their market share means that their customers can benefit from some good deals.
The best deals are always when its new customers signing up.
Spectrum will actually help a customer get out of a contract that they have signed with another company.
Spectrum will pay up to $500 of the contract’s completion fee.
Charter Spectrum offers TV, internet, and voice bundles (VOIP) as well as offering each service separately.
Your choices are much better if you bundle your services with this company, though.
They only offer one TV package that is not bundled with internet and/or phone service.
If television is all you want from them, your options are certainly limited.
Their prices are mid-range, and they cover cities and suburbs in 45 states.
Their service does not extend to rural areas due to the lack of cable installation.
Charter Communications uses a Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial cable network to deliver their services.
This is slower than true fiber networks, but much faster than DSL, putting them right in the middle of the pack.
They have a reasonably good customer satisfaction rating, with about half of their customers giving them a positive rating.
DISH NETWORK
Dish Network Is the largest of the satellite TV providers, with over 10 million subscribers countrywide.
They, unlike the cable companies, provide service to rural and remote areas as well as towns and cities.
All that is required to access Dish Network is a satellite dish.
No cable connection needed, so their coverage is not limited to areas where cable has been installed.
As a result, they offer coverage in almost every part of every state.
The only way that you would not be able to use Dish Network is if you had no Signal.
Satellite Signals depends upon a clear view of the southern sky.
This can be an issue for those who live on the north sides of high-rise buildings.
For most others a way can be found to receive a signal.
Dish Network offers internet and TV bundles as well as each of these services alone.
Dish TV offers a huge number of channels for a very reasonable price.
The per-channel price is significantly lower than that of the cable TV companies.
Cox TV Supplier
They are the third largest cable TV provider in the US, and provides cable TV to over six million subscribers.
Cox also offers high-speed internet, telephone service, home security and automation systems.
They offer a wide variety of bundles.
Bundles allowing customers to choose the level of service they want.
Prices are mid-range when compared to all other cable suppliers.
Cox Communications provides service to 18 states with service in most major cities in those states.
You can access their service area map online.
Enter your address, it will tell you if Cox Communications service is provided in your area or not.
Cox Communications has a customer service rating that is about normal for a cable TV provider.
It is not great, and they have experienced a fall in customer satisfaction ratings over the last few years.
However now score slightly better than Spectrum and slightly worse than DirecTV.
Optimum By Altice and Suddenlink By Altice are both owned by Altice USA.
Altice is providing television, internet, phone line, and other services to nearly five million customers.
They are based in New York, and offer services in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
It may seem like a small area when compared to the coverage areas of the larger cable companies.
The areas Altice USA covers are quite densely populated, so they pack a lot of customers into a small area.
Optimum TV scores fairly well in customer satisfaction ratings and are slowly improving their ratings year by year.
Their prices are a little higher than some other cable companies for the premium packages.
They do offer a basic package for about $20 a month.
Cable TV Suppliers WOW!
WOW! TV offers cable TV services in 19 states, and is growing its customer base all the time.
WOW! stands for Wide Open West, and the company was started in Colorado in 1999.
Since then, WOW! has expanded to cover major cities in 9 states.
Mostly in the Midwest and south – and has a customer base of about half a million.
Their prices are in the low range for cable TV.
They offer internet and phone lines as well as television.
Customers can pick one service or bundle services to pay one bill for all the services they choose.
They do have good prices on bundles, but customers are required to sign a 2-year contract to get their very best prices.
The fees to terminate one of their contracts are quite high as well.
Customer satisfaction with WOW! Is all over the map.
Some customers loving them, and others not very happy at all.
About average for a cable TV company, in other words.
Their streaming service is exceptional, though.
The bigger TV packages offer decent value for money.
Cable TV Service Provider Choice
In many cities, and for many years, customers don’t have a choice of cable TV providers.
Historically there was only one option.
This means that the provider has a captive audience.
They do not feel pressured to provide great customer service or lower prices, since there is no competition to push them into those actions.
Satellite TV providers took some customers away from the big cable companies, but not that many.
Today, with WIFI, streaming services, wireless everything, and technology constantly advancing, the cable companies will do well to look carefully at what new services they will be able to offer their customers in future years.
There are a lot of different opinions out there about cable TV providers, but in general, I think it is safe to say that they provide a service that may be both loved and hated, but has come to seem necessary to almost all of us.
Cable TV is ubiquitous throughout the modern world, and as technology evolves and we slowly progress into a much more wireless future, our cable TV companies are evolving and changing to provide the services we will all want in the future.
