I worked for a cable company for a decade. Here are the facts. Cable companies are going to charge outrageously for their services as long as they can get people to pay for it. People incessantly bitch and fume and harass the customer service rep who has absolutely zero control over the price of anything and will not pass along your complaints because he/she will get written up for doing that. The people who set the prices don't want to be bothered with hearing about how you don't like the price. They don't care if you write HIGHWAY ROBBERY in the memo of every check you write... as long as you keep writing the checks.

All cable providers cost too much and give you a lot of trash. I had the solution: finished my suscription three years ago! I have ROKU TV with Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon Prime, Netflix, YouTube, TED, etc. I choose what I see!

I have Verizon FIOS and trimmed my bill by eliminating all but the basic channels. I may get 12?

I use what we call an antenna if you look at the chimney the thing above it is an antenna if you'd like more information let me know. I just use spectrum for internet I watch broadcast TV. With my location I can get stations from Canada Erie Pennsylvania Detroit Michigan and Toledo in addition to Cleveland and Akron.

I use Netflix hulu and prime. even better if you also have a good signal for free TV. I don't have a good signal for free TV so its limiting but We can still watch alot of stuff.

Go TV free. I’ve been TV free for 21 years!!!! That’s the way to beat their game.

perhaps you can try Sling TV...about $25/mo online. I've used it a couple times for channels I don't get. slingtv.com

If you keep just the internet and hook up your computer to your TV or watch on your computer, as was already said, steaming programs have a lot of shows.. but you could also look into torrenting, according to a friend... It's kind of not legal and you have to pay for a VSP (like $10 a month) to hide your IP, but many shows and movies are out there to download for free. "My friend" downloads a few TV shows and can usually download a DVD quality movie weeks before the DVD is released.

I pay Time Warner for phone/internet service only. Netflix is dirt cheap, and I borrow a friend’s password for Hulu (which is probably also cheap).

So find a streaming service or 2 that you like. No real need for cable anymore.

There are only 24 hours in a day. You don't need to pay for all that crap that you'll never see anyway. Get Netfix or the like.

Since I never watch TV, I never paid for cable. The only thing I miss is the Olympics. But I can see winning performances the next day on YouTube.

Instead I love reading.

At my friend Billie's house, we loved watching "Downton Abbey" and "Call the Midwife" together. We make selected BBC shows an event with popcorn.

Thinking I was culturally deprived, to my amusement, two people bought me a TV over the years. In 2014, my boyfriend John got me a Samsung Smart TV and hooked it up. He even took the old, heavy TV to Goodwill.

So now I enjoy watching Netflix movies.

I only get internet and watch shows on their sites, etc. Also, a lot of cheaper options, especially on the net. As far as providers and cost - if there is only one, they put the screws to you. Every couple of years my internet tries to raise the price I pay; I'm lucky, as in my town they have a competitor (not as good as service, but always a bit cheaper) so I call and say, you know, I would prefer to keep things as they are, but if you insist I'll cancel now and go to the other guys.
Also, be careful about illegal boxes- most font work anymore with improved security and companies will prosecute. That said I got free cable for 5 or 6 years, legally. Decided to take a break for the summer and get the kids off the box - requested a hold on my service with no charge to restart within so many months. Got the written okay and they never turned me off. My lawyer said don't lose the paper and enjoy your free service.

I get the 35 St. Louis, Mo. stations with an antenna that I have made myself. Less than 3 feet long and maybe a lb. in weight. I still pay Spectrum $110 a month because of a landline and high speed broadband. Investigate the Internet TV choices for your cable needs and you can might get streaming TV for $30 or so. I also use third party aps to stream TV and I watch almost anything in the world that interests me. I'm an old pirate.

If you have only one cable company... You may be screwed. However... If you have several in your area, call up your current provider and tell them you just got an amazing offer. You are happy with your present service but your husband wants to switch to save money! What can they do. I ran the reverse of this and it worked every time for years. However... If they know they are the only game in town... They may stand firm.

I live out in the woods and use DirecTV for satellite delivery of televised content. The ONLY drawback is that they don't offer high speed internet. So I use HughesNet Gen 5. My combined TV/Internet is probably closer to $300/mo... But I get every channel and have unlimited downloading.

I live without Netflix (sadly) and cannot stream reliably. But then I live in paradise... Small price to pay!

I watch TV on Freesat, subscribe to Netflix £9.99 per month, get my internet services along with my landline connection and unlimited UK internal calls for £24.99 per month from Talk Talk. My mobile phone provider is O2 and I use pay as you go...so no pricey contract. As I live in the UK, I do have to pay a TV licence which goes to the BBC but is mandatory to receive a TV signal, it costs £154.50 per annum. The prices you quote seem very high...I’d look into changing.

Spectrum, I can’t say enough bad things about them. I believe there is a class action lawsuit against them. I’ve dropped the TV part of the scam and never had phone. A co-worker has YouTube TV and likes it, you would still need an internet connection.

alas they all suck. centurylink keeps raising our rates even though we have a two-year contract. i am looking for a class action suit to join, as i heard there is one. you can try to see if time warner is equally dishonest. but i am afraid i can't name one for you that is good. all i can say is to avoid direct tv. they LIE a lot.

g

A smart, patient, socially persistent person would regularly call the cable company any time their initial starting deal runs out (and they start the price hike bullshit) and insist on being transferred to the cancellation and/or customer satisfaction department. Insist that you need to cancel because you can’t afford the rate hike and they will usually find a way to renew your starting deal or give you some rebates on a few months. If they don’t offer you enough to be worth your while, follow through and drop them.

If you’re open to the methods of a reclusive cord cutting millennial miscreant like myself, alternatively you could cut the cord. Start by canceling cable and landlines and just keep the web and your cell. There’s tons of stuff to watch on Netflix, Hulu or amazon prime to the point that you can subscribe to one at a time and still keep yourself busy. Or you can get an amazon fire stick for the tv and have your most tech savvy relative look up “how to install kodi on Fire stick.” You’ll have free on demand cable basically. If anyone gets in trouble for it it’ll be the sites that upload the videos, not you, and there are 10 more that will pop up behind it. This software does a good job finding nearly anything, including live sports somehow.

Or you can go the nuclear option like I have lately while unemployed to save money: Right now I don’t even have internet. I signed up for visible, an unlimited 40/mo cell service from a Colorado based company. Because it’s truly unlimited I can freely use my phone as a WiFi hotspot to connect my tablet, PC and TV and stream things from there. The speed is fine for streaming or anything short of online gaming but I don’t have a device with new enough specs for that anyhow. It’s a minuscule, mild annoyance to reconnect when I get back home, but it beats the hell out of paying 200 bucks a month to watch ads.

In my visits to the US it surprises me how awful and expensive TV is.
I pay around £150 a year for a TV licence and get around 20 channels on Freeview using a roof mounted aerial.
Other programmes can be accessed on catchup online

Cable TV is really a RIP off. I went with direct TV, but they are starting to Jack prices too , and I'm not really that happy with them anymore.
Thinking about free TV or none !

If you don't want premium channels and have a Roku streaming device, I highly recommend Philo. I get 52 channels for less than $20 a month, and I can save a show or pause live tv.

I can't advise you on the Internet and phone though. I use Total Wireless for my phone (and am pretty satisfied with it), but would love an alternative for my Internet (CableAmerica is the only thing in town for that unless I want to go to satellite internet).

All I do is streaming. I do subscribe to the bare bones Spectrum for news. Netflix, Hulu, and CBS all access. I use a Roku stick. I get tons of programs I like.

I've been using Direct TV Now from ATT. We buy internet from Spectrum and then pay for the DirectvNow from ATT. I added Netflix and HBO

Disconnect from cable and satellite and install an OTA antenna for local channels, connect a computer to your HDTV and watch pretty much what you want on the internet (Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc)

Spectrum is the worse. Get rid of it entirely. Get an over the air antenna and an internet connection. Did it years ago.