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 just-announced joint venture between Verizon and Redbox will soon offer a service combining video streaming and physical DVD rentals. Now wait just a sec. Isn’t there some company that already does both of those things?
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.
A year ago, observers speculated that 2011 would become the “Year of the Cord Cutter,” during which a record number of consumers would drop their cable subscriptions. Needless to say, the vast majority of American households still have a pay TV plan. When, if ever, will a massive cutting of the cord take place?
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 [...]
New customers are routinely wooed with special discounts for services like pay TV and newspaper subscriptions. Existing customers, on the other hand, can expect regularly escalating bills unless they put up a fight or beg for a price break. Why do businesses treat loyal customers this way?
Netflix’s recent troubles, which began with a a new pricing plan that raised rates by 60% on many subscribers and continued as members fled, the stock price tanked, and the company decided to split its business in two, has given new life to a competitor considered on its last breath, Blockbuster. The once ubiquitous movie-rental [...]
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 [...]
