Nows and Forevers

I’m old enough to remember when TV was free, at least after the set and the electricity. Today, it’s anything but.

I am paying more than $200 a month for the privilege to watch TV. This isn’t a cranky old guy complaint. Even when I got my first apartment in 1990, cable TV was only $19.95 a month. I can’t remember when it started climbing in price, although I was also immune to it for several years because I didn’t have a TV or cable. But now cable TV is about $100 a month bundled with the Internet, which is way more critical to how I live than TV ever was.

And besides, who has just cable TV? For my household, here’s HBO Bax, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Peacock. I could get others, but I would have run out of money and time to watch. I just saw today that Apple TV is going up in price from $4.99 a month to $6.99 a month, just in time for the third and likely final season of “Ted Lasso.” Hulu and Netflix have also recently raised subscription fees.

I get it. Content, as they like to call it, is expensive. So are licensing fees. As a former TV business journalist, I know that better than your average viewer.

But as a consumer, I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to keep what I have. How long will it be sustainable for many others, too? Especially those of us who remember simpler, cheaper times.