I’m seriously thinking about canceling my cable TV.
It is one of those things I’ve been tossing around in my mind for awhile now. I keep threatening to do it, but then I get cold feet and end up never making the call.
Why, you ask? 
I don’t know. Perhaps I’m just slow to accept change. I’m so used to having cable that the idea of not having it seems odd to me. For some irrational reason, I wonder what I might be missing if I cut the cord.
But, these days, what am I really going to be missing?
With the Apple TV (which costs a mere $99), you have access to Netflix, Hulu Plus, iTunes, Youtube. Plus, with AirPlay capability, I can send (almost) anything from my computer over to the Apple TV.
Netflix has a ton of content available 24/7, although it tends to be lacking in the current programming department. However, Hulu Plus makes up for it by getting access to a ton of current programming. Between the two, we’re talking about $16/month.
For those occasional live programming events (like the Super Bowl), one could just grab a DTV antenna and watch it live in all its high-def glory.
And, there’s Amazon Instant video, which we have access to as Amazon Prime members. There is a lot of overlap between it and the other services, however there are some uniques. For example, for some reason, Amazon has almost all the Deadliest Catch episodes whereas they are completely lacking from Hulu and Netflix isn’t quite as current. (Yeah, I like watching Deadliest Catch sometimes. 
).
Apple TV has no Amazon access (although that’s sure to change at some point). But, you can also pick up a Roku and access Amazon and a number of other Roku-specific channels.
In fact, if you’re not an Apple person and don’t run Macs, you might want to just get a Roku and skip the Apple TV, anyway. You won’t have AirPlay, but without a Mac, you probably wouldn’t care.
So, all that said, it seems like a no brainer to cancel the cable. Perhaps when/if I do it, I’ll document the experience and transition here on PCMech.com.
But, I’m curious…
Do YOU still have cable TV or satellite service?
OR… have you cut the cord? And, if you have cut the word and depend solely on the Internet for any video content you watch, how do you like it?
Post a comment and let us know. I’m actually rather curious.
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I still have my cable tv connected, watching tv’s and movies are myp favorite past time…
I still have cable, but have been thinking along the same lines. 2 channels hold me back – CNN and the Weather channel. I know you can get videos and other content online, but it’s the live feeds my wife would miss. If it were up to me, I’d have cut it long ago.
No cable for me. I have a Roku LT and have Amazon Prime($39 bucks a year for students). I’m happy with my antenna for local channels too.
I still have cable (sat. actually) and here’s why. I have wanted to cancel my service, I’ve looked for a reason to..but there is no one internet based service that has all of the channels I usually watch. Like a lot of people probably, I watch about 5 channels on a regular basis. I can always sign up for 3 different services to get what I want, but its somewhat of a hassle. Hulu has 1, but not another. Amazon has 2, but not the 3rd, etc. I wish there was someway to combine multiple services seamlessly into 1..
I have DirecTV, and I really like it. I hacked it and added a 2 terrabyte drive which allows me to store a lot of television shows. I also have the 30 second skip activated so I don’t have to watch commercials.
I have the Apple TV and Netflix.
Every once in a while, if I REALLY want a show and I know it’s worth the price, I’ll pay for a rental on iTunes and watch it on my TV via the Apple TV. But most of the time, I know if it’s middling-so-so, if I wait, it’ll show up for streaming at no extra cost on Netflix which I can also get via my Apple TV. Other hard-to-get shows, I have the DVD-by-Mail portion of Netflix. 2 disks at a time I found to be sufficient.
For everything else– FOX Shows, etc– I’ll watch on Hulu and grit my teeth through the commercials. Or I’ll hunt for full episodes on You-tube, again, on the Apple-TV.
And I’m on regular DSL…the streaming is pretty good. All in all– WAY LESS per month than if I was forking over nearly $120/mo to Cablevision for 100 channels of dreck. And with Apple-TV or Netflix– there’re NO Commercials…something I personally figure worth paying for.
The Age of ‘A la Carte’ Viewing Entertainment is Here!
haven’t had cable for years or needed it. put a nice large antenna on roof with motor so it can rotate and since there are many more digital channels than there were on analog TV that in itself was a nudge toward no cable. cable originally was paid tv without commercials. not anymore. netflix, amazon, you tube, hulu is more than i can watch and it is without commercials. i use FIOS and never have a problem. time warner guy stopped by and said he could save me money. i took him outside and pointed to my antenna. it really felt good.
Ditched cable 8 months ago with no regrets. Put up a UHF antenna for plenty of free local HD. PS3 in the living room and Roku boxes in the kids rooms. We pay for Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, and it’s still a small fraction of what we paid for cable. We now use close to 250 gb of data per month, so I hope we never have to be on a tiered system for the internet.
I have Direct TV, which is much better than cable…if you can get over the cost. It isn’t cheap.
I’ve considered dropping it too, but there’s one thing I’m not sure how I’d replace: ESPN. You can’t get it OTA. If there was some way to get that content at reasonable cost, I could probably cut the cord.
@David I am able to stream ESPN over my Xbox 360′s ESPN App it has a small selection but I was able to watch my Missouri Tigers when I was on vacation in Florida and I had brought my Xbox.
My question before changing is how do you check what you will be able to get versus not after the change?
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
I cut the ties about 6 months ago. I was paying $125/month and still not getting any of the premium movie channels. So WHACK! I saved $85 and have internet service only that costs $40 +$8 foe Netflix. I’m a happy camper as I can always find a movie or series that I want or have never seen. It’s a bargoon. Time for you to do the same. If everyone does, those damn cable providers will eventually have to offer a la carte. Which suits me fine. Get on board.
I think you can use Plex on the Roku to do a similar thing to Airplay on Mac hardware.
http://plexapp.com/roku/
It’s going on year 4 since I exiled Dish and Comcast. I knew there was only of handful of channels I watched anyway and even those you don’t miss much after being away from them. Even out near the suburban/rural line my little indoor amplified antenna picks up 22 HD channels. A few of those being independent channels with some unique programming as well as 4 PBS channels( Nova, Nature, etc)I have Netflix, Hula, and Youtube plus all the websites that provide programming(Natl Geo, History, Discovery, etc) For sports otherwise not seen on major networks there are plenty of stream torrents out there. Saving about $ 1200/yr
I would love to dump cable, but I need the closed captioning and the last time I used streaming Nextflix (before they screwed us and made it a separate bill) there was no closed captioning as it was an extra expense for them.
Do any of the other services offer it?
Pretty much all the OTA (over the air) stations have Closed Caption and if not most tvs can do it stand alone anyhow. As far as CNBC ? Not sure what their site provides, but believe me they will be offering more as time goes by and more people migrate away from status quo. Remember advertisement is what has and always will support television in any form and if they can get you to sign up to their site with your personal info to target you better, they will give you all the content you want
You guys must not have Comcast cable. I would love to pay only $120 a month for cable. I’m paying $177 a month for cable, internet, and home phone service. I’m disabled as also is my wife, so we are on a limited budget. So, I also am looking into killing the cable. We watch so little on cable anyway so that has been a big factor lately. We don’t watch anything from the local channels so an outside antenna would be useless. So I am looking into just HS internet with Roku and Amazon Prime and maybe another Netflix account.
FYI, I’ve been able to get two Netflix streams to run at the same time at my house. If you only need two at a time I think it allows this with the entry level subscription, which is what I have (unlimited net streaming and one disc out).
Hockey, basketball, baseball, CNBC, (Canadian) Business News Network, CP24, that’s what I watch. About 2% of it is over-the-air. MLB.tv is “out of market” games, so I can’t watch the home team.
With tax, the satellite costs about $80 a month, and I would love to eliminate it — but I won’t give up CNBC World for my late-night viewing.
We still have Verizon Fios for cable. There is no way with all the shows we watch to get all of them via Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc. I actually have a word doc in order to keep track of all of them, including the ones I tape. We’ve tried Netflix many times, even streaming video to our Sony TV. But many times all of a sudden the video just freezes – no matter how many times you re-play it our even downloading it again. Don’t think we’ll ever make the switch until something changes. Had direct TV, but too much weather gets in the way of watching TV sometimes and that got too frustrating. I have watched some shows I missed for free on NBC and such on my laptop…but that get’s tedious, at best.
The number of channels that my wife and I watch (about 60 – obviously, not all at once) obviates us from “ditching” cable. “Ditching” cable is not an option. The alternate resources you list could not possibly provide the different programming types that we watch. I have 6 DVRs OR DVR like devices to record all the programs we enjoy. That way, we can skip commercials (about 18 minutes average per program) and not have to suffer through them. Maybe I am in a sweet spot as far as cable goes as our cable switching station is located within a mile of our location and our provider is COX (I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times our service has been out in the past 32 YEARS!!). I pay about $300 a month (includes every imaginable option in a full optioned bundled package – cable, internet, and telephone) and it is WORTH EVERY PENNY!! Sorry, I “ain’t” ditching cable!!
I would love to get rid of the satellite bill but, like everyone else, not sure where and how to get what. Are there consultants for this? Can you watch HGTV or Food Network on any of those internet streaming choices? Also, can’t miss the NFL!! Probably my ignorance is keeping me with Dish.
if there were better sports offerings on hulu and netflix, i would cut the cord tomorrow. unfortunately thats not the case. sports programming is the biggest reason i still have cable
Yep. Not giving up my sports and FX/USA/TNT shows, and I like a lot of the History, Discovery, and Food Network shows.
just a quick response to Chris, I just bought AppleTV and an iPad mini in preparation to move off of DirectTV. I also watch the History Channel a lot. There is an iPad History Channel app, that you can watch pretty much any History Channel show. It works via airplay, so your ipad wirelessly talks to the AppleTV and its just like watching the show on your cable/satellite. I’m watching American Restoration as I write this. I was skeptical, but after a few days I’m pretty convinced. Yes, I still need to figure out how to get my home Blackhawks games and NASCAR in the second half of the season…but, I’m happy so far (3 days in). I’ve also found apps that work the same for CBS, ABC, Fox, DIY Shows, PBS, etc)
I don’t think you should avoid mentioning that Western Digital makes and excellent product called the WDTVLiveHub. I bought one and access Hulu and other premium services through the hub which also allows connections to my other TV’s. I only mention it as an alternative to Apple and Roku. After researching all three I found from my purposes the WD product gave me more bang for my buck. Thanks, and an excellent article. I agree with Heidi below my post that you should consider a business as most people don’t even know there are alternatives, much less what they do and how to install them. I’ve helped numerous friends get off cable and they didn’t have a clue till the saw my system.
Thanks, Krissy
I have switched to netflix and now it is very difficult to watch cable TV. Once you try watching something with no commercials it is hard to go back.