Student Magazine For Next Generation

Tips and Tricks to Compare Your Cable TV Providers

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It may sound like having a piece of cake to pick the perfect cable package but in reality, it is not the case. Your cable package can become a nightmare for you and your family if not selected after conducting thorough research.

The websites of internet providers are usually complicated and services at such platforms are bundled up many times. Moreover, many of the ISPs do not warn customers about the expiry of promotional prices.

Feeling terrible or exhausted? You don’t need to because cable TV is a must-have for your household and you cannot run from the truth that you need to get it from an internet service provider in your area.

So, take a long deep breath to let the fresh air in and stress out. Because either you like it or not you need to select an internet service provider for cable TV. But worry not, as you are not alone in this journey. We will walk with you in every step to get the perfect internet service provider with the best cable TV plan for you.

This blog has lined up five fundamental steps that will assist you in selecting the right cable provider with an amazing cable TV plan for you. You need to keep calm and patiently go through the entire blog so you can learn how easy it is to get a cable provider that would perfectly meet your entertainment needs and budget.

Five Easy Tips and Tricks to Get Best Cable TV Provider

Research Your Options

Research is the action that contributes a lot to find the best solution in almost every walk of life. The same goes for the selection of cable TV providers. Start searching the cable providers available in your vicinity. It is a simple practice that will bring perfect solutions. Digital Landing and AllConnect are the type of websites that narrow down available options according to your address. However, NerdWallet charges you money for clicking recommendations on its website.

Once you get information about the cable providers available in your area, start digging each one. For this purpose, you can coordinate with neighbors and friends about the performance of their cable providers. By acquiring this information, you would learn about experiences people around you have until now.

Ultimately you will get the answers for many of your questions like will the service of a particular service provider work for you? How often and quickly is cable service typically restored? And how do your friends and neighbors rate customer services of cable providers in the area?

Furthermore, you can also compare the performance of these cable providers on the telecommunications report of the American Customer Satisfaction Index. This survey rates the biggest TV providers annually based on the happiness and satisfaction of subscribers. As per the report of 2016, the customers of AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS are highly satisfied compared to other customers of providers in the country. Whereas Spectrum was at the lowest satisfaction level in the list of providers. Spectrum has established in 2016 as a result of the merger of three big names in the industry Tim Warner, Cox Communication, and Mediacom cable with Charter Communication.

Decide Which Channels are Must-haves

No matter how long a list of channels you have in your cable TV package you would probably watch the selected one. Then what’s the point of paying extra only for holding channels that you don’t even watch? According to a Nielsen report in September 2016, the average American adults watch only 20 channels but have around 205 channels in the cable TV package. This means the average American is paying extra for channels they never watched. Hopefully, you won’t be one of such people.

Try to prepare a list of channels that you think are nice to have for you and your family. Instead of having a long list of channels search for the provider that can offer your must-have channels without bounding you to go for excess of channels in a package. Be honest to yourself and think does a channel deserve to be on your must-have listed? Do you or your family members watch these channels and how often?

Evaluate the need of certain channels in your need as you are going to pay extra dollars every month for adding each channel to your cable TV package. Does a channel worth spending additional dollars on?

Don’t forget to consider whether you need any cable provider for meeting your entertainment needs at all? You can watch combine TV or broadcast TV for free with Hulu or Netflix type of streaming services.

Do the Math on Bundles

For those who don’t use the internet this tip is just a waste of time so skip it and move to the next one. Otherwise, keep reading.

Alice Williams, a communications specialist at Frontier Communications says, “Bundling is a smart option because it often results in getting more services at close to the same price as just getting an individual service.”

You can easily save $1000-above by getting a good TV and internet bundle just in two years, conditioned to your needs and location where you live. However, bundling adds more complexities which you need to avoid.

First, identify the speed you want for your internet connection and the type of broadband service. You can choose either fiber-optic, DSL, or cable internet connection. It will assist you in shortlisting your choices. Like for instance, you are looking for a cable internet connection but most of the providers in your area are offering only DSL, you will quickly narrow down the one you need.

As not five fingers are the same, not all the bundles can meet your needs perfectly. So, don’t forget to make comparisons between certain bundles separately. Plus, price tags must also be the factor that you should consider while comparing services.

Ask About Deals

Cable companies try to attract new customers that’s the reason you will get a low price rate for the first year of subscription no matter which provider you select. Williams says, “Compare promos across cable providers.” Pointing out the importance of paying attention he further says, “Don’t be lazy; always read the fine print.”

There must be something that he stressed a lot on reading the terms and conditions before signing any contract. Another very important tip is to mark the date of a promotion expiry on your calendar so that you won’t skip the date and pay extra for services. It will remind you to re-evaluate cable TV packages on time.

Negotiate

Bargaining is the key to getting a sensible and justified price however, most of us are not used to it but we must be. Negotiation with a cable TV provider may help you to either trim monthly charges or to acquire extra perks or services without paying any additional fee. For effective negotiation, you must have complete knowledge about what other providers in your area are offering to customers. Whatever sum of money you save will give you a chance to spend on something more important. So, be wise and negotiate!

To Finalize

Hopefully, these tips and tricks will help you to get the right cable TV provider for your home. However, you can also check out WOW! TV packages if its services are available in your area. WOW! services are amazing which never disappoint its customer. So, you can give it a try!