Comcast... ugh. As messed up as it is, JG is absolutely correct. Call to cancel, and you'll have an expanded package at a cheaper price faster than the words all get out of your mouth... for the next year, after which your price will instantly triple, without warning. Almost certainly, they will try to get you to bite on Internet and phone service at the same time, so come prepared with a firm grasp on how much you're paying for those services now and respond accordingly.

As you suspect, Dish and DirecTV are no better; they'll offer you a sweet deal and start the screwing after you officially become a "loyal customer."

I'm becoming more and more convinced that cable/satellite TV is a garbage product and a rip-off of epic proportions. Remember when all we had (unless we paid for cable) was local channels and PBS, displayed on a 19" TV with a VHF antenna on top? The picture sucked (though we didn't complain then), and programming choices were few. Even so, the prime time shows were well-written, had real stunts and explosions, and even pretty good acting. Your price: $0.00. Biggest complaint: commercials. Those who wanted choices, a better picture, and fewer commercials could buy cable or satellite programming. It was expensive, but the upgrade was huge. HBO, Showtime, MTV (when it was actually MTV), and NO COMMERCIALS on cable channels. Fast forward to today... No reasonable way to get TV without cable or satellite, so if you want to watch TV, you're paying for one or the other. If you want the channels everyone watches most, you have to pay for one or sometimes two upgrades. Most programming is so-called "Reality" TV, which requires no imagination, acting talent, etc. to produce. That HD picture that looks so nice (but doesn't actually cost providers any more than standard picture to provide) carries about $20 per TV upcharges. And cable programming without advertisements? Gone, the way of the Dodo bird [On Demand programming (another upcharge) fixed that temporarily, but it wasn't long before commercials that can't be skipped found their way in].

When I'm not watching football or something similar, I'm usually watching Netflix for my TV fix. Sure, I'm a season behind, but I get to watch as many episodes as I want, free of commercials, and Netflix remembers where I left off last time. Not into any TV shows? Choose from a kazillion movies and documentaries, on demand, and at zero extra charge, even in HD. I do believe that the ISPs (whose cable products are losing popularity due to being overpriced and crappy) will find a way to make Netflix charge customers a lot more than what they pay now (Netflix uses A LOT of their bandwidth) to level the playing field, but for now, it's the tits!

I recently got talked into a adding a basic cable TV package to my Internet service for a price less than what I had been paying for only Internet. The cable box arrived three weeks ago, and I still haven't opened the box. I'll get it out this weekend, but only because it's football time. I may even volunteer to let them upchatge me for HD, now that I'm spoiled for it. Dirty bass turds....

Sorry about the rant... I recommend neither, but if you're like me and just have to watch football, I don't think you'll have any better experience, whichever corporate overlord you offer your allegiance.