It’s something Lucas and I have been thinking about for a while…
original source photo: http://123rf.com
I know — I’m a TV producer. I have a degree in broadcast journalism. And, beyond that, I’m addicted to TV.
But after another broken DVR (don’t even get me started), I think we’re ready to give up on traditional cable altogether.
Our proposed plan:
- Get an antenna that lets us get the HDTV signals for the major networks (this is a great resource: http://antennaweb.org)
- Continue our Netflix streaming account (we have a PlayStation 3 and can watch Netflix on our TV)
- Consider getting Hulu Plus if/when it works with our LG HDTV
- Hook up our laptops to the TV to watch anything we can’t access through our Internet-enabled TV
And past that? Live with the fact that there will be some stuff we can’t watch (sports will be the biggest issue).
Apparently, I’m not alone. When I asked Twitter if we were crazy to consider giving up such a major vice, I got a ton of responses:
A lot of people mentioned the Roku box (more info here: http://www.roku.com/) which we might consider — it would be great to have Hulu Plus immediately, and access to Pandora Radio through the TV. But that could always come later.
We have two big HDTVs, and I certainly don’t want to waste them. And the thought of losing Food Network and TLC makes me a little twitchy.
I just hate being held hostage to the ONE cable company in town, and with weather being so bad in Florida, DirectTV doesn’t seem like a much better option. Plus, we’d save about $100 a month in cable fees, and that would buy a lot of jelly beans…errr, running shoes.
So now it’s your turn — have you cut cable or considered it? And if you have cable and couldn’t give it up — what’s the ONE show or event that you just couldn’t miss?
About Katy
We couldn’t give up the college sports. We even pay extra for the sports package to get ESPNU.
I have cut the cable cord! We use Netflix and are doing a free week trial of hulu plus. We also connect a computer to out to be able to watch things online on out tv. Not much I miss!
I would definitely give up cable tv, especially with all the other options out there. But my husband absolutely refuses to give up sports- he watches ESPN nearly 24-7. It’s sad. He even picked our provider based on which college sports networks they have!
We’re like many others too. No cable. Don’t need it. Basic channels, internet, and we may go with Netflix – all of which certainly provide enough.
I LOVE not having cable but may have to get it for my new job, only because I can’t figure out how to stream news channels (CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC) live online. Suggestions?
If I can get around that one, I’ll keep living cable-free. I spend so much less time vegging in front of the TV. Yes, the computer is there but I only watch what I *want* to watch, not mindless channel-surfing for hours. Book consumption is way up!
I wish we could! I didn’t have cable when I was single, but my sports-addict husband would probably have a heart attack.
I ALSO love not having cable. In college, I really feel like it was a huge contributing factor to my weight gain/lack of drive. Who wants to DO things when you can sit and lounge all day with your favorite shows? *Not me!*
Now that I don’t have cable, I find that most of the shows I really want to watch I can easily find online, rent, or check out [for FREE people!] from the library. I also seem to just not care as much. Before, I needed to be “in the know” about every show. Now, it’s simply not a priority.
Plus, more money in my pocket = always a good thing
Good Luck!!
I guess I am not really representative here, as I don’t even have a TV.
So I guess I could cope quite all right without, I have no idea how I would have time to watch TV though. I waste so much time as it is without one.
My husband and I are MAJOR sports fans. and I don’t mean just ESPN stuff… we like NBA which they usually play on TNT, then there are the ESPN channels and then there are the fox sports channels that play football/college basketball games in the fall/winter so that wouldn’t even be an option. ESPN 360 has gotten better, but honestly, I don’t want to watch sporting events from my computer. I love having friends over and grilling out to watch the College Gameday game.
If it weren’t for that, I could see getting rid of it because the other stuff is so easily accessible through other avenues! I bet you won’t even miss the shows that you miss.
Aww sorry I didnt see the tweet! We just have the few channels for free and then have Netflix with our xbox. We’ve been doing this for about a year now — works out great!
i’ve lived without cable for the past 3 years! my fiance just moved in (like a week ago), so now we have it, but i’m still in my non-cable ways. i pretty much forget the tv is there unless i have something specific to watch. i think that’s an important line to draw. if you aren’t sitting down to watch something in particular and just to channel surf to find something good, then you shouldn’t be watching!
I went without my TV last summer when I moved across the country for an internship. It just didn’t fit in the car! Not going to lie, it was brutal at first. I missed being able to watch Food Network or Travel channel when there was nothing else to do. However, I became really good at utilizing Hulu, network websites, iTunes, Facebook, and other websites for keeping up with my shows on my laptop. What I’ve noticed since being back home (and with a TV & cable) is that I tend to watch the TV less in general. I still enjoy a good Food Network or Travel Channel marathon, and I use my laptop/internet on a daily basis for tv/movies/general entertainment.
We’ve talked about it, but haven’t actually done it yet. We probably could, since just about everything we watch is available via Netflix or Hulu or on one of the OTA networks or all of the above. I was resistant to it initially, but now that I’m back in school, I never watch anything when it’s on anyway. We could totally do it. I wonder how my husband would feel about losing access to his Pawn Stars show….
I’ve kicked the idea around of cutting cable and getting an antenna. I watch most of my TV on Hulu/Netflix so I’m not sure why I’m still paying a cable bill. Haven’t done it yet though because not sure how my roommates would take it.
I’m in your camp … seriously thinking about it. Our cable just went from $37 to $52 (!!!), with no additional channels. There’s just the one cable provider in town, too. I am considering switching to Dish Network. If I had a laptop, I would absolutely cut back to basic cable and hook the computer up to the TV. But I look at it this way — my budget is so tight that I don’t really spend a lot on little luxuries. I know this sounds bad, but I enjoy TV … I like watching certain programs in real time, I like knowing I can watch something live like the Royal Wedding from the comfort of my couch. So I don’t know. It’s something I’ve been going back and forth on for some time.
I love my TV and I’m not afraid to admit it!!!!!!
Katy – You know I’m as big of a tv junkie as you (news, food network, hgtv, tlc and bravo!!). But I cut the cord 2 years ago and have only regretted it a few times. Mostly when the Sabres were in the playoffs but that was brief. I use a digital antenna and the Red Box for new movies and I’ve totally survived. I watch tv shows on websites (like Modern Family and Glee!). I’ve even gone as far as not having internet at my house. My cell phone has a hot spot so I use my cell phone to hook up my laptop to watch the tv shows! I only pay a cell phone bill each month. Good luck! You will also be amazed at how much more work you get done around the house without the distraction. Hope you are well!
I work in television also, and we are |thisclose| to getting rid of cable all together. We really only watch the network channels anyways (which we get via over the air HD antenna). And whatever else we do watch you can see on the respective channel websites or on netflix. The only thing is if you have cable internet, getting rid of cable TV will jack up your internet price. They bundle them now on most providers. boo!
We were sort of forced to cut the cable when we moved into our house. We can’t pick up broadcast (Ithaca is in a valley and the broadcast comes from Syracuse, which is an hour’s drive away), and didn’t want to pay ridiculous amounts of money for cable from the only company in town.
We’re close to caving…so we need to get Netflix or HuluPlus or something, and hook a computer up to our TV.
Good for you to even consider this! I would love to save the $$ we spend on satellite ~ we live rurally and we only have one company that can bundle our phone/sat/internet and their service is brutal with constantly increasing prices. My husband would die without MLB and NHL though, so I don’t know if we could live without it. I would miss HBO and TLC, although I’m thinking I could get True Blood through Netflix?? Let us know what you end up doing!
Do it! You’ll be surprised how easy it is after a few weeks. Plus, you’ll be more apt to do more productive things when there’s not a TV on “demanding” your time.
I haven’t had cable for…5 years now.
Between internet access, Netflix (which I’ve paused for the time being), Hulu.com and Blue/Red box $1 movie rentals, I’m not missing much (nothing quality at least).
Plus I’m an NPR geek, so it’s on ALL THE TIME.
I feel well rounded in my national/international news and can get local news online and via apps.
We’re all so plugged in already who even has TIME for cable?
I haven’t had cable since I moved into my new place 1.5 years ago. I have a digital antenna so I can watch ABC’s World News… I don’t ever even change the channel.
Definitely don’t miss Comcast and their $150 bills AT ALL. The only time I have twinges of a yearning is football season.
I’m considering cutting out cable. Really the only cable channels I watch are Food Network, HDTV and Investigation Discovery- which I could live without…. also, I don’t watch too much TV anyway… I read a lot more now.
Granted it’s blog reading…but reading nevertheless.
Also, I HATE Comcast with a passion. They are ALWAYS overcharging me for stuff and I call their customer service line at least once a month. Unfortunately my apartment complex doesn’t allow for any other cable provider.
HGTV not HDTV… haha!
Well, you know how I sit on this issue! As the owner/operator of an internet TV network, catering to the Orlando, FL area, I would LOVE for everyone to cut cable! I’ve always cringed at the thought of having to pay a monopoly to get my entertainment, thus the birth of iZonOrlando. Pretty soon, everything will be on the net, so just be patient. your sporting events will find their way back to your TV sets before you know it!
I love that you posted this right now! We are debating cutting our cable cord and you have really made me think we need to just do it.
I say go for it! I grew up without cable and lived to tell the tale. I acutally haven’t had a TV at all for the last 4 years of college… I do have a netflix account though. Between the netflix, free hulu, and various other streaming sources, I never feel out of the loop. Then again, I’m not a TV producer.
Ack, I am writing my thesis about this (…well, more or less — about all the different ways people watch TV today) literally right now! Er, I mean, I should be doing that and not leaving this comment, but you get the idea
This post and comments were SO interesting to me — I’d love to hear how it works out for you!
I’m not going to lie to you, thinking about getting rid of cable gives me a slight panic attack.
I definitely don’t watch as much tv as I used to, but there are a handful of shows that I am pretty much addicted to and they are horrible trashy reality shows that I have no doubt are lowering my IQ. Sometimes it’s the only way I feel like I can check out of my own reality for a little while. It does intrigue me though as our cable bill is OOC, so I’m curios to see how it works out! Best of luck in this crazy venture!
We have basic cable…so 22 channels, about six of which are home shopping networks. I haven’t watched actual TV in…months? Honestly. We have Netflix. All we watch is Netflix! If I want the news I have google. Skipping out on the commericials is amazing!
One draw back…by skipping out on commercials I also skip out on the ads for new movies, so I never know what is in the theater. Of course, the last movie we saw in theater was probably Avatar, so yah, not big movie goers either!
Netflix = an amazing waste of time!
We currently have a bundle that makes it cheaper for us to have cable, phone and internet than it would be to just have internet and phone. I use both the internet and the phone for my business so right now, it just makes financial sense for us to have cable. However, we are on a limited time bundle package where the price will eventually go up and at that time, I am sure we will consider alternate solutions.
I honestly don’t even know how to hook my laptop up to the TV. I know it can be done but I guess we would need to figure those sorts of things out before we decided to make the leap. Everything we watch is either on the DVR or on demand and can be watched from the networks website in most cases. I am not familiar with Hulu so will also be looking into that.
To be honest, I really don’t know why I still have cable. I barely watch it–most times when I sit down and flip through the channel guide, I wonder how the hell I can have so many channels and not to watch anything. I should look into downgrading…
Part of me says, “Get RID of it!”
The other part says, “Are you nuts? What would you do without pleasing your reality TV obsession??”
My boyfriend said, “It is all fun and games until you go to watch one of your shows and you realize you can’t.”
Ho hum..what to do??
We recently moved into our own apartment after living almost a year with relative who were tv addicts. Prior to this, we had our own apartment and thought nothing of writing out checks monthly for ‘triple plays’ although we are a one income family. The channel surfing that I mindlessly witnessed plus not having a tv for us to use personally for a year made me see tv is a wasteland. I prefer now to choose what to watch–be it a dvd (free from the library) or a tv show online. We do a lot more podcast listening now. Also, we’ve always been a family of readers so it has been okay so far to find better uses of our time. Another plus is none of us care about sports so we don’t miss that.
I just received another Suddenlink bill, it is about 500 bucks. I am going to cut my cable and just keep the internet. It is not worth the price and just keeps going up. I use Netflix and Boxee and they have gotten better with content and quality. Boxee is free and I just pay for the apps i want to use. Netflix is just 9 bucks a month and I can always stream other progming from varous websites. So my car, cooking and educational programs are stillwithin reach. when I was using On demand to rent moves with Suddenlink my bill sky rocketed over 600 bucks a month. time to get an indoor anntanie and stick with the net.