I'm talking to you people who look for streams to fights on regular HBO or Showtime. Get HBO or Showtime! It's not expensive and it supports the sport of boxing. If you love boxing it's more than worth it and it beats the crap out of a shitty stream.
PPVs are a whole different story.
my cable bill is about 65- 70 dollars a month and i barelly got any good channel. i dont have hbo and i dont have showtime. imagine paying 100 a months. people got other bills that need to be paid. promoters are overcharging people. for example juan manuel lopez fight this weekend it is 40 bucks. come on it should of been like 25 dollars. i was going to get hbo just for boxing but its 13 dollars a month and the fights a espn are sometimes better than the one on hbo
My girl and I got HBO Canada a while back. The only thing that pisses me off about it is that they don't show the 24/7 shows or specials like the Thrilla in Manila doc.
Seriously, and this applies with a ton of things, if you actually call up and threaten to cancel your shit, you will be amazed at the kind of deals thrown at you to keep you a customer.
with sky if u say the magic word "cancel" 3 times when your on the phone, they start with the deals. (at least that used to be the case when my mate worked for them a few years ago!)
I'm kind of hoping for a similar situation, free channels. I've been a damn good customer for over 3 years now. If they start jacking it back up, time to switch from Directv back to cable or Verizon or whoever is offering the deals. I just dropped my satellite bill down to 60 bucks a month. Not too many good fights were going on this summer anyways, so I figured why keep paying for it? I hate watching tv to begin with unless its some sporting competition. But shit, with the technology we have now, computers, internet and tv tuners, if one knows what they're doing, they can kiss a cable bill goodbye. Imo, satellite and cable tv will be taking some huge hits in the next 10 years once people get more hip to the game. The hardest part is just trying to convince people to switch. Once people realize how much tv they don't watch, and how they can see many of thier favorite shows on the net, its a wrap. Theres Netflix, fancast, hulu, boxee, etc. Just the tip of the iceberg.
I hope you get that deal you're looking for.
Infact, my cable provider is currently offering HBO and Showtime free for 3 months. So I might call them up soon and get that trial, then try to cancel before it's up in the hopes of getting a similar deal. :boxing:
I'm with you on TV. I dropped it altogether from mid 2008 up until just a few months ago.
I just wasn't there to watch it, and when I was, there was never anything on.
I just have basic now, pay like $40 a month for it, but it hasn't changed any in the time I went without it.
I might just scratch it again and pocket the $40.
I have more fun popping in a DVD, playing a video game, or surfing the net than I do with television.
And I think you're right about cable/satellite taking a hit over the next decade.
More and more people are already onto the internet as a means of watching television, movies, and sports as it is now.
Cable and satellite will be obsolete in the next 20 years or so.
If you're broke you're broke, I used to leach off streams a few years ago. Some people have a family and they have bigger priority's then to watch their favorite sport but there are also people who stream every fight and still complain about everything.
They tried that shit on me too, the "lower your price" routine.
I heard that eventually they'll just jack it back up on you, and you'll have to cancel anyway.
But some companies are really good with that shit.
Back in the days before broadband/dsl/cable internet, I had dial up through this one company. (Can't remember who.)
But I wanted to cancel it because it became too expensive, and they just started giving me 3 months free at a time.
Then when that 3 months was up, I could call back and try to cancel again, and get another 3 months free.
I had free internet for like 2 years. :lol1:
I'm kind of hoping for a similar situation, free channels. I've been a damn good customer for over 3 years now. If they start jacking it back up, time to switch from Directv back to cable or Verizon or whoever is offering the deals. I just dropped my satellite bill down to 60 bucks a month. Not too many good fights were going on this summer anyways, so I figured why keep paying for it? I hate watching tv to begin with unless its some sporting competition. But shit, with the technology we have now, computers, internet and tv tuners, if one knows what they're doing, they can kiss a cable bill goodbye. Imo, satellite and cable tv will be taking some huge hits in the next 10 years once people get more hip to the game. The hardest part is just trying to convince people to switch. Once people realize how much tv they don't watch, and how they can see many of thier favorite shows on the net, its a wrap. Theres Netflix, fancast, hulu, boxee, etc. Just the tip of the iceberg.
I recently called to cancel my HBO and Showtime because its just getting to be too expensive, especially when boxing is the only reason why I have those stations.
Long story short, they reduced my cost for both channels to 9.99 a month for 3 months. The chick was extremely cool and said call back when the 3 months are up and see if another deal can be made to keep it low.
A channel for strictly combat sports is seriously needed. I'd gladly pay for that than HBO or Showtime.
They tried that shit on me too, the "lower your price" routine.
I heard that eventually they'll just jack it back up on you, and you'll have to cancel anyway.
But some companies are really good with that shit.
Back in the days before broadband/dsl/cable internet, I had dial up through this one company. (Can't remember who.)
But I wanted to cancel it because it became too expensive, and they just started giving me 3 months free at a time.
Then when that 3 months was up, I could call back and try to cancel again, and get another 3 months free.
I had free internet for like 2 years. :lol1:
Also ; life situation.
Some people are just not as well off as others, and can't afford those channels.
Shit, when I was a kid growing up in Philly we didn't even have cable. We just had the local channels that everybody gets.
We couldn't afford the monthly for a basic cable package, let alone the premium networks.
Now I know what you're thinking....
"But they can afford the internet?"
Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they're leeching someone else's connection, going to the public library, or going over to a more well off friend/relative's house.
I recently called to cancel my HBO and Showtime because its just getting to be too expensive, especially when boxing is the only reason why I have those stations.
Long story short, they reduced my cost for both channels to 9.99 a month for 3 months. The chick was extremely cool and said call back when the 3 months are up and see if another deal can be made to keep it low.
A channel for strictly combat sports is seriously needed. I'd gladly pay for that than HBO or Showtime.
I agree but if a person is young and broke I feel their pain not being able to pay the monthly cable bill. For those who can afford it HBO and Showtime should be mandatory, also going to the fights every once in a while is a must.
As for PPVs; you're right, they're a whole different story.
I won't start shelling out $50 for a boxing PPV until the promoters start giving me my damn money's worth, and not 3 crap undercards, with 1 good main event that may, or may not live up to the hype.
Anytime someone has to shell out $50 to see the likes of Billy Dib ; you know you're getting fucked.
HBO and Showtime's prices depend on what area you live in, and what cable or satellite provider you have.
Just because it's cheap for one guy, doesn't mean it's cheap for the next.
I know this better than anybody. I had both HBO and Showtime in my cable package from 2003-early 2008.
But my cable company went from charging me $6 a piece for each pacakge, to $13 a piece for each package, literally overnight.
Now $26 bucks a month for 2 cable packages ain't much of a monthly expenditure - but I only watch boxing on those Networks. I don't care for the shitty movies they run (with an occasional good one maybe once a week, when I'm at work, no less.), and all of their softcore pornography.
And some months there's no boxing at all, drought periods, as I call 'em.
Why would I pay $26 a month for that when I can watch it online for free?
I'd buy in again in a heartbeat though if they'd just drop the prices in my area.
It's not like streams are anywhere near as good as the real thing.