In recent months, car sales have been booming at the same time that consumers have been paying more per vehicle. Because demand for cars is high, it would seem like a safe assumption that people need new wheels because we’re all driving more nowadays. Actually, the opposite is true.
Getting TV stations through the airwaves may seem like an anachronism in the age of streaming video online. But actually, the rise of Hulu and Netflix seems to be helping the rabbit ear industry.
If you still go to the movies fairly regularly, you’re in the minority, according to a new survey.
If you stayed the course last year and never switched banks, wireless companies, pay TV services, or any other providers, then you’re in the minority. And if you actually feel “very loyal” to your providers, then you’re part of an even smaller minority.
A new report estimates that the average American worker drops nearly $1,100 annually on coffee. That’s not much less than what the average worker spends to commute to the job.
As a rule, consumers don’t like paying for things they don’t enjoy. Even so, despite the widespread consumer desire for an a la carte model, in which pay TV customers could select (and be charged) only for the channels they want, the bundle remains standard. What this means is that pretty much all pay TV [...]
Month after month, hundreds of thousands of cable TV subscribers keep closing their accounts. Roughly a half-million subscriptions were canceled in the second quarter of 2011 alone. Even so, there’s an argument that 2011 isn’t shaping up as “the year of the cord cutter” as originally forecast. A “cord cutter” is generally thought of not [...]
For the first time in two decades, the number of U.S. households with at least one TV has declined. So why would the rates charged to TV advertisers be rising?
Most consumers like the idea of pay per channel cable TV, in which the customer would select a la carte the channels he actually watches, rather than pay for a bundled service with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of channels that are quickly skipped past with the clicker. Cable providers obviously prefer selling channels in bundles, ensuring [...]
Et tu, Netflix? Besides offering a great product with enormous selection, Netflix has gained legions of loyal customers over the years because of the perception this company was different. It was fair. It didn’t nickel and dime customers with late fees or hidden charges. It addressed problems quickly when customers complained. It wasn’t like other [...]
At an industry event this week, cable executives laughed off the idea of large-scale “cord cutting,” or that Netflix and Internet video could one day replace their businesses. They also justified high prices charged for cable packages by pointing out that pay TV was one of the last expenses consumers cut back on during the [...]
