Anyone living without cable/satellite TV?
I’m considering giving up DirecTV and cutting the cord again (I didn’t have cable for 2½ years 2006-2008). Except for ESPN and FSN Rocky Mountain (for Rockies games), I almost never watch regularly scheduled television, instead relying on Netflix and Hulu streaming for movies and TV series.
And I can view my local channels in HD with an antenna to see what’s live, local and stupid.
It would be OK if I could order a TV service and pay for just the channels I want — ESPN, HBO, MLB, NFL, maybe a couple others. But why pay for 200 channels when you only want six? Am I at the tipping point?
Just wondering what others are doing. Is TV via internet there yet for you?
BTW, the Netflix app was updated today. It now works on iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as iPad. I tested it by watching an episode of Have Gun — Will Travel from its first season (1957). Dated in some ways after 53 years, of course, but surprisingly well written. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek wrote some of the episodes I’ve seen. It’s remarkably non-violent compared to current action series.
The current issue of Wired has a really great article on cutting the cable, including how you can get the sports packages.
Avelino means the September dead-tree issue of Wired.
Cut the cord: A guide to free TV – Salon.com is somewhat helpful, but not about the sports programming.
No tv. No cable. No movies. No sports. I have a fascinating wife, interesting friends and a gazillion books I want to read. Where do people find time to watch television? We weighed the dreck against the .01% that is worth watching and it was easy to ditch tv. And nowadays the business of sports exists so Vegas can make money.
Ken, the wife and I have basic cable – so about 6 channels, plus Univision, the Home Shopping Network, and 3-4 God channels. We like it because we never have to surf channels. You know if nothing is on within about 20sec, and can just turn it off and go find something else to do. It also costs close to nothing so we can go out more. I watch my baseball games on mlb.com, tv series (like Mad Men) with NetFlix, other shows on Hulu if needed. KNME shows plenty of history and science shows. You won’t miss the rest.
I weaned myself off TV when I moved to a temporary home where there were only a few network stations half-way coming through via a roof antenna (before it required a digital converter box), then we moved to where I couldn’t even get that. For 17 months now, I haven’t had room for a TV.
Honestly, I get to see almost everything I want to see on the internet for free. I also have to be more intentional about what I do watch, because I have to seek it out, so I don’t waste as much time watching. My biggest gripe is that I can’t subscribe to Showtime, HBO, or Starz without purchasing a whole satellite TV account. The premiums are really missing the boat on this, because there are more and more folks like us. I’d be happy to pay for premium cable shows to be streamed onto my computer. You can already get most of the shows I like–but you have to purchase them by the episode (itunes-style), and it’s cost prohibitive that way. If I watched only 5 shows a week at $3 a pop, that would cost me $60 a month! $10 or $12 a month I’d pay, but not $60, and Netflix (more affordable) isn’t up to date on the current seasons.
We just have over-the air with a rooftop antenna. One TV has a converter box; the other is newer. We’ve never had cable or satellite. When we travel and stay in hotels, we watch TV there. Allwe usually find worthwhile is classic movies.
If you don’t have cable or satellite (and live in Abuquerque or Santa Fe), you can get 4 channels from local KNME public TV. That’s usually what’s worth watching. I’m on the internet a lot, and we have terrific radio here — between our two public stations (KUNM 89.9 and KANW 89.1), Progressive Talk (1350 AM), and classical KHFM (95.5). And you can avoid the political commercials on Public! Sometimes we can get Santa Fe Community Radio (101.1). There’s so much to do in Albuquerque, especially during campaign season!
One of my pet peeves is finding radio and TV to watch when travelling. How do you find out what’s on? I guess that’s one reason to take a laptop. I appreciate hotels having clock-radios in the rooms, so I can listen to NPR news in the morning. (Just start at the bottom of the dial and work your way up.)
That’s funny, Michelle. I almost never turn on the TV or radio in a hotel room. I would happily take a room without either if there was a savings in it.
I agree with you about the antenna, though. I can watch the local stations in HD for free with a minimum indoor antenna (rabbit ears, in fact). And that gives me a lot of sports, if not everything I’d like.
When I wrote the post above, I wasn’t writing about not watching TV, just about not paying for the cable/satellite full buffet. I’ll give Netflix my $9 and be happy much of the time with a diet of classic and foreign films (and once in a while Jaws or The Fugitive. I watched the delightful He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not the other evening, and The Prophet earlier this week. Both were in French. And both were very good — and totally different from one another.)
DirecTV minimum (with HD) costs about $65 a month. I’m 97% convinced it isn’t worth it. Maybe I’ll call and cancel after I watch the ballgame tonight. Or maybe wait and see what Apple has in store next Wednesday. They have a press conference with TV rumored to be the agenda and Disney rumored to be part of the deal.
And Disney owns ESPN.
(It’s not the $65. It’s just, why bother if I don’t use it.)