I understand, but wanted to throw it out there conceptually. But, as more and more television content is provided over the Internet, it's only a matter of time before cable TV/dish go away and the only thing you have coming into your home is Internet. Just think if ESPN decided to provide all content over the Internet, even with a subscription, it would be a huge blow to the cable providers. I think the future is ala carte television channels provided soley through the internet. At that point, I could see residents pushing for a muni Wi-Fi system. IMO the CCD's generally provide excellent service for a very reasonable price. Why can't that include Internet.

The "cable" companies are already providers of internet. In The Villages that is Comcast and Brighthouse. The "phone" company is also a provider of internet and TV. In The Villages that is CenturyLink. For all intents and purposes, TV is just another set of packets of data being sent down the coax or fiber. The "cable" companies aren't going anywhere as they are the major providers of internet to the home in this country. Cell tower based data services will probably continue to grow but it isn't clear to me that people will opt for that over coax and fiber based systems to the home. The satellite based companies (DirectTV and Dish) may survive to service areas without other infrastructure. You can already receive an amazing amount of programming through streaming boxes and I agree that more ala carte programming will become available. I have been using Roku boxes for a couple of years now.

Yes i understand that but they should not be able to profit from free TV like they do, that is my only point!

How much excess profit do you think they are receiving? In other words, do you know what their distribution costs are? These are rhetorical questions but I hope you see my point - you really don't know their cost structure or where their margins are. Without that sort of information, it is impossible to say that you are being gouged for "free TV channels", and I believe that is the point you are trying to make. I have been using an over-the-air antenna for several years as I don't see the need to pay for the distribution and for programming I don't watch. I don't have a problem with any company making a profit.

yes i get your point, big dog wins, but i just can't get over the fact they are profiting from free TV as bad as they do, if it was reasonable i would have no problem paying 5.00 to 10.00 a month for it, not 40.00 a month
I guess this is why you are busy putting up antenna's.
People feel the same way i do.

in fact i do have quit a bit of knowledge in that business and the 12' dish they use to capture the local channels and all other broadcasting from the satellite is there for the taking.all the channels are piggy backed.so that being said with the digital bandwidth they can put 1000's of channels and bandwidth.
One other thing the cable company's doesn't tell you that the internet speed they promise is only maximum peak MB that can be taken.
However the hard pipe supplied to your neighborhood is always overloaded and the bandwidth you are paying for is very rarely there during peak time.
However with DSL it comes to you on your own pipe and you have guaranteed speed, however the cable company's doesn't tell you that and if you ask they lie to your face. Read up folks that is the truth!
the margins are very small for what it cost them to put free channels on there cable.
I will let you decide if they are gouging or not.
My answer is yes

Not sure I completely agree. The cable companies may continue to exist, but the TV side of the business is where ALL the money is made. The Internet is just a pipe into your home. If all that's left is Internet, the cable companies will be just like the electric company or the gas company. Belive me, cable companies are very scared about the TV side of the business. Regardless, it's going to be interesting to see how this evolves.

I would just point out that we were not getting the local channels for free. You had to pay for at least basic service. Then you could choose to let your TV tuner find the available unscrambled channels, or use the digital transport adapter to receive the scambled channels. Whichever you chose, it was aproximately the same few channels.

The problem is, when you use the DTA, the picture quality is degraded, the picture size is not consitent from channel to channel or show to show, you have to put up with gray bars or distorted images, etc.

Wavy chip you are very wise the cable company's days are numbered and they will collapses.
The internet will stream everything you need for TV in the future.
Sit back and watch the show, guaranteed the tax payers with bail out the cable companies next.
Just my opinion, read up folks its on the way and i am waiting for these providers to get there's just like the cell company's are in today's market.

I don't use Comcast so I don't really care what they charge but they are allowed to make a profit. I use CenturyLink for internet only. My point remains, you really don't know what their costs are for distributing "free channels" to your house. Your point regarding their internet on a shared loop is actually well known and is tangential to the issue you brought up. Regardless, if you don't want to pay, nobody is forcing you. I recommend Tom if you need an antenna installed.

When the cable companies collapse more than half the broadband customers won't have internet access so they won't be watching anything over the internet.

The cable companies (and phone companies too) are selling internet bandwidth and programming content. They pay for the content (for example ESPN) and resell and distribute it to you. They own lots of infrastructure to deliver internet bandwidth and programming content. If you are suggesting that how they sell programming content will change then I agree with you; I am sure it will move to more of a ala carte arrangement instead of the current bundling. They will continue to sell internet bandwidth regardless of whether it delivers programming they are reselling or you are getting your programming from another provider such as Netflix. The cable companies aren't going anywhere because they have the infrastructure to deliver bandwidth to the home. You will most likely continue to pay a cable company or phone company for broadband internet access.

The next step is to charge you for the amount of "data" that you use.

I would not be surprised if this happens to make up for lost revenue from selling less content. Things are fluid - good observation.

I didn't know the HD DTAs were available here. Tell me more!