“Cord Cutting” defined in plain English simply means that you don’t have a paid subscription to any traditional television entertainment. In other words, no cable subscription.
Personally, I’ve been a cord-cutter for 6 years. My means of entertainment on the television come from Netflix and freely available antenna-fed DTV. This works for me, but I made the decision to do so knowing what I’d lose.
If you’re thinking about doing the cord-cutter thing, here are the gains and losses.
Gains
Cheap or free
I don’t think there’s such a thing anymore as a cheap cable subscription. The cash gained simply by not spending it by being a cord-cutter is instant.
The only cash spent is on cheap internet-based subscriber services like Netflix.
Local programming still rules the roost for local news and weather
In most areas, you can get the same local programming on DTV for free that you otherwise pay for as a “convenience” on cable/satellite.
Peace of mind
“I have over 200 channels and there’s nothing to watch.”
A cord-cutter follows that up with, “Well, at least I’m not spending a bundle on what I have (or anything at all).”
Losses
Less sports options
A deal-breaker for many. Even with the oh-so ridiculous blackout rules, the most sports choices are still on cable.
Less family programming choices
DTV by nature does have quite a bit of family educational and entertainment options, however it doesn’t even come close to what Discovery Channel, TLC or Animal Planet has as far as keeping kids interested.
Almost no cartoons
Both adults and kids watch cartoons a lot, and the most choice is on cable. Netflix puts up a really good alternative, but cable still has it beat with things like Cartoon Network.
Ultimately, it’s your wallet that makes the decision for you
Recently, I priced out what it would cost me if I decided to go the traditional cable subscription route. What I discovered, at least in my area, is that the cable company tries desperately to shove “combo” packages at you starting at $110 a month, which includes TV, Internet and Home Digital Phone.
To get the actual price of a single-service (meaning no combo) cable television, I had to dig really deep into the web site just to get it. When I finally did, the price was $65/month. Yes, you get a ton of channels (over 200 of them), but $65? Seriously? That’s $780 a year not including taxes, and that’s what I save by not having a cable subscription.
Heck, for that kind of money, $780 could buy me a really nice laptop.
The full monty starting combo price of $110/month is $1,320/year without taxes included – and that’s dangerously close (if not well over for some people) to what people pay yearly property taxes for on a house.
It’s when you do the long-term figures that you realize how much you’re truly spending on a cable subscription. $110/month sounds “okay”. But $1,320/year absolutely does not, yet it’s the same thing.
How much are you spending?
What does your cable company charge you a month for what you have? Do you think it’s fair for what you get? Did it shock you when you tallied up how much you’re spending a year on it?
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Not mentioned is satellite. I have DirectTV and if you are picky about what you record then there is a lot of good material out there, like what the National Geographic, Speed Channel and the Science Channel provides. I have not done a comparison lately but I think satellite is a little less expensive than the cable companies.
If I could not time shift, be super selective in what I watch and have a 30 second button in order to skip over the commercials then television would not be worth watching. As far as local television goes, I get it over satellite television. But who cares, I can get local news and weather by going to Google news.
I have not had TV since it went digital and the only thing I miss is college sports and major league baseball. I have 41 feeds and google gadgets on my home page that give me sports scores, news, tech articles and photography leads and articles [my passion] plus I suscribe to a large city daily which gives me local news and as a big bonus The Comics! 200 channels and nothing to watch is exactly what TV is, a waste of money.
I personally do not find T.V. interesting at all. The only reason it is in my houshold is for the wife. With that being said, I do watch a few select things that I DVR to bypass the commercials. I have never been attracted to the media as I understand they are pushing the content they want you to hear and I am frankly enoyed at their suttle need to influence my way of life for their profit. From an analytical standpoint, T.V. is the ultimate sales tool.
For me, the internet has essentially made cable TV obsolete. Most of the viewing I do, I can do online- legally, to boot.
As has been said, I cut it a little by going to Direct TV, but still it is very much a rip off.
Though I must say, I feel the same way you do, except about cellular phones. Most people with smartphones pay a _minimum_ of $75/mo. Sure, some of them use it all the time, but for what? Tweeting useless thoughts and blabbing endlessly about nothing. Learn to be self contented and save some dough.
The assessment is correct and I agree with most of it. I have already cut the phone cord off by using Skype on VOIP phones. However, if you get rid of phone and cable the cost of “internet only” jumps significantly to where it’s almost equal to having the phone included on a before tax basis (taxes on phone lines is the greatest rip off of all). Also, switching to internet only service for tv and phone suggests increasing up/down speeds to accomodate greater usage. So your internet only monthly fee climbs too – I pay $65/month for 3/25 speed which is not cheap at all considering that in Europe the average fee for all 3 services (phone/cable/internet) is $35/month.
I never went to cable– but decided to try the internet feed of shows via Amazon and Apple. In the end, when Apple put out the Apple TV, I ditched the Amazon online for the iTunes feed (Faster download over plain DSL) and Netflix for oddball streaming and DVD movies and shows.
What I found out about myself when I went to iTunes and paying for each episode of a new show was that I became even pickier and more discerning of what I watched. I was asking myself, “Is this show REALLY good enough for me to buy a season pass– or will I just get one SD episode for a tryout.”
For 2 bucks, if the show turned out to be ‘so-so’ or the regular blah-blah-ha-ha-ha network sitcom, I give it a ‘Pass’, never to touch it again unless it showed up in the Netflix Streaming queue (Which says something about the show’s popularity or quality)
So overall, I find I watch less TV than before– and only when I feel like it on my schedule.
$$-wise, I average $20/monthly for Netflix with about an average of $15 per month of iTunes when I divide up the couple of season passes and single episodes I buy.
Now it’s even less now that I notice that if I wait, some iTunes ‘B’ grade shows will show up on Netflix streaming anyways.
Anyways– Far less money than Dish or IOCable.
But the caveat is: I’m not a sports fan, and I don’ have Kids. . .so to be fair, the choice was easier for me. I’ve known a few hard-core couples who TRIED to sit it out. But once they popped the kid, I warned them to start making room in the Budget for cable. . .because a Kid in a House with NO CARTOONS is asking for very bad things to happen.
I pay 3 times the amount stated and am positive I get every ounce of value from that. Yes, I figured what the yearly cost is and I simply do not care. When I can occasionally download a 500 MB file is less than 10 seconds, that is worth it. Together we watch a minimum of 15 regular TV shows a week, my wife adds another 5, and I add 6. Also, I spend nearly 35 hours a week on the net. Could we dispense with all that? Well, up to a point, but yes, we could. But we are not going to!