Tim brings this to my attention:
NEW YORK (AP) — The weak economy is hitting Americans where they spend a lot of their free time: at the TV set.
They’re canceling or forgoing cable and satellite TV subscriptions in record numbers, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of the companies’ quarterly earnings reports.
The U.S. subscription-TV industry first showed a small net loss of subscribers a year ago. This year, that trickle has turned into a stream. The chief cause appears to be persistently high unemployment and a housing market that has many people living with their parents, reducing the need for a separate cable bill.
But it’s also possible that people are canceling cable, or never signing up in the first place, because they’re watching cheap Internet video. Such a threat has been hanging over the industry. If that’s the case, viewers can expect more restrictions on online video, as TV companies and Hollywood studios try to make sure that they get paid for what they produce…
Tim was sympathetic in his comment about it, saying, “Don’t you hate it when you feel like just part of a trend?”
Yes, I do. Makes me feel… common. Low. Might as well start watching “reality TV” on my few remaining channels. That appears to be about all those channels show, anyway.
For the record, I have NOT moved home with my parents — yet. But I am one of those who is watching cheap Internet video instead of cable. I’m halfway through the first season of “Lost” on Netflix so far. The HD picture is awesome. “Lost” is… well, about like I thought “Lost” would be. I am not what you’d call enraptured. But at least I’m finding out what all the fuss was about. Sort of.
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We all want to be lone wolfs,… and then we find we are all walking with a bunch of other lone wolves, looking to get away from or move toward roughly the same things. I find it maddening. Then I realize that is how economists do their work.
Here’s another piece on the same subject. An excerpt:
“Hear that snipping sound? No, it’s not squirrels nipping at your FiOS cord. It’s a record number of Americans cutting ties with their cable and satellite providers.”