- Cost - There was a high cost associated with cable. For the few services I was getting, my bill would easily be $140 without any discounts. I got that down to $60 for basic and internet.
- Discounts - They only way to qualify for their discounts is to be a new costumer. Sure, sometimes you can call and argue your way into a cheaper price plan, but it doesn't always work. Essentially what the cable companies are supporting is hidden pricing tiers. Make the price low to attract the customer, but then stick it to them after they've been a customer. Rather than supporting customer loyalty, they are supporting customer disloyalty.
- New Options - Many networks are trying to allow customers to access content over the internet. Some of them are doing it for a free/ad-supported model. You go to a website and stream the show you want to watch. The other model is paying $2/$3 for an episode, downloading it locally. Both of these models give you on demand entertainment to watch at your leisure. With a combination of the models, you can cheaply and legally get most of the content you would normally be able to watch with cable (there are some exceptions to this rule, that is when you need to sit down and see if you can live without those shows).
- Rise of the Videocast (or Podcast) - Companies like Revision3 are cranking out really good content on the web. Shows like Diggnation, The Totally Rad Show, and iFanboy are right up my alley. They cater to my geekiness in a way that cable never could.
Those were the major factors that contributed to me switching away from cable and towards internet based media.
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