Less for the Same (which is a lot)

Huh? What does that mean, SoulSlam?

Friday was one of those days where a lot of things went haywire. Coupled with the Halloween ritual of taking the kids out for tricks and treats at night and you have a busy (as in a one legged man in a a** kickin' contest busy) day/night.



And it actually began on Thursday evening. I relinquish the man-den on Thursday nights so my wife and boys can watch Survivor, a show which holds no interest for me. Now normally, I would retire to the Living Room, but that's being painted and is in 100% disarray. So I figured, I'll go upstairs to the bedroom, read a little Baseball America, put on something and spend a quiet hour waiting for my triumphant return to my cave at 9PM for some quality Supernatural viewing. So you've got the setup.



But my digital cable is apparently on the fritz in that room (and that room only) - could be the split is on the same as the LR and maybe the guys did something. No worries, I can fix that when I get some new splitters and cables over the weekend. So I disconnect the cable from the box, and plug directly into the Sony 24". No channels above 99, but I can rough it. And that's when I make my discovery, much to my chagrin.



Apparently, Cablevision (owned by the Dolans) have removed many channels unless you have a digital box. Channels like SciFi, A&E, truTV, TLC, Travel Planet, E!, QVC and Animal Planet are gone. No more. So I investigate the IO website, and see they were removed unless you have a digital box. So I look into a little more. That must mean that people with basic cable got a break on their bill, right? Because if you take away 8-10 channels, and you were once offering about 80 or so, then that should be at least a 10% reduction in the cable bill. Great!



No. Cablevision has decided that they would instead offer a free digital box (1) for a year. So that's about a $72.00 value. But reducing a cable bill by 10% would give you about the same savings. And what happens at the end of the free cable box for a year? Then you pay, about a $72.00 value. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you don't have the scratch, or if your on a fixed income, it is. And the funny thing is, Cablevision can do this and get away with it. Maybe it's time I look into something else.