Topic: Canceling cable and satellite

[biggreenarms]

About three years ago, after much premeditation, I walked outside my house – hatchet in hand – and severed the single line of coaxial cable that kept my household wired to the universe. I killed the cable.

…Ok, not literally. That would have been pretty stupid, especially considering the fact that our Internet came through that same line of coax. What really happened was my roommates and I got together and made a decision that many people are making today: we decided to ditch cable TV in lieu of streaming all of our media from the Internet...

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/how-to-cancel-cable-and-get-tv-on-your-pc/

I've been considering this for a while and wanted to know if any of you are doing it and what your opinion is of Hulu and Netflix? I currently have Directv, watch only a handful of shows and most of the hundred plus channels I get are complete junk. I just don't see the benefit in paying the high monthly fees any more for something I don't even utilize 10% of what's available. Also, can you still get local channels through the air and what's needed to do that?

[clovenhoof]

I have 't done it yet, but fully intend to at the end of my DISH committment. The kids will freak, but I don't care anymore.

[herdfanwoody]

onl thing really needed to get the basic channels is the cable cord that hooks into the wall im pretty sure and netflix is always a good option but they dont have shows right away and the easiest way to get the new shows is to get on the networks website and view them their, they are usually on within a day or too after the initial viewing of the program

[phillyherdfan]

Make a list of shows you watch and stations you would like to have.  Then confirm if there are services available to offer them legally.  What you'll find is you will give up something... the question is if you are ok with giving it up. 

Also, be wary of who is providing the internet "pipe" into your home... lots of legislation underway that could impact what your internet provider allows to come through the internet... streaming services are competition, so they are pushing hard to force legislation that would allow them to "censor" the internet to only allow what THEY want you to see.  See SOPA and like legislation.

For me, HBO is the killer.  I like nearly all their original programming and it's simply not available without a cable subscription and never will be (HBO is owned by TimeWarner, the 2nd largest cable provider).

[spaldy]

I'm envious. 

Unless I outlive the wife I'll never be rid of that crap.  $80 flushed down the toilet every month. Just one of those things you put up with in a marriage.    I probably watch an hour of TV a month. 

[MarshallMatrix]

Maybe get an HDTV outdoor antenna from Sears or somewhere with a good return policy and see what reception you can get.

trial Hulu plus, amazon prime, and Netflix see how you like it

Works for me so I don't have to pay for cable or dish

[Big City]

You can get an antenna and get the local stations in high def for basically 25-30. (Cost of antenna) I have a Netflix account and its pretty cool. If you have an iPad you can buy an adapter and run the image straight in to your tv ($50). The picture is pretty good. We did this when we recently moved and waited on the HOA to approve our direct tv install. Honestly I could do without it... It would be hard- well impossible for me during football season to go without.

[herdfan429]

I've done it and its hard at first but you very quickly realize how much crap tv you actually watch. It sucks for sports on espn and stuff but long run its been great. Netflix is good I don't have Hulu but haven't heard great things from my friends that have it. I also have Apple TV and have downloaded some apps of my fav channels that ican stream some shows.

[HERDFAN1999]

I wish they would lower the rates and allow you to select the channels you want.  Say for $30/mo you get whatever 10 channels you want.  We watch about 4-5 channels.  TV today is just awful regardless of whether you get it from satellite, internet stream, or cable.

[exanimate]

We are very close to canceling cable all together. I dropped Directv 6 or 7 months ago and haven't missed it. We have cable now and honestly most of the shows that we watch can be purchased for 2 bucks an episode on itunes or amazon. My oldest son raremy watches tv. He watches netflix. Truth be told i can get amy show I want online for free and stream it to my HDTV. You can even build your own dvr with a computer. Only thing holding me back is sports.

[phillyherdfan]

I wish they would lower the rates and allow you to select the channels you want.  Say for $30/mo you get whatever 10 channels you want.  We watch about 4-5 channels.  TV today is just awful regardless of whether you get it from satellite, internet stream, or cable.

It MIGHT just happen.  This lawsuit by Cablevision is the first that could lead to ala-cart cable.

http://allthingsd.com/20130226/maybe-youll-get-the-pay-tv-you-want-after-all-cablevision-sues-viacom-to-break-up-the-bundle/

[Thundering In MD]

I have Directv mainly for Marshall sports.

[IH8WVU]

We don't have cable and I love it.  I am not tied to a specific time to watch the shows I want.  I would say 90% of TV stations have their shows up to watch for free (with commercials) within 24 hours and the ones that don't you can get through iTunes for a small fee.  I watch The Walking Dead and I bought the entire season for $30.  Every Monday the new episode downloads to my iPad and I watch it whenever I want.

[Buffalo Bop]

I'm a coward--I'd freak out if my cable was cut. I know I'm hopeless; but, I love TV too much to part with it. My DVR gets a daily workout. I applaud those of you that can do without it.

Walking Dead is one of my fav shows. Also, Banshee, Spartacus, Game of Thrones, & Boardwalk Empire are a few more favs.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

[gtrman4herd]

I have no desire to get rid of my cable. I have Hulu, netflix, Vudu etc in addition to my full access cable. I like too many of the obscure cable channels and access to sports to give cable up.  But hey, although I d/l music and movies, I still like to buy cd's and dvd's too  LOL 

[Johnnyherd]

A really good antenna is about 200 and you should be able to get 10-20 channels with it....I have Netflicks and Hulu.....The thing is that most of the shows on those services are pretty old....But you can watch whole seasons....

We have tried going without cable and honestly nobody liked it....

I just accept that I'm going to have to pay a couple hundred bucks for entertainment a month....Cable, internet, phone, xbox live, going to the movies, going to games, sending my kids on trips and other things are just part of living, imo....

I cut corners in other ways.  We only eat out about once a month.  We haven't bought a new vehicle since 2006. Cancelled the newspaper years ago.  I have had the same cellphone (non data) plan for about 5 years.  I repair my vehicles and home myself (most of the time).   Generally I avoid, at all costs, taking on new debt.   But, not having entertainment was really rough on us.

[BHFIOHIO]

Recently bought my first HD capable tv. I switched to DTV from Armstrong and added HD, the DVR and all the channels DTV offers and am paying the same money. Couldnt believe it. I like the movie selection and the Paladia music channel. The pause feature when I'm drinking beer is worth a lot! lol

[VA Herd Fan]

We've been without cable or DTV for almost a year now and have pretty much gotten used to it.  We have Netflix and the kids can stream many of their shows online.  We use Redbox frequently.  I also got TV Portal on my android phone for $1.99 and can stream some shows there that aren't on Netflix.  If I had a HDTV I could probably stream it from my phone to TV.

[spaldy]

Just have to outlive the boss to cut the cable.   Doubt it will happen.

[spaldy]

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/broadcasters-worry-zero-tv-homes-154357339.html


Looks like 5 million+ agree with you.