Despite the rise of web programming and much free content online millions of American (and Brits for that matter) still pay large cable bills and the reasons don't look to be changing anytime soon.
The NY Times quotes the example of Bill Mitchell who gave up his $130 a year subscription to Time Warner and connected his TV to the internet. He relied on free services from the likes of Apple and Boxee.
But one year later Mitchell is back with Time Warner after family pressure.
"The problem is, we're hooked on shows on HBO and Showtime, like 'True Blood' and 'Dexter'," he said, adding that he wishes he could buy only the shows he wants instead of big bundles of channels he doesn’t. "It’s so frustrating."
The piece cites another example of 26-year old Breck Yunits who lives in San Francisco. He and his friends don't have cable and watch shows online splitting the internet bill between them.
They watch shows freely available online such as 'The Office' and 'Arrested Development' as well as material on Hulu, NBC.com and MTV.com.
But full length shows remain protected and even Yunits admitted that he might end up getting cable as his girlfriend like shows that were not legally available online.