OT-Getting rid of cable tv

Submitted by HELLE on

After reading multiple articles the last few weeks and an mgo.licio.us post regarding cutting the cord on cable tv subscriptions, I think I am finally ready to pull the trigger. I would save $1200 per year and can easily stream these programs from the internet. I just would like to hear some success stories (or failures) from people have (or tried to) cut the cord.

Here's the link to the article that put me over the edge.

will

June 27th, 2013 at 10:13 AM ^

2 years ago, all we had was a European directv package for my father in law to watch soccer. I used a hdtv antenna for network shows.

I managed fine with netflix until football season came aroud and half of the Michigan games were on espn, or btn. (live in columbus so Osu took the network spots usually.)

If you have sports covered, you'll be fine.

B1G_Fan

June 27th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^

 You can stream just about every sporting event known to man on websites like frontrowsports. I watched most of the Michigan games on there the last 2 years at work. the whole regional coverage issue and ABC would show ASU vs. idaho instead of Michigan vs. Umass

gmoney41

June 27th, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^

Even though I haven't cut the cord on the cable, I have reduced my cable subscription to sports channels and basic.  My brother gives me his cable info so I can watch Game of Thrones on the HBO ap, but other than that I have probably cut my cable bill by 3/4 since 2010, and I am still able to watch all the sports and the few shows that I like with no problem.  I am not a huge tv watcher to begin with, so it wasn't very hard to get rid of alot of channels.

worstever

June 27th, 2013 at 11:43 AM ^

Comcast is also the majority owner of NBC and will continue to buy up smaller networks in an effort to box out internet providers/satellite/etc.. by providing Comcast only content.  A more likely scenario is that comcast/<insert cable provider> will offer a Hulu-like package available to their high speed internet subscribers.  

stephenrjking

June 27th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^

I use cable when we can afford it and I drop it when we can't; I refuse to make television a central part of my life.



That said, I usually work to make sure we can afford it during football season. It is very hard to watch football without it. I splurged on the MLB.tv package to watch the Tigers this year, and it works well since I live out of area, but I missed large chunks of the NBA and NHL playoffs without cable and I would miss almost every Michigan game this fall.



Sports is the hard part of the equation.

ArbitraryUserName

June 27th, 2013 at 10:27 AM ^

I've never had cable since escaping the nest.  Or a TV of my own.  I have had close to zero problems streaming every football game the last two seasons.

The quality isn't amazing, but it's good enough for me (given the amount of grumbling I see in LiveChat, this is clearly not the case for most on the board though :P)

desmonds pose

June 27th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^

2 weeks ago. I put up an antenna from radio shack and I'm able to pick up all my locals in hd. I have Netflix, Hulu, & vudu and it's more then enough. Plus I'm running plex media server for all my movies on my desktop which is hooked up to the tv in the living room. I'm able to stream big10 from a link I found online and I'm planning on logging into watch espn with my brothers cable acct. the legalities of those last two are a bit fishy but that's what comcast gets for charging me $200 a month for tv, phone & Internet.

We Are The Borg

June 27th, 2013 at 11:21 AM ^

What do you mean, "that's what Comcast gets..."

You're the consumer and chose to pay them. They didn't force you into that. Anyway, I guarantee you that you're not getting high definition with an antenna. You think you are, but it's not HD. The only way to get HD cable is via a cable company. You need an HD box (and satellite with those companies) to obtain the signal.

We Are The Borg

June 27th, 2013 at 11:43 AM ^

I have not purchased anything from Best Buy in the longest time (Amazon FTW). I also have never purchased Monster cables. Why? Because they're over priced. I always read Consumer Reports or CNET reviews when it comes to electronics and just about every report has concluded that all HDMI cables are virtually the same; there is no need to waste money on brands like Monster just because their sales reps say their cable produces higher quality picture.

stephenrjking

June 27th, 2013 at 11:52 AM ^

This is a descent into self parody. You're like the "Lore is in charge now" individual edition of the Borg that appeared in the season 6/7 cliffhanger and was mercifully put to sleep.



Congratulations on reading consumer reports and CNET; if you think that you can't get local HD channels using an antenna you have been greatly deceived, and understand very little about the FCC HD transition that got this whole thing rolling in the first place.

ixcuincle

June 28th, 2013 at 7:42 AM ^

Before the cable upgrade in January, we used a big metallic antenna on the roof to receive TV signals on the 50 inch TV downstairs. We upgraded in Jan, and there is virtually no difference in HD quality now that we have FiOS...and that was an old antenna that had been up there for decades. All you need is a TV tuner to convert the signals and you're good. 

 

desmonds pose

June 27th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^

Yes I chose to pay them...my fault but I finally chose to stop after they continually raised my prices.



Where you are incorrect is with the HD. Inget a much better HD picture with an OTA antenna, due to the fact that comcast has to compress the signal to take up as lite bandwidth as possible. With an OTA antenna there is no compression of the signal and I get true Hd.

We Are The Borg

June 27th, 2013 at 11:50 AM ^

Perhaps, but if that is true, I have to believe more people would do that. Maybe it's just that most people are willing to sacrifice picture quality for channels, which is crazy to me considering half (or more probably) of the shows on TV these days are shitty reality garbage. I don't understand the obsession this country has with reality shows and it cannot end soon enough.

UofM-StL

June 27th, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^

There's very little "choice" involved with cable companies. They're government-sanctioned monopolies, so there's no competition and they have no incentive to provide customers with a better product or a lower price. They generally offer very little in the way of graduated pricing in order to force people to pay for everything instead of only paying for the things they want.

The only choice you really have is to use them or not use them. If you want to use them, then you have to pay them a ridiculous amount of money. You've chosen not to use them. Excellent choice.

bringthewood

June 27th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^

I'm all about capitalism and don't mind someone making a buck, but I fucking hate Comast wth all my essense.  As you suggest some competition would be helpful.  I have Dish at my cottage and it is about 100 times better than Comcast, but no high speed internet, nor phone.  

We stll have an appaling lack of competion for TV and high speed internet at the moment.

This thread is great but still my only choice for high speed internet at the moment is Comcast, so even if I drop TV and do VoIP I still have to deal with those assholes at Comcast.

Gameboy

June 27th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^

What is really funny about this post is that over the air HD signals are superior to the same channel you get via cable/satellite. Because cable and satellite have to handle so many channels via capped bandwidth, they compress the hell out of the normal HD signals to make them all fit. The HD signals on cable/satellite will have much more compression artifacts and even have lower resolutions than the signals you get over the air.

strafe

June 27th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^

TBH, while you won't have trouble finding streams of most college football games, you're going to have a rougher time with other sports. I generally manage with streaming most games I watch, but I would definitely recommend having a place (bar/friend's house) to watch games you really care about.

I think the most annoying issue I ran into w/ streaming was the difficulty finding some CBB games last season, though of/c there are usually decent ones for big games/playoffs).

thisisme08

June 27th, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^

^^This.

When we moved OOS, I thought no big deal I can always go to Bdubs/stream online and then I found out that really both of those options suck.  While I do not mind so much when M plays Western/Central/Eastern, when its M/Ohio I want some damn clarity in my signal. 

Thusly I've ended up with DirecTV and am happy (at least until my promo's/credits run out).  

boliver46

June 27th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^

I live in Sylvania, Ohio - and somewhere along the line Buckeye Cablesystem obtained rights of exclusivity as a cable provider.  This sorely impacts competition as Comcast, TimeWarner, etc. aren't allowed in our area.  Thusly, Buckeye feels they can charge whatever the F* they want, increasing fees and rates constantly.

Have friends who've gone the Dish route but have complained about poor customer service, bait & switch rate plans, and overall dissatisfaction further limiting my options.

Buckeye Cablesystem: Yet another reason Buckeyes Suck.

fluidlike

June 27th, 2013 at 4:33 PM ^

Mi. and charter cable has done the exact same thing. No other cable provider is allowed in the area. So now I'm getting charged over $200 per. Seems as though this should be illegal.