Compare Comcast Cable TV Rates
Founded in 1963, Comcast Corporation is currently the largest cable company in the US. And, as a result of its long history and gargantuan size, Comcast Cable® can offer some of the best cable TV coupons anywhere. The question is—“largest cable company in the US” or not—are Comcast Cable TV deals really better than offers from non-cable TV service providers like DISH Network®?
The sad fact is, they—meaning Comcast cable TV deals—aren’t. But before we get into the particulars of comparing, for instance, Comcast cable coupons to other satellite and cable TV coupons, it’s worth examining how Comcast became the largest cable company in the US; and how—despite its long history of providing some of the best cable television in the United States—the company has begun losing its competitive edge.
How Comcast Became the Largest Cable Company in the US
Comcast began as one of the first companies to offer cable television in the United States. Founded by Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel Aaron and Julian A. Brodsky in Mississippi, its original mission was to provide Community Antenna Television, or “CATV.” CATV was a far cry from cable television in the United States as it exists today. At its inception, it was only a subscription service that allowed people in remote or mountainous areas to share a single TV antenna.
The original impetus for creating CATV companies was a federal television licensing freeze a decade before Comcast’s inception. During the four-year freeze (from 1948 to 1952), the U.S. government limited the number of licenses it issued for receiving antennae. At the same time, demand for TV service skyrocketed.
Sensing a cultural revolution in the wings, several industrious Pennsylvanians began linking their licensed antennae, via coaxial wire, to non-licensed households. Often they charged a setup fee for running their coaxial lines to subscribers’ homes, then charged a marginal monthly subscription fee for continued service.
To be sure, there was no such thing as original CATV programming in the 1950s. Subscribers paid to watch the same public-access channels everyone else received. But by the time the FCC tried squelching CATV providers to create a fully public system, cable television in the United States was already off to running start. Cable companies continued to do well in the 1960s. In fact, Comcast did so well that in 1969 its owners expanded into Pennsylvania and incorporated the company.
Just two years later, though, the outlook was a little bleaker. A mild recession from 1969 to 1970 forced some to cut luxuries like cable TV from their household budgets. And with a lack of licensing requirements, giving nearly everyone access to subscription-free TV, meant many CATV companies were against the proverbial wall.
To remain profitable, CATV providers would have to offer more than better reception. The answer to this conundrum came in 1972 when the federal government deregulated the cable TV industry, allowing service providers to create their own programming. But by that time, many companies had already fallen by the wayside.
Comcast weathered this storm primarily because it serviced the affluent Pocono Mountains in north-eastern Pennsylvania. As a result, it was positioned to take advantage of the possibilities deregulation and decreased competition created. Like many other companies providing cable television in the United States, it began developing original cable programming that it broadcast to its subscribers and rented to its competitors.
Cable providers’ new, exclusive channels were known as cable-access programming, and they were often ridiculously low-budget. In fact, the early-90s comedy “Wayne’s World” satirized such popsicle-stick programming, which sometimes was filmed in a high-school student’s basement. This environment gave Comcast a very real edge because—with a foothold on New York City’s doorstep—the company could afford to produce better-quality shows.
With the continued success of its original channels—including E! Entertainment Television, the Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and Versus—Comcast eventually expanded its service range to 39 states and the District of Columbia. In fact, Comcast’s momentum has remained so strong it has continued to succeed during the recent recession amid an ever-growing field of competitors: In 2009 alone, the company generated over $35 billion in revenue—nearly double what Time Warner Cable®, the second-largest cable company in the US, brought in.
Why Comcast Cable TV Rates Are Falling Behind
Likely, Comcast cable TV rates aren’t as competitive as they once were because the company is beginning to lose its footing in the current battle over bandwidth. Comcast cable TV deals have recently been less impressive than, for instance, DISH Network® deals. And it seems one of the main reasons for this is that satellite TV companies have little infrastructural overhead besides launching satellites. Of course, launching a satellite is no nickel-and-dime operation. But satellite TV companies have only added to their fleets and have not yet had to revamp them.
Making matters worse for Comcast, satellite TV companies usually defray costs by selling or renting their dish antennae to subscribers. Unlike Comcast, they don’t have to lay miles of cable to reach new markets; they just have to send out technicians. And, because they have always had use of unheard-of bandwidth, they were able to transition into offering Internet and phone service as well as digital and HDTV programming far faster and more easily.
To compete, Comcast has had to replace existing coaxial wires with a faster, more efficient fiber-optic system—an expensive process that isn’t without its hazards. Among those hazards, phone companies AT&T® and Verizon® have also gotten into the subscription TV game. And, as decedents of the original Bell Telephone Company, they can both bring over a century of steady profits to bear against Comcast’s 50 years’ worth.
As a result, Verizon has been able to lay a complete network of fiber-optic cables, while Comcast has only replaced its main lines. To be sure, far fewer Americans subscribe to Verizon FiOS® than Comcast Cable—FiOS TV currently has only 2.04 million subscribers to Comcast TV’s 23.5 million customers. But with third-party reviewers like ConsumerReports.com consistently awarding FiOS and satellite TV providers better ratings, Comcast seems to be backsliding.
One obvious rule of capitalism is that companies with more money to spend and/or less overhead will be able to outlast their competitors and still provide customers better rates. Comcast benefited from this fact in the early ‘70s, but it now seems to have become the victim of it too. Compared to Verizon FiOS, which offers top-of-the-line Internet, Telephone and TV service for $89.99 per month*, similar Comcast Cable TV deals, starting at $99 per month†, are lackluster.
Of course, this is just a cable-to-cable comparison. At $39.99† per month for TV service alone, Comcast Cable TV rates pale in comparison to satellite provider DISH Network’s, which start as low as $24.99 per month with 24-Mo. Agreement. Furthermore, Comcast cable coupons compare just as poorly with other satellite and cable TV coupons: Offering a savings of well over $500, for instance, DISH Network’s combined coupons make the current $275‡ in rebates offered by Comcast Cable coupons look paltry.
*Source: http://www22.verizon.com
†Source: www.comcast.com
‡Source: www.a2zdeals.com
Comcast Cable TV Rates Vs. DISH Network
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