In June 2001 Apple introduced the world to iTunes, a music marketplace that largely changed the way we buy music. And now, almost a decade later rumor has it that Apple wants to revolutionize the way we get our television delivered by offering all you can watch TV for $30.

Before Apple can offer consumers the opportunity to ditch their cable subscriptions for an all-you-can-watch plan it has to convince the television networks that it's a good idea, just like it did with the music labels.

Given the numerous side projects of networks, like CBS' TV.com, and the attempts by cable companies to restrict online streaming to customers, Apple faces a big hurdle before it can offer a $30 unlimited TV package.

Last week it was announced that Comcast plans to increase the cost of renting a cable modem from $3 to $5 a month -- an increase of 66% or $24 a year. Comcast points to the cost of new technology for the increase, telling Multichannel news that it reflects a cost increase to Comcast of 167%.

Sure, $2 a month isn't going to break your budget. But it's actually very easy to buy your cable modem and cut the whole rental fee off your bill, which could save you $60 a year in fees. Getting your own cable modem is simple,and pretty much anyone paying rental fees for a modem can buy their own and save in the long run.

Lockergnome.com points to two popular Motorola cable modems for sale at Amazon.com that are compatible with Comcast and will be paid for in just over a year's time. The Motorola SB6120 Surfboard is compatible with the newest technology which will give you higher speeds when the tech rolls out at Comcast, and the Motorola SB5101, which costs less than you'd pay for a year's worth of rental and still provides great speeds. There are also other deals to be found be searching for sales and looking on eBay.

If you don't have Comcast or your modem isn't one of those listed above, just look at the bottom of your modem to find out what its model number is. Searching for it or taking it into your local electronics store should provide you with some prices and alternatives.

If buying your own modem doesn't sound like your way to beat the fee increase, you could always call up your cable company and ask for a discount. It's surprisingly easy, and if you don't do it at least once a year you're probably paying too much or paying for channels you don't watch. If you call for a discount, don't mention any competitors by name because this will just give the representative the opportunity to list the bad things about the competitor. All you have to do is ask for a break on pricing and cite "other offers." Since it's costly to get a new customer, the odds are good that you'll get a discount.

Don't you wish life had a pause button? Things get hectic, routines change, the weather gets warmer and all of the sudden things that used to be worth your time and money become expensive drains on your bank account.

I bet you didn't know that many popular subscription services will actually let you pause your subscription for a few months without impacting any membership terms or losing any credits. You can even temporarily stop some services like cell phones, that carry a heavy fee to permanently cancel, for next to nothing.

Here are a few services that can be placed on hold:

• Netflix -- Choose "Put membership on hold" when logged in.
  
• Audible -- Email customer service, can be put on hold for up to 3 months.
  
• Newspaper -- Call the circulation department, time varies by paper.
  
• Magazines -- For Conde Nast magazines you can call, email or phone.
  
• Gym membership -- Ask at the front desk; remember to ask someone who has power.
  
• Cell Phone -- Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T offer a hold feature; but it will cost you.
  
• Cable -- Time Warner, amongst others, offers this. Just call the customer service number.

The day of reckoning is close; come June 12th the analog airwaves will no longer be graced with the witty banter of sitcoms, daytime soaps evening news shows.

Instead stations nationwide will finally make the long talked about, and oft delayed, switch to digital television. If you haven't already taken the steps to make sure you don't see static next Friday, you better get moving.

A quick reminder: If you get your television from a cable or satellite operator or your existing TV has a digital tuner, you won't need a converter box and can return to your regularly scheduled programming.

To find out what consumers who aren't ready should do in the next week, WalletPop spoke to Nick DeVita, a manager at a Best Buy store in New York.

One of the most common questions he has heard from customers, aside from "Why?" is, "What's the difference in the converter boxes?"

I'm always on the lookout for a better deal for our home TV, phone and Internet plans, especially since my cable company recently raised its rates.

While I don't mind calling a few companies for price quotes, the main difficulty is comparing one company's offerings to another's. Finding the same telephone service isn't so hard, but trying to compare plans for the same TV stations and Internet speed can be next to impossible.

Allconnect.com, a Web site used primarily by people moving and setting up such services in their new home, is trying to change that with updates to its Web site this week. While the changes are big -- comparing home utility company services and taking customers' orders -- the site doesn't yet go far enough to make it easy to find the best deal.

The Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld a Federal Communications Commission ruling that barred cable companies from retaining the exclusive right to provide service in buildings they wired.

Prior to this ruling, people who lived in co-ops, condominiums, and apartment buildings were subject to an unfair and monopolistic tyranny: One cable company had exclusive rights to the entire building and could basically charge people whatever it wanted to charge -- or they would have to live without cable.

This was blatantly anti-competitive, and allowed cable companies and developers to ripoff consumers, many of whom probably didn't know about the exclusivity deals before they committed to their units. Under the FCC's ruling, exiting deals of this nature cannot be enforced and new ones cannot be created.

"Incumbent cable companies were actively walling off competition to consumers living in apartments and condos through these exclusive access arrangements," said AT&T in a statement. "This decision recognizes the FCC's authority and prohibits unfair practices by cable companies that limit competition and consumer choice for video service."

"The net result is that many consumers are likely to wind up paying more for services if the FCC's interference in the competitive marketplace stands," a Comcast official said in a statement.

That's right: A Comcast official says that banning apartment and condominium developers from locking their residents into long-term commitments with one service provider "interferes with the competitive marketplace." Is that really they best they can come up with?

To raise money to expand its growing wireless and fiber-optic divisions, Verizon sold 4.8 million landlines to Frontier in exchange for $5.25 billion in Frontier stock. The lines being sold include all Verizon landline customers in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as some parts of California.

So what does this mean for you if one of those numbers being horse-traded is the one that rings in your home? Will your service be affected? What's going to happen to your rate -- especially if you'd been relying on Verizon to deliver your wireless, Internet and TV service in exchange for a discounted "bundle" rate?

A press release on Verizon's website promises a "seamless" switchover for customers but doesn't address what's going to happen to rates or the availability of discounts after the sale.

"Consumers would be well-advised to watch their phone bill to see if it changes in format or amount," says Martha Buyer, attorney and regulatory counsel for the Society of Telecommunication Consultants. It's entirely possible that customers with bundle discounts might wind up paying a la carte prices for each service. Since any changes will take between three and 12 months to implement, Buyer says, check the inserts in your phone bill in the upcoming months to see what, if any, deals Frontier will offer former Verizon customers.

If past history is any indication, landline holders might be in for a bumpy transition. When Verizon sold off its Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont lines to Fairpoint Communications last year, reports of billing glitches, overcharging and interrupted Internet service started making their way into the local media and consumer-complaint Internet forums.

When people look to save money by cutting back on bills, cable is often one of the first expenses to be cut. While you can stay up to date with many shows online, there are just as many that you can only catch on cable. Usually you'd have to make due without. But one of my friends has come up with a great way to keep up with her shows and stay fit at the same time: She watches her favorite cable shows at the gym.

Elizabeth McCombs, marketing manager at the local mall, has a gym membership at a 24-Hour Fitness chain which equips each piece of equipment with a television.

By timing her workout with her favorite cable series, she's been able to save on her monthly cable bill and get in better shape. Since it's her only avenue for watching Burn Notice or Psych, she also gets the very most of her gym membership fees.

The smart people are currently looking for ways to cut their expenses to save money and feel more financially secure. Today I found a way to save $33 a month without even giving up anything. I looked at my cable bill and decided to make a change.

My cable bill is paid each month via a credit card which I pay in full every billing cycle. I wasn't paying much attention, until I saw that my cable bill for the month was $151. Huh? My bill wasn't that much. I took a look, and saw that my bill used to be $135 a month, until I got a mysterious increase in my internet access. I thought I'd give the cable company a call and see if I couldn't get that extra $16 a month removed.

By the time I got off the phone, my monthly bill was down to $118, and it didn't hurt a bit. As I talked over my bill with the customer service representative, I was reminded that I was paying $13 a month for HBO. If I had to guess, I'd say I watch HBO once a month at the very most. Time to give up the HBO that I won't even miss anyway.

In a recent poll of customers and their satisfaction with customer service cable and satellite providers have been ranked the lowest, dropping 3% since the first survey was performed last year. This drop in satisfaction with customer service is even more pronounced for cable companies who many customers are out of touch with their needs. The survey performed by the CFI group found that cable and satellite companies failed to help 20% of customers calling them for assistance, something which may be attributed to the growing complexity with cable and satellite company offerings.

The survey additionally showed that the percent of people who looked elsewhere for help including online, fell by half to just 17%. With more people going straight to the company for help it's no surprise that customer service representatives, under a deluge of support calls, are found to be unable to effectively handle an issue or seem uncaring. Still it's sad that these companies have a disorder, I refer to as the cable company complex, in which they believe customer's will stay no matter what, because the competition doesn't exist. Direct TV has been cashing in on this dissatisfaction with its recent "You deserve better than Cable" advertising campaign, which sadly sums up my experience with cable customer service.

Late last year during a service call to figure out why my HD reception was better described as LD or Low Def, a "glitch" caused my cable box to become de-authorized, which prompted the first of many calls. Time Warner was able to quickly turn my box back on and to their credit they had improved the HD picture quality, however several months later a large bill showed up including an additional cable box and a PPV movie purchase.

Oprah Winfrey, easily the most successful self-made business woman in the United States, has added one more piece to her empire with "OWN," the Oprah Winfrey Network. She's doing the cable network with Discovery Communications, and it's expected to launch in the second half of 2009. Discovery Health Channel will be converted into this new channel.

They say Oprah will be the part of the creative process for the channel, helping to develop topics and shows that are popular with the viewers of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She's already got her talk show, "O" the Oprah magazine, and "Oprah and Friends," a station on XM Satellite Radio.

This cable television station will compete with Oxygen, a cable network that currently focuses on programming for women. Oprah was an early investor in that channel, but eventually reduced her involvement when she said that the channel didn't reflect her voice. The other major competitor in the arena of women's stations is Lifetime Television.

Oprah emphasized that OWN will not be just for women, but will try to reach a broader audience that includes entire families. I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out and how much this channel reflects what Oxygen used to be. There are a zillion channels available to viewers these days, so it's difficult to launch and sustain a new channel. Discovery says they're looking to bring stronger brand recognition to some of their channels, and certainly, aligning with Oprah is probably an excellent way to do that for at least one of their channels.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.