Cable TV Supporters Are Once Again Pushing the Idea That Cord Cutting Costs More Than Cable TV


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This week Apple announced a new subscription TV service that will launch this fall. This new service will give you access to original Apple-created content. For now, we don’t know the cost or even the lineup of content that will launch with the service, but that has not stopped cable TV supporters from pushing the idea that cord cutting costs more than cable TV.

The argument is that if you subscribe to everything it will cost more than cable TV. In the last 24 hours, we have seen a flood of people pushing the idea that cord cutting just costs too much on social media. Just searching Twitter for Cord Cutting will quickly find a flood of people pushing the idea that cord cutting costs more. Even local NBC affiliates aired stories in the last 24 hours pushing the idea that cord cutting costs more than cable TV. Now we have argued against this in the past and there are studies that show the average cord cutter saves money. There are even studies that show cord cutting saves the average American between $85 and $115 a month.

So, let’s break down this argument in a new way…

Going Back to Cable Won’t Give You What Most People Want

The argument many people push is “just get cable and get everything you want.” They point to services like ESPN+ and CBS All Access as examples of cord cutting costing too much. The truth is ESPN+ and most of what people want from CBS All Access, like the new Star Trek, are not available on cable.

Cable just can’t give you many of the award-winning hit shows like Stranger Things and Handmaid’s Tale that only stream online. That is why so many cable TV customers also subscribe to a streaming service so they can watch what they want.

HBO, Showtime, Starz, & More Are Not Free with Cable

As you can see with most of the tweets you will find supporting cable they include costs for HBO, Showtime, and Starz as new cord cutting costs. Yet if you get cable TV’s cheap advertised packages HBO, Showtime, and Starz are not included and for most, the price of HBO is the same with cable as it is with streaming.

The other part to remember here is that most cable services charge the same or a very similar price for premium channels as you would pay for a streaming version.

You can’t argue that somehow HBO is a cost of cord cutting but not cable. You still need to count that as a cost on top of the regular cable TV bill unless you are looking at some of the expensive high-end cable packages that include premium channels.

You Don’t Need Everything

The truth is you could never watch enough TV to justify subscribing to every service. Hulu’s on-demand service alone has more movies and TV shows than you could watch in a year of 24/7 nonstop streaming with new stuff being added every week.

We always suggest rotating services. If you want HBO for Game of Thrones there is no need to pay for HBO year-round. Just pay for HBO when you want HBO.

Do Your Own Research

I firmly stand behind the fact that cord cutting will save most Americans money and give them what they want. But don’t take my word for it and don’t take others’ word for it either. Do your own research. If it works for you, cut the cord. If you think cable is a better deal, get cable.

What you don’t want to do is fall victim to scare tactics meant to keep you with cable TV.

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