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Cancelled tv cable, land line and internet; very thankful to no longer have that monthly bill that increased every year.
In my zip code I receive around 35 tv stations with excellent reception with an indoor HD antenna; main stations are ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, and the golden oldies of Antenna TV, MeTV, etc. Don't miss the hundreds of cable channels I hardly watched.
Went with Verizon's prepaid unltd call/text plan, no complaints with pricing and service.
Thankfully our apartments have Google Fiber installed so I have Google's free internet (which is just as good as what I had with the cable provider).
I got rid of my landline years ago. Never missed it.
Got rid of cable TV right after New Year's this year. My only regret is that I waited this long. I feel like a real dummy.
Between Amazon Prime, which I had already had for years just for the 2-day delivery, Netflix, and being able to watch current episodes of network TV shows on my laptop, via the network's websites...that is more than enough. Even though I had 100+ channels with cable TV, I think I actually have MORE entertainment choices with the internet-only setup I have now. There are tons of things I am looking forward to watching on Netflix alone.
With the 100+ cable channels I used to have, I watched MAYBE 15 of them, and each channel only had a handful of things, a handful of times, when they felt like airing it, that I was really actually interested in. Also, obviously, no commercials on Netflix. And I can watch whatever I want, whenever I damn well please, and from WHEREVER, as long as there's wifi.
The best part is, I am streaming on a giant, old dinosaur CRT television set, that I hooked up to a nearly 10 year-old hand-me-down Xbox I got for free from a cousin who likes his gadgets to always be the latest and greatest. I don't even own a smart TV...not even a plain old digital one. If I can cut the cord, ANYONE can cut the cord. Cable is for suckers, or people so rich they don't care how much money they are flushing down the terlet. CABLE CAN SUCK IT.
A few years back (even though cost isn't an issue for me) I cut the cord over unexplained price increases, phantom taxes and surcharges, forced to get channels and service I don't need, contracts that held promises never kept, and the general industry wide belief that people have few choices so we do whatever we want. I dumped telephone in favor of using Omma, a savings of over $45 a month. I dumped IP Television in favor of OTA and Roku, a savings of over $100 a month. I dumped the bundled super high speed internet to a more reasonable speed (never really noticed the difference for what I us it for) and that saved about $30 a month even though I pay a higher rate because I have no other services.
In the beginning being a cord cutter was fun and the availability of programming (especially through Roku) was massive. Even using a couple of paid services such as Hulu or Netflix, I'm still only spending a fraction of what I would be spending if I kept the old service yet I have a huge and wide range of content. Having you internet enables on your television adds even more available programming and content. I would be remiss if I also didn't mention the saving by not needing a set top box, DVR, or other "added monthly fee" device just to see what I was already paying for.
But, that is changing! Has anyone else noticed that many of the once ad supported basic channels have begun switching to pay access? I'm not talking having the choice of ad free pay or ad laden free, I'm talking eliminating the ad supported version and going to straight monthly fee. Or how CBS has decided to offer a new show free but all subsequent episodes will be available only on their paid CBS All Access. Its as if they decided its no longer worth the expense of airing ads, just charge the viewer for the content on a subscription basis. Since subscriptions can be $5 - $20 a channel, you may soon be paying as much as with a cable, iptv, satellite provider for far less content.
I have heard that in 2016, some popular providers such as CBS, History Channel, PBS, Disney, Smithsonian, and a dozen others who once provided free content with ads have set up their own paid subscription services. So although we may be cutting the cord, savings may just become the dinosaur of cord cutting in 2016.
ok im really considering cutting the cord on cable. Its just too much and watch hardly anything but I need to know how to get started.. I need to keep internet we have xbox,amazon fire & hulu and Netflix.. I have 4 tvs,all hd,what kind of antenna would you recommend, we live in central jersey, would I need a splitter for the tvs? and do any of these platforms have live tv lets say AMC for example? that's pretty much the only channel I would like to watch live..
Thanks
^^^^
First go to antennaweb.org or tvfool.com to see what channels are available and how far the tower. In central jersey, the map will probably show NYC, either the Empire State building or the new World Trade Center building and maybe Philly stations. If you currently have cable connected to your TV's, the antenna lead would be connected to where the cable enters the house.[splitters are already in your attic] You will not receive AMC or any other 'cable' channel with an antenna. If you have a 'smart' TV' it might be on there. The size/type of the antenna will be determined by how far you are from the transmission tower.
Probably not. Splitters were for the days when TV's had only one or two inputs, and you had more devices to hook up than inputs. Most modern TV's have at least three to five inputs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by deb8997
and do any of these platforms have live tv lets say AMC for example? that's pretty much the only channel I would like to watch live..
Thanks
You can get some live TV, but usually not a cable channel without cable. They are trying to protect their investment. I look at AMC website, and they have a pretty good selection of episodes to view for the price of watching the commercials. There is every episode of the Walking Dead from the fall season 2015.
Most writers say you should cut the pain of giving up your cable by buying per episode one or two shows that you really like. If you pay $3 an episode for a TV show, that is a very high price for that show, but it is low overall expenditure for TV for the month.
Eventually most channels will have a streaming version. CBS All Access was the first major network. NBC has a comedy streaming channel called See-So for $4 a month. CW tv may come out soon for $3 a month.
AMC Networks Inc. owns the cable channels AMC, IFC, WE tv, and SundanceTV. It is small enough that it is unlikely to be offered as a streaming channel for many years.
Been without cable/satellite TV since August, and I don't miss it for the most part. Of course, my wife and I share our Netflix login with her parents, and in return, they added us to their cable account so that we can access many cable channels on the Roku and iPad.
If we didn't have her parents to do this, I'll admit I'd miss ESPN and HGTV. But I'll also add, I think this is how we will be accessing "cable tv content" in the very near future. True, ala cart programming. SlingTV had the right idea as far as giving you about 23 channels for $20/month. That's probably the threshold I'd go with pay TV. However, the thing is, I want to be able to choose which channels I want for $20/month.
I admire you I wish i could do it. I hate cable, its endless reruns and endless commercials. some channels are nothing but tired old western and most of the movie channels are also tired old westerns. sometimes I watch cspan only because there are no commercials but its mostly about the civil war or anything else usually leans far too right for my taste.every month I pay my outrageous cable bill and every month I feel like a jackass for doing it.
I admire you I wish i could do it. I hate cable, its endless reruns and endless commercials. some channels are nothing but tired old western and most of the movie channels are also tired old westerns. sometimes I watch cspan only because there are no commercials but its mostly about the civil war or anything else usually leans far too right for my taste.every month I pay my outrageous cable bill and every month I feel like a jackass for doing it.
To me, it's been more of a challenge to see what all I can get through OTA antennas, bartering and trading with the family who won't give up cable (lol), and just testing out the new/upcoming streaming services from various companies. I really do believe we are, finally, heading toward the ala cart programming. We are most certainly in a transition of bringing TV content to folks via the internet instead of the satellite. I just hope that we hang on to OTA channels for as long as we can, because honestly, that's where I get the bulk of my entertainment.
SFN TV and Playstation Vue are options for people seeking live TV channels. And of course Sling TV is your other option.
I pay $40 a month for Internet plus $13/month for Hulu, $8/month for Amazon Prime, and Netflix is free.
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