6 News Consumer Investigation: Cutting Cable Costs

Not that long ago, cable television cost $30 or $40 a month.  These days, there are hundreds of channels and the bill may run $100 or more.  Six News Consumer Investigator Robin Taylor did some digging to find the best way to save money.

If you really want to save money, experts say to look at the television, internet, and phone bills and find a way to combine them.  If you're still paying for them separately, you're paying too much.

"Bundling does offer customers significant savings.  They can save more than a third on their bill by combining services together," said Lee Gierczynski, Verizon Spokesman. 

The first step to saving money is figuring out what you watch and what you need.

"Do I really need those premium channels? Is it cheaper to go another way? Do I really need that home phone?  Perhaps I could just use my cell phone," said marketing expert, Audrey Guskey.

Then look for promotional offers.  Both Verizon and Comcast have triple play packages worth considering.  Comcast has a $99/month bundle.  Verizon has a deal on FIOS for $85/month and a triple play package with direct TV for $65 a month.

With Verizon you can pick and choose plans, so you're not paying for hundreds of channels you don't watch.

"If they want the highest internet speeds available, but the lowest tier TV package they can mix and match those services together and they'll actually save money doing that," said Gierczynski.

There are plenty of deals for free premium channels from both satellite and cable providers, but after the promotion is up don't forget to cancel because they will start to bill you.

Secondly, skip pay per view, because those bills can add up fast. 

"So maybe you just subscribe to their lowest package and then you rent movies.  There are a lot of options for you to do that," said Guskey. 

Consider buying a Blu ray player or a game system that connects to the internet that way you can stream Hulu and Netflix.

Shows from hulu, or an unlimited number of movies from netflix, can cost as little as $7.99 a month. 

Another option is to get rid of your home phone and go with a double play combo.  That could save you as much as $50 a month.

"If they had a home phone number for a number of years, they can take that number with them and assign it to their cell phone so that their friends and family can still get in contact with them and they don't have the inconvenience of letting everybody know about a new number," said Gierczynski.

When the promotional offer ends, don’t forget to shop around and then call the current company.  Usually they'll match another provider's offer because they don't want to lose you as a customer.