One of my un-frugal indulgences is cable tv, and more specifically HBO. About a year ago Cox Communications notified us that in order to continue to get HBO we would need one of their converter boxes for each television that we wished to watch it on; that's 2 televisions in our case, at $5.50 for each box--just to be able to get something I was already paying addition money for!

I was ready to cancel when they offered the boxes for free for one year. We took them up on it. The nice part about having the converter boxes was that we actually get both HBO 1 & 2 (we were already paying for both, but could only tune the one without the box). Now a year later, two things happened, Cox notified us that in order to get HBO2 we would have to upgrade to a digital converter box and they offered us a 6-month free trial of their "digital gateway." (Digital gateway allows you to order "on demand" and pay-per-view services and gives you handful of music channels, plus it includes the additional HBO channels--most of which are just replaying the same stuff that's on HBO1&2.) Since the gateway trial was supposed to be free and the digital box rental is the same price as the analog box, I figured I'd give it a go. What I found out when I got my next bill is that the digital gateway trial is only free on the first box, it's another $5 for the second box! So, IF I were actually going to keep all this, once the 6-months is up I will have to pay the original $11.95 for HBO PLUS $11.00 for the box rentals and $14.95 for the digital service, that's almost $26 extra just to be able to tune a channel I'm already paying extra for! (I'm seriously looking at DirectTV, but at the very least the second converter box is going back.)

It sure makes me wonder what the cable companies are going to do when everything is supposed to be broadcast in a digital signal in a couple of years.
 

You're not alone, TIme Warner Cable as well is a monopoly and drains poor folks like myself dry. We recently found out that our bill had jumped up 17$ at some point and time within the last 4 months. They also had never notified us of this increase. We were direcly billed and our bank account drafted for the monthly amount due, however because when we initally set up our bank payment with them, they were only drafting the original amount of $119.00. We found out this past weekend that the bill now was $136.00 a month but they were charging us a $5 late fee for the last 4 months, never telling us it was due to an increase in our bill. We get a bill through email(not snail mail) the person my husband talked to could not explain why this jump in our bill was never brought to our attention. We are now cancelling our service with them completely and looking at other options. I hope that in the next 2-3 years or however long it takes for another source of cable TV to come, the cable companies will keep on increasing their rates and dupping poor people because they simply can.

Here is it Shaw Cable (bc, canada) and we don't get any channels without cable. We get about 80 channels, the movie channels, high speed internet and now our phone in a bundle for $135/mth.  I thought of cancelling options but most of what we watch is not on basic cable, just the higher channels.  The movie channel bundle is $12 a mth which is worth 2 movie rentals so I think it is a good value because we don't rent movies now.  Of course even with all the channels there is not much to watch or that we can watch with little kids around!  We had 4 channels, black and white growing up and it seems like there was more on to watch back then! (I am turning 42 this mth).  As I said to my mother in law, when her kids were little , you didn't have to worry about content so much on regular channels.  Even the Home & Garden channel now has "KY j***y" commercials on in the middle of the day!

I used to work for Cox, and another cable company before that, although not in the sales or call center area.  The thing people don't realize is that cable penetration nationwide is fairly leveled off - everyone who can get cable has already been wired.  Companies can't count on new customers to bring in extra revenue. Instead, the cable companies need to find additional sources of income from their existing customers.  This means attracting people with bundles, that draw business away from telephone and internet providers, and breaking out pieces of what used to be a one-price-for-everything monthly subscription service.  We also have Cox, and pay for digital, a DVR, HBO and Cinemax.  It's a consumer decision, about how you choose to spend your money.  If you like HBO, and it takes a digital gateway to get it, you'll be willing to pay the price.  But it sounds as if you're hitting that magic place that economists know, where the added value of a good is not worth the cost. Your marginal expense for HBO is close to that point on the curve where the number of sales may begin to drop - at least yours. Look for alternatives - satellite, or your local library's stash of films including HBO series. You're the consumer, and as the cable company probably wouldn't want you to realize, cable is not a vital utility.  With its rising costs, its more like a luxury.  It probably also wouldn't hurt to contact your representatives in your state and in Washington, and ask about regulation or lack thereof in the industry.  Also check your local and state regularions regarding competition, in case there are other cable services in the area.  Verizon is premiering FIOS in RI, and if it were on our side of the bay, we might give it a try. Good luck.