[LYKUNO]

Recently switched over from Legacy Time Warner Cable to Spectrum. Incentives when selecting the Silver plan included getting Showtime, HBO and Cinemax at no extra charge, plus some channels that weren't previously available on my TWC plan.

Shortly after the switch, Spectrum upped the monthly charge by ~$5.00, and now a letter from Spectrum in the US Mail stating that Cinemax premium channels will no longer be provided as part of the Silver plan. And no, there won't be any reduction in the cost of the Silver plan. Additionally, if I want Cinemax, they'll be happy to provide it on an ala carte basis for $15/month.

I can see why vast numbers of people are cutting the cable cord and going to streaming services. With each unjustifyable price increase, or downgrade in channels offered, Spectrum is pushing me closer to my limit.

 

[Cainebj]

I agree - the cost of my cable bill is ridiculous and when Spectrum pulls shenanigans like this - - -
I got that same letter and thought oh how typical how soon before they take away HBO and Showtime too?
Still waiting for TiVo to make a box that doesn't rely on a cable subscription (and no TiVo the new over the air use an antennae box doesn't count)...

 

[sharkster]

I haven't gotten anything on this - yet. Yikes. That's messed up. You sign up for a plan and if they take something away from your plan it would seem that you would get a discount. Not just 'we're taking it away but you will still pay for it, unless you want to pay MORE to keep it'. ugh

I'd hate it if they did this with HBO and/or Showtime, though!

 

[stile99]

I hate cable companies with the fire of 1000 suns. It sickens me to defend them. That said, as described the situation seems to be Cinemax was an 'inventive' or 'bonus', not part of the Silver plan. If it was part of the plan, I can see being upset. If it was an incentive to sign up, it is unreasonable to expect a rate reduction. Even if it WAS a part of the plan, I guarantee buried in the 55 page document they call the service agreement it says plans/channel bundles can change at any time, and delivery of a specific channel is not guaranteed. Trust me, that language got thrown in YEARS ago when content providers started blacking out the channels while they try to extort more money from the cable company.

Imagine your local grocery store has a special. Buy ice cream, bananas, and chocolate sauce and get a free tub of whipped topping. Enjoy your sundae! Next week that special is gone, and there is no reason to expect the price on ice cream, bananas, and/or chocolate sauce to be lowered to 'compensate' for the canceled special. They might even have raised the price of ice cream in the meantime. They might even sell all three as a 'sundae package', but the whipped topping wasn't part of the actual package, it was a bonus last week.

 

[akaussie]

Cinemax being part of the Silver plan wasn't a 'special' or 'bonus'. I've had Charter/Spectrum for 4.5 years and it's always been in that tier along with HBO and Showtime.

 

[Bierboy]

...Still waiting for TiVo to make a box that doesn't rely on a cable subscription (and no TiVo the new over the air use an antennae box doesn't count)...

Why not?

We cut the cord two years ago, use a Roamio OTA, have fiber internet (200/75), subscribe to Hulu, and piggyback on our son's Netflix and Prime. We're still paying about half of what we paid for cable...

 

[series5orpremier]

I read on DSLreports they’re also taking Starz and some other channels out of Gold with no price decrease. I presume Starz will become a la carte.

I ironically just subscribed to Silver on the new customer deal today after having dumped Spectrum for 1.5 months. This is looking like the final year I’ll have cable.

 

[ej42137]

I imagine I'll downgrade my subscription to remove the premiums and sign up for them on Amazon instead. Much better picture and no worries scheduling recordings or managing disk space at the expense of inferior trick play.

 

[Peter000]

It sucks, but won't affect me much. I hardly watch the premium channels at all on my silver plan. The only movies I would watch I have already purchased one way or another (disc or digital or both). I haven't had any interest in premium series in years. I'll have to look at the non-premium channels to see if I can downgrade without losing much. But I probably won't. I'm pretty satisfied with what I'm getting.

 

[Steveknj]

Obviously it's part of the viscous circle that they and we have created. We started dropping our cable subs because THEY started raising prices at a whim, so WE cut the cord so THEY raised prices to make up for US cutting the cord. In the meantime, the content providers are ALL raising their prices so they have to raise prices to make up for that so WE cut the cord. Add in that many networks are creating their OWN services and charging their OWN fees outside of the cable universe. And the cycle goes on.

And now there's this:
Cord-cutting services are following cable TV's footsteps | ZDNet

 

[stile99]

Cinemax being part of the Silver plan wasn't a 'special' or 'bonus'. I've had Charter/Spectrum for 4.5 years and it's always been in that tier along with HBO and Showtime.

Thank you for the correction. OP indicated it was an incentive.

 

[sharkster]

Cinemax being part of the Silver plan wasn't a 'special' or 'bonus'. I've had Charter/Spectrum for 4.5 years and it's always been in that tier along with HBO and Showtime.

Yup. I've been with Charter for decades and have always had the same block of channels, none of which were temporary incentives or anything like that.

 

[LYKUNO]

Thank you for the correction. OP indicated it was an incentive.

Sorry, I meant to imply that the inclusion of the 3 premiums (Showtime, HBO and Cinemax) in the Silver package was the incentive/trigger I needed to make the switch from Legacy TWC to Spectrum Silver. Under the TWC legacy plan I had I was paying ~$12 per month for just the Showtime premium channels. I also mistakenly titled the thread suggesting that Cinemax was "free" under the Spectrum Silver package. That too was misleading, as in the long run, nothing from Spectrum is ever free! My elation with getting more channels than I previously had with TWC, and a bump up in internet speed from 30/5 to 100/10 at roughly the same price was short-lived. First Spectrum tacked on a $5 increase in the monthly rate, and then they decided to take away the Cinemax channels, unless I wanted to pay $15/month additional. Not a good trend here.

 

[Unbeliever]

I just got a letter today saying Epix/Cinemax isn't even part of their "Gold" higher tier package. They're a la carte only.

--Carlos V.

 

[tarheelblue32]

It's pretty obvious that Spectrum kept the Silver and Gold packages more appealing with the premiums included just long enough to get most of the L-TWC off their old, grandfathered TWC TV packages and onto Spectrum's TV packages. Now that that's been accomplished, they are dropping the hammer.

 

[Unbeliever]

But I was in Charter land pre-merger with it included. Was this a reaction to Skinemax...errr Cinemax upping their price?

--Carlos V.

 

[sharkster]

I got the letter yesterday, stating that "Your Spectrum TV Gold package will no longer include Cinemax and Epix. These channels will be available for subscription as a la carte services only".

Effective Feb 15.

I can't remember last time I watched Cinemax and not sure, but might have something on Epix.

As mentioned before on this subject, I don't get and have never before seen the removing of channels without reducing the price deal. It's kind of tough to swallow the notion that they will remove channels at the same price we pay now for a package that includes those channels. It was never a promo deal. It was the package.

 

[Cainebj]

Why not?
We cut the cord two years ago, use a Roamio OTA, have fiber internet (200/75), subscribe to Hulu, and piggyback on our son's Netflix and Prime. We're still paying about half of what we paid for cable...

I live in midtown Manhattan - I just always assumed I would get no reception and I don't even know where I would put an antenna. The ones I looked at were those weird things you have to attach to your window. Very attractive. Do you use an antenna?

 

[Bierboy]

I live in midtown Manhattan - I just always assumed I would get no reception and I don't even know where I would put an antenna. The ones I looked at were those weird things you have to attach to your window. Very attractive. Do you use an antenna?

Yes...this one...and this one. Second one works the best. Both used indoors.

 

[Cainebj]

Thanks - yeah the first one is the kind I was looking at... I supposed I should give it a try and see what happens.