they have tightened down... the only way to get a break is to be ready to move to another provider and tell them you want to cancel so they'll send you to their retention group which might get you a better deal... but they could also call your bluff and accept your cancellation

If you have wifi, will cover all the TVs. Cable cutting forum in the nerdery is a great resource if you're ever bored. I streamed about a month trial to make sure I was happy before cutting the dish.

I call anytime they raise our rate, usually once a year. I always start with the retention department and skip the initial customer service people.

I start by complaining about my higher bill. Sometimes that is enough for them to check for ways to lower it. If they don't initiate that process, I ask for current deals. If they say they are only for new customers, I question why they don't value long-time customers and remind them that I have other options (even if the other options are crappy). If none of this works, I threaten to cancel. If that doesn't work, I begin the cancellation process. I have only made it to this point once. I got it all set to disconnect, and then got a call the next day to offer me a deal.

Sometimes, I get annoyed with the first person taking too long, can't understand them, or just generally being unhelpful. I hang up and call again to try to get a better start to the process.

A few very important things:

1. If you are happy with what you currently have, remind them multiples times that you want nothing to change.

2. If you are okay with some changes, make sure you are very clear about what you are losing/getting.

3. Do not hang up until you have a confirmation email and/or the name and ID number (or whatever they call it) of the employee you talked to.

4. Confirm what the total will be once all of the taxes, fees, etc are added.

Good luck!