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I had a friend who received a company car with which he was entitled to commute and to drive around town for pennies a mile. The only requirement besides not getting a DUI, was he could not take it outside of the city for personal use. I told him that he could easily rent a car for the 6-10 times he left the city in a year, and he would pay a small fraction of the cost of owning, maintaining, and insuring his own car. Enterprise would even deliver the rental car to the house.
He tried it a few months, but psychologically he couldn't get used to the idea. He ended up buying a car at major expense just so he could drive it outside of the city.
I think that it is that way with people who buy cable TV. You can argue that you can watch Netflix, TV online, and you can splurge an overpay for your favorite TV series on iTunes (like Walking Dead or Homeland), and purchase NHL or NFL or NBA games online. Even if you overpay on iTunes to watch your favorite series, your overall expenditure monthly is still much less.
But for many people they don't want to think, and they don't like shelling out money on individual use basis. It is a psychological strain. For those people, cable will always be the first choice.
I don't see cable vanishing quickly. I think it will steadily erode over the next few decades.
Of course, digital streaming of video may eventually become so advanced that radio frequency video transmission will seem archaic.
Cable and pay TV aren't going to vanish soon, but they'll undoubtedly continue to lose viewers annually as time goes by; constantly increasing prices primarily for sports are the #1 culprit.
constantly increasing prices primarily for sports are the #1 culprit.
My brother works as a chaplain, and he is very thrifty. He does not have cable TV and relies on Netflix and BluRays for most of his viewing. There is virtually no antenna reception in our city. But he likes sports. He bought a nice "all-in-one" computer with a decent size screen and watches a lot of NBC football and hockey. But he often resorts to the tried and true solution of going to the neighborhood bar.
My brother works as a chaplain, and he is very thrifty. He does not have cable TV and relies on Netflix and BluRays for most of his viewing. There is virtually no antenna reception in our city. But he likes sports. He bought a nice "all-in-one" computer with a decent size screen and watches a lot of NBC football and hockey. But he often resorts to the tried and true solution of going to the neighborhood bar.
That was my solution as well. I cut cable TV in 2010. I watch a lot of Netflix and use Roku for streaming and there's more than enough for me to see. I enjoy college basketball and games that used to be televised locally are now on cable only. Therefore I have to find a sports bar if the game means a lot to me. Otherwise, I'll just catch the score and even a full game replay on ESPN 3 or some other site.
For new episodes of shows that I really wanted to see as soon as possible (Breaking Bad, Mad Men), I simply purchased the episode from Amazon the next day after the episode was aired. At $2 an episode or $26 for a full season, it's an excellent value compared to the ridiculous monthly rates charged by the cable companies.
That was my solution as well. I cut cable TV in 2010. I watch a lot of Netflix and use Roku for streaming and there's more than enough for me to see. I enjoy college basketball and games that used to be televised locally are now on cable only. Therefore I have to find a sports bar if the game means a lot to me. Otherwise, I'll just catch the score and even a full game replay on ESPN 3 or some other site.
For new episodes of shows that I really wanted to see as soon as possible (Breaking Bad, Mad Men), I simply purchased the episode from Amazon the next day after the episode was aired. At $2 an episode or $26 for a full season, it's an excellent value compared to the ridiculous monthly rates charged by the cable companies.
Being in San Francisco, you should check into your library's DVD collection.
Here in San Diego, our library gets new TV show boxed DVD sets within month's of their release.
I check to see what new DVDs are available on the library's online system, and put a "hold" on the ones I want to see. Then the library emails me when they arrive at my local branch, and are available for me to checkout.
All of the library items in all of the branches are part of this reserve system, so whichever branch has it available, will send it to my local branch.
They sit on the reserve shelf with my name on them, so nobody else can take them as long as I have a hold on them. The hold status lasts for 12 days, so I have to pick them up within the 12 day period, or else they go back into circulation.
I just recently watched the most recent season DVD set of Mad Men, and the final season of Breaking Bad, both for free. I also watched the most recent seasons of True Blood and Dexter (final season). The library gets lots of cable TV show boxed sets.
It's great that I can watch an entire season's episodes at my leisure, and have a whole week to view all the episodes (usually around 12 - 13). And there is no charge to watch them. Our library doesn't charge to borrow DVDs.
Another great thing about watching them on DVD, is I can pause an episode in the middle, and come back to it later.
Obviously I can't see these new TV show episodes until several months after they air on cable, but this wait doesn't bother me. In the end, I still get to enjoy them.
Cable and pay TV aren't going to vanish soon, but they'll undoubtedly continue to lose viewers annually as time goes by; constantly increasing prices primarily for sports are the #1 culprit.
It's the # 1 reason I keep cable. My favorite TV shows I could eventually watch later either on DVD rental or streaming, but I don't know how to get my favorite sporting events without having cable, so I pay the piper.
Hi can anyone tell me an alternative to cable? I know ppl have been letting cable go because it's sooooo expensive. What are they using to watch TV shows? All I have used is roku and netflix.
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cable alternative
