# What is your TV worth to you?



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

This is not a Dish vs DirecTV thread...

I wanted to ask a hopefully simple question... you can answer with as much details as you want.

How much is it worth to you each month to pay for the TV viewing you do?

If you want, you can add a guess at how many unique shows or movies you watch each month, average time you spend per month watching TV, and how many unique channels have at least 1 thing on that you watch each month.

I want to try and gauge how much people think that their monthly TV entertainment is actually worth.

I know I wander off-topic as much as anyone, but please let's try to keep this one narrow. I'm genuinely interested in different self-evaluations. I'm trying to work out my own answer and will post an estimate later myself.


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## sorentodd45 (May 12, 2009)

I'm not sure I understand the question correctly. I pay $75 a month for Verizon's cable TV service, but since I have the triple play, the net cost is less than that.

Is it worth it to me? Well seeing as how I get more HD channels than any other provider that is available to me, *and* I have yet to lose any meaningful channels (unlike Dish or Cablevision), then yes, it is totally worth it to me.



> _average time you spend per month watching TV_


I do the usual 3 hours of prime time in the evening, sometimes an hour of OnDemand in the morning.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

I budget $100 to TV (including netflix, Directv, OTA, and FTA) which includes maintainance on the equipment, and upgrades.


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## 356B (Oct 11, 2008)

OK, I'll play.....:icon_da:
TV is a night time, TV shows, movie, sports and news information medium for me. :read: I live in a rural area, night life if I wanted it isn't around. :scratchin I probably watch or at least keep an eye on something 5 to 7 hours a day when I'm home. :icon_stup During the summer take a hour....90 minutes of that. I suppose I pay more than most, $150.00 a month. :money::money::money: We eat in most always, no movie outings.... so we see it as cheap entertainment all considered with our lifestyle. :new_popco !pepsi! :new_popco pretty boring huh.......:lol:

:icon_band


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## grog (Jul 3, 2007)

While I like to watch TV I do not have a great deal of time to do so.

But....

My wife and mother-in-law are huge sports fans. Since my mother-in-law is 85 watching basketball and football are two things that keep her busy and makes her happy. 

I have no problem providing the sports packages my family wants to watch and that is one of the main reasons I am no longer with Dish Network.


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## janeslogin (Dec 13, 2006)

I watch TV to kill time. Health and age keeps me from doing much in the evenings except watching TV or Netflix or hacking at the internet.

I think the TV is costing me a bit over $50 and monthly I ponder, 'is it worth it'. Netflix and the expanding internet could almost satisfy my evening time killing needs. If Netflix had more Closed Caption and Subtitles I would immediately disconnect theg TV altogether and relying exclusively upon Netflix and the internet.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

We normally watch the "live" equivalent of about 5 hours and 30 minutes of content a night, all recorded and skipping by commercials. We watch it in our "prime time" which runs from around 5:30-6 pm to 10-10:30 pm. So we watch about 28 hours a week, not counting holidays and other days we have company or days we are gone.

That's about 1,400 hours a year and based on our current bill, its costing us $1,285 a year (including taxes). That's entertainment at 92¢ an hour which is creeping up on the $1.99 cost to stream an hour episode of TV off of Amazon, for instance.

On the other hand, unlike most viewers I record hours and hours and hours of shows we may never watch and hours and hours of movies we want to watch and may watch if we live long enough.

When our bill rose above $110 a month, I dropped Starz. So that gives you some idea of my limit.

EDIT: Why not put this in TV Show Forum to encourage responses from DirecTV customers also?


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

If it were really up to me, I'd pay nothing. I'm stuck paying about $50/ mo for duplicate channels loaded with advertising. How much do I really watch? A lot -- it's on most of the day & night, but it's mostly background. Or how much do I REALLY watch and enjoy? Very little, maybe a few shows a week.

I wish I could get more free via OTA, but I'm in a rural area with few choices. Daytime OTA here is completely useless, all soaps and talk.

I can't do IPTV either due to the rural location and lack of broadband options.

I have picked up a few shows/seasons on DVDs from Amazon and local stores when I can find them on sale.

I figure another year, maybe two and I'll be forced to drop pay TV for financial reasons whether I want to or not. Hopefully by then, more broadband options will be available so that I can download or watch streaming videos.


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## Slamminc11 (Jan 28, 2005)

356B said:


> OK, I'll play.....:icon_da:
> TV is a night time, TV shows, movie, sports and news information medium for me. :read: I live in a rural area, night life if I wanted it isn't around. :scratchin I probably watch or at least keep an eye on something 5 to 7 hours a day when I'm home. :icon_stup During the summer take a hour....90 minutes of that. I suppose I pay more than most, $150.00 a month. :money::money::money: We eat in most always, no movie outings.... so we see it as cheap entertainment all considered with our lifestyle. :new_popco !pepsi! :new_popco pretty boring huh.......:lol:
> 
> :icon_band


I might have actually read your post but all of those pics became way to distracting. Do you really have to do that in each post you make?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I think the original question is being missed...

I'm not asking what you are paying now...

I'm asking what TV is worth to you.

For the amount of shows you watch during a typical month... is that worth $25? $50? $75? IF you could name your own price and pay what you feel the entertainment is worth to you... what would you be willing to pay for the channels, shows, movies that you watch each month?

_FYI, I am moving this to the General Satellite Discussion forum... in hopes that even more people will find and post to it._


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## 356B (Oct 11, 2008)

Slamminc11 said:


> I might have actually read your post but all of those pics became way to distracting. Do you really have to do that in each post you make?


 Is that really you....?:grin:


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I'm asking what TV is worth to you.
> 
> For the amount of shows you watch during a typical month... is that worth $25? $50? $75? IF you could name your own price and pay what you feel the entertainment is worth to you... what would you be willing to pay for the channels, shows, movies that you watch each month?


Nothing. Zero. I pay because I have to, not because it's worth it to me.

If I could pay a $25 satellite equipment and systems access fee and get all the same AT250 programming content for free, that would be great.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

$100 a month sounds about right


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Well, my kids watch their childrens shows an hour or so each day and a few hours on the weekends. My wife and I watch a couple of hours each day and when we're home the TV is on basically the whole weekend (either sporting events or a DVR'd show), even if we're not actively sitting down and watching it.

All told, with the 4 of us that's about 300 hours of entertainment each month (10 for each kid per week, 25 each per week for the wife and I).

How much is that worth? 

Somewhere between $300 - $1500 per month ($1 - $5 per hour).


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I guess I should have stated that free is not an option.

IF TV is only worth "free" to you, then you have better things to do obviously than watch TV.. in which case the question wouldn't apply to you.

IF you didn't want to watch TV, then you wouldn't be spending time in an online forum discussing TV 

As an example of frugality vs worth...

Pepsi is worth $4.00 a case to me... IF I can't buy it any cheaper than that, then I will buy at $4. IF the price is higher, then I choose Kool-Aid or something else that I can get cheaper... or I make tea or drink water.

But I most certainly will stock up on Pepsi when it is $2 per case for those times when I can't get it cheaply.

That's what I'm getting at here with this thread... For each of us who watch TV regularly enough to be a SAT or cable subscriber and pay something rather than not watch at all OR just go with free OTA. The TV must be worth something to us... so what is that? Yes, if we can get it cheaper YAY for us!! But what do we feel it is worth, the price that above which we wouldn't feel we are getting value for our dollar.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I watch a lot, but considering the number of commercials and ads and promos, it isn't *worth* anything other than perhaps a small access fee.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

SayWhat? said:


> I watch a lot, but considering the number of commercials and ads and promos, it isn't *worth* anything other than perhaps a small access fee.


Then why do you pay for it?

I don't spend money on anything I don't get value out of (is worth it).


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

I pay $100 average for DirecTV with HD and HD Xtra. plus $9 for Netflix.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

xmguy said:


> I pay $100 average for DirecTV with HD and HD Xtra. plus $9 for Netflix.


Is that what it is worth to you? Or is that just what you are paying?

Just being conservative I watch at least 3 hours a night (15 hours) during the week and then sports add a bit more on the weekend so maybe another 15 hours for the weekend during football/basketball especially. So I'm thinking 30 hours a week on various channels of varied content...

That puts me at least 120 hours per month.

Knowing that my favorite shows I can buy later on Blu-ray (or DVD) but some shows are news or entertainment shows that are not going to be available for purchase later... I'd be hard pressed to say that I wouldn't be willing to pay at least $1 per hour for my viewing.

I'm not saying I *want* or *hope* for an increase... but I don't go out to movies in theaters or rent from local video stores (the ones that are left) and I don't go to concerts or sporting events and I don't purchase PS3 or XBox or WII games... so TV and radio are my entertainment outlet really except for the random book every now and again.

I try to keep my bill as much under $100 as I can... but wouldn't consider $120 wasted money as long as I get at least the viewing time I guestimated above in an average month.

So the longer I can be under that amount, the less I scream when the price goes up a little every now and then.

Compared to other activities... that $120 might buy me a seat at ONE sporting event or a couple of tickets to a live concert or maybe 10 movies at a theater... none of which would provide 120 or more hours of entertainment.

So right now, in answer to my own question... even though I'm paying less right now and happily so... My TV would be worth $125 or thereabouts to me a month. Above that and I would have to start considering dropping some channels and putting that savings towards DVDs/Blus to catch up on shows that I miss if I had to cut a channel.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Excellent introspective, Stewart. I could copy/paste your post, change the name and it would match my situation very closely. I rarely go to the theater, concerts or plays, and when I'm not out with friends or having them over, I'm at home multi-tasking with the tv and my trusty laptop.

I've been shelling out upwards of $125/m for full-boat cable, including HD DVR rental, but not counting cable internet. With Roku and streaming ervices like Netflix and Hulu, I plan to dump everything but Showtime with the expectation of getting my total entertainment costs to around $100/m or less. On a per hour basis, that works out to about 50¢ per hour of tv watched

Summing it up, I would say that tv is worth about $100/m to me. I could and _have_ paid more, but I no longer care to.


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## sorentodd45 (May 12, 2009)

I guess $75 a month is worth it to me. I live in an area that has unreliable over the air reception, so I pretty much have to have a pay TV provider.


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## TXD16 (Oct 30, 2008)

Let's see now, my TV (programming) is worth...just a minute...where is that thing...okay...hold on a second...here it is...My TV (programming) is worth exactly $81.45 to me (including tax) and not a cent more!


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## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

Well I spend $75 a month to the cable company for basic cable + up tp 30Mbs internet. $100 for Dishnetwork. And I just went to a 8 at once + BluRay netflix @$57 a month to get caught up on my Queue for myself and the other two in the house.

so to me right now at this moment TV is worth $100 + $75 +$57 a month 

And I did get rid of showtime & HBO, and am looking to get rid of Cinemax now the 1cent deal is ending. Got my letter on that.

Cheers


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

I invested a small fortune in my home theater room. Did the cost justify the investment? Yes. It's a getaway within my home. There I can relax and be entertained by myself or with family and friends. Especially during the winter months. As a subscriber to DirecTV's Premiere package with HD Extra Pack, Sunday Ticket and MLB we enjoy a large variety of TV viewing. Rarely do we venture out to a theater to see a movie. Why bother when you have your own theater at home! This is not to say TV is our only source of enjoyment and entertainment but in my situation it plays a major role for family and friends.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

At the risk of invoking ire...

I would like to point out that whenever prices go up, lots of people post to complain... and when a channel is added or dropped, people have something to say.

But not too many have an opinion on what their TV is worth to them?

I expected more people to have an idea of what their TV entertainment was worth than I've seen so far.


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## brant (Jul 6, 2008)

TV is worth maybe $20/mo to me. 


We don't have a lot of time for it. I find myself listening to the radio a lot rather than watching TV. 

I pay for netflix streaming. Its about $10/mo. and MLB.tv; it costs more, but I like baseball and make time to watch it, so its worth something to me. 

I could honestly watch nothing but movies on DVD if I had to completely do away with the internet I use for streaming TV shows. 

I've had the high satellite bills before, and I'm done with it; I'm not paying that much for tv ever again. Its not worth it.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

My wife is a big NFL fan, so Sunday Ticket is well worth what it costs.

My mother-in-law loves the NBA, so the NBA package is worth it.

I watch about 40 to 50 movies a month, so the movie channels are worthwhile.

My $250 per month (during the fall and winter) is about right considering the enjoyment my family receives.


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## norton54 (Feb 2, 2006)

I pay a little over a $100 a month for dish but like others have said, between the comercials and the fact you always have to add some kind of package just to get a channel or 2 that you want....? Well I don't think it's quite worth that much, especially now that they took my NatGeo away from me and still haven't given us a HD PBS feed. 

Also I'm really disappointed on how the picture goes out when there is a chance of rain.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

norton54 said:


> I pay a little over a $100 a month for dish but like others have said, between the comercials and the fact you always have to add some kind of package just to get a channel or 2 that you want....? Well I don't think it's quite worth that much, especially now that they took my NatGeo away from me and still haven't given us a HD PBS feed.
> 
> Also I'm really disappointed on how the picture goes out when there is a chance of rain.


You have a poor installation then - mine doesn't go out unless you are getting the proverbial buckets and/or have weather bad enough you should be under cover instead of watching TV.


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## nikalomas (Oct 24, 2010)

I pay $75 a month for Verizon's cable


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