[fredgarvin]

I've been reading over these posts and one things that's getting overlooked in the growing desire to not pay for what we don't personally consume (a la carte ) is the fact that by bundling content, cable providers are able to provide content that will not survive the market place if viewers have to pay actual costs. The only way Ovation, A&E, the Science Channel, the Military Channel, and all the other specialist tv networks survive is by piggybacking on the multichannel offerings that cost so much. Now if you're a tv viewer who doesn't watch anything but mainstream programming, you won't notice or care when these outlets go missing under a la carte pricing. I'm no apologist for the cable companies and I agree about lack of quality and all that. But using these technological end runs around the cable companies to get a lower bill can't go on forever if the variety of cable programming is going to remain available. In the end, we consumers will ultimately decide what our entertainment world is going to look like by choices we make now. Just like the desire to save a buck on our jeans ended up putting American businesses under because Walmart went to China to satisfy America's incessant thirst for cheap clothes.

I'm seeing it the other way. With the Roku, developers are providing many, many specialist channels, most of them free. Larger online channels such as Hulu, Crackle, popcorn etc, also have network style dramatic and sitcom style programs and movies. Dish Network has now placed an international package on the Roku. Apple and Google both now have streaming television, smaller than the Roku but growing. If anything, the cable cutting movement is growing steadily and the cable/satellite providers already see the writing on the wall.

Another aspect I am enjoying is the far fewer commercials on most channels. Fewer, much shorter.

[chip]

A couple ago I called Dish Network and told them that I wanted to drop the service. I mentioned that sports programming was my primary interest but @$80//mo it was just too much for the partial coverage. I wasn't on a 2 year contract. I was immediately connected with a supervisor and he cut my monthly bill $30 with no loss of programming.

So I guess I'm going to hang in there @50mo until I can figure out a way to cut Dish out completely. I plan to experiment with OTH programming and will buy a long range HD antennae. During baseball season I might subscribe to MLB.TV.

I suspect that cable and satellite providers are seeing a slow decline in subscriptions as the recession is eating away at the disposable income of the middle class.

For MLB.TV read there blackout rules. I signed up for MLS live last year overlooking blackout rules....basically local team was always a blackout game...WTF.

[macrojack]

Not just cable but broadcast TV too. Massive brainwashing to keep the populace under control and buying consumer goods. Really how much time does one want to waste looking at commercial TV? Commercial breaks chop up the drama of sporting events. No wonder there's an epidemic of ADD. What happened to reading books? At least there's some quality programming available on HBO, etc. but you have to pay a premium for it and still chopped up with sales pitches.

Many years ago I saw a quote attributed to Noam Chomsky that I will paraphrase here .................

The purpose of television is not to deliver information and entertainment to the viewer but to deliver the viewer to the advertisers.

I reached my saturation point on cable bill increases sometime during 2013. In 2005, I signed on with Bresnan Cable on their Triple Play program. It included TV, phone and Internet. Bresnan has since sold to Optimum which has sold to Charter. I get endless promo ads on TV for their services and boasting claims about the great introductory offers. One day it occurred to me that a longtime customer such as myself should be entitled to the same $89.95 price they are using to recruit new customers. So I called them and stated my case. The lady I talked to had cans of crapola cliches and no actual conversation for me -- so I asked for supervisor who came right on and looked at my account. She said that it appeared I hadn't had a discount in awhile so she gave me the $89.95/month price for a year. However, my bill is $108.25 after all the fees and taxes. That's better than the $132.65 I was paying before the call.

All these responses are coming from people who have been investigating the change or have already made it. Apparently the OP hit a nerve that has had us all thinking for some while. The problem is this: When corporations are involved, change is usually not improvement from the customers point of view. Beware of what you ask for.

My year of discount will be up soon and I'll be jumping ship at that time. I can see the broadcast towers 7 miles to the south of me. Two others are 11 miles east. Am I correct to assume that any HD antenna will suit my purposes? Line of sight is clear in both directions.

[kingdeezie]

I've been reading over these posts and one things that's getting overlooked in the growing desire to not pay for what we don't personally consume (a la carte ) is the fact that by bundling content, cable providers are able to provide content that will not survive the market place if viewers have to pay actual costs. The only way Ovation, A&E, the Science Channel, the Military Channel, and all the other specialist tv networks survive is by piggybacking on the multichannel offerings that cost so much. Now if you're a tv viewer who doesn't watch anything but mainstream programming, you won't notice or care when these outlets go missing under a la carte pricing. I'm no apologist for the cable companies and I agree about lack of quality and all that. But using these technological end runs around the cable companies to get a lower bill can't go on forever if the variety of cable programming is going to remain available. In the end, we consumers will ultimately decide what our entertainment world is going to look like by choices we make now. Just like the desire to save a buck on our jeans ended up putting American businesses under because Walmart went to China to satisfy America's incessant thirst for cheap clothes.

Disagree here, completely.

Using streaming technology, Ovation, A&E, the Science Channel, and the Military Channel, can create channel applications that are compatible with IOS, Android, PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, and any other device platform with an internet connection that you can think of, and provide content directly to the consumer.

These channels could offer these services for free by including, but minimizing, advertisements during programming. Hulu Plus does this now with brief commercial breaks during programs.

They also could offer a commercial free option with a monthly subscription free.

Companies like Comcast are antiquated greedy middle men, and they are superfluous. Hopefully, their days are numbered.

 
 

 

[rajacat]

For MLB.TV read there blackout rules. I signed up for MLS live last year overlooking blackout rules....basically local team was always a blackout game...WTF.

Yeah, it's that MLB.TV is in cahoots with cable/sat. Oh well, most pro sports don't have any real relationship with the local community anyway. Just pick any team as your favorite and watch on TV.  Players come and go according to where the $$$ are. Billionaire owners just use the local area to extract sweetheart stadium deals at taxpayers expense. Seats are quite often priced too high for middle class families. You can sure that they have plenty or luxury boxes though.

[mcgsxr]

I'd say I am still on the fence.  Sure, I own a streaming device now, but am still paying for full satellite service.  I will amend it, but I bet my wife makes up the savings by asking for Netflix!

It will still take change on the part of the user to really kill cable.  My users still want to watch show X when it is on broadcast TV.  If they could even wait a day it would appear on Free TV Project, no doubt.

We will see.

[Phil A]

The current Cable TV Model won't be around forever - http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/10/14/cable-tv-price-hikes-unsustainable/

[Bob in St. Louis]

Am I correct to assume that any HD antenna will suit my purposes? Line of sight is clear in both directions.

I do believe your signal will be a very strong one. You should be fine.
The two key words there are "believe", and "should", but I'm certainly not an OTA HD expert.

One thing that hasn't been talked about here is "FTA". 

[thunderbrick]

The current Cable TV Model won't be around forever - http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/10/14/cable-tv-price-hikes-unsustainable/

Problem is, neither will we...................

[jarcher]

There's always a Slingbox strategically placed at a friends or family members who has the full cable package. It is best to connect Slingbox to its own cable box or TiVo so as to not interrupt the "servers" personal viewing, and of course the "server" should have decent broadband Internet.  On your end you need 1mbps internet service for decent quality, and 3mbps for hd quality, which many of us already have. Used slingboxes and tivos or cable boxes are very cheap.

Between the above, a $25 HD over the air antennae, and a Netflix subscription with the occasional Redbox visit, you really can have all the content you could want. Works for me. 

Of course you'll need Internet service on your end - but that's almost a given these days for any household anyway, even if the pricing from the cable company or telco duopoly is often a rip off. Here's hoping the wireless broadband becomes more competitive.

[WireNut]

 I just installed my first streaming player, a Roku 1 with the Asus RT-N56U wireless router. Both my PC's are hardwired, only the Roku 1 uses the wireless part of my new router. Setup and installation of both units went smooth. Everything works perfectly. I wouldn't have done it without reading this thread a few months back.

I look forward to cutting my TWC tv cable cord this coming week.

Hi-Five to AC members once again 

[Early B.]

I just installed my first streaming player, a Roku 1 with the Asus RT-N56U wireless router. Both my PC's are hardwired, only the Roku 1 uses the wireless part of my new router. Setup and installation of both units went smooth. Everything works perfectly. I wouldn't have done it without reading this thread a few months back.

Hi-Five to AC members once again 

I did the same thing a few months ago after reading this thread. I also have Aereo for local channels which is $8/mo, and I've had Amazon Prime for several years. I went from paying about $75/mo. for cable TV to $8/mo. for Aereo.

The cost savings is good, but you get what you pay for. Picture quality is diminished, sometimes buffering issues occur, and cable is much more convenient/user friendly for searching and channel surfing. I like the ability of watching "free" movies and TV shows via Amazon Prime, but I'd be willing to pay a few dollars more for better picture quality and and an improved interface.

[Phil A]

I have everything hard wired (network wise) and have no buffering issues.  I just got Netflix (before the increase so it will be $8/month for 2 years) in addition to Amazon Prime (which I got anyway for the shipping).  Amazon Prime has free ones and ones which cost money.  Roku is easy to navigate (I have four Roku 3 boxes).  I also have an attic antenna for local stations.  Quality vs. cable is not an issue (I have been in peoples houses with cable).  Not seen Aereo in action and had an antenna in my old house too so I can't comment.  I have more than enough content to watch.

[Phil A]

As noted never used Aereo but they have FAQ regarding buffering - http://support.aereo.com/customer/portal/articles/1348191-frequent-%E2%80%9Cbuffering%E2%80%9D-or-delay-in-loading-video

If one can have an HD Antenna, I don't see the need for something like Aereo.  I've not tried this - http://www.buycleartv.com/?gclid=COHQ6-aYxb4CFTAV7AodCi4A7Q  but if it or something like it comes with a guarantee it's probably worth a shot vs. $8/month.

[Tyson]

Just an FYI, I subscribe to Amazon Prime and they just got all the HBO original programming - you can now stream all of it for "free" once you sign up.

[Phil A]

Tyson, thanks for the update.  I've just streamed a few things on both Amazon and Netflix.  I have about 670 DVDs, 200 Blu-Rays and 130 LDs and while there are a few duplicates I have plenty to watch between that broadcast TV and what is available on Amazon and Netflix.  I'm hopeful that Google fiber with expand to enough places and will help hold down high speed internet costs - https://fiber.google.com/newcities/

[WireNut]

What streaming service would be best for 30-60 minute new or re-run shows?

[Phil A]

What streaming service would be best for 30-60 minute new or re-run shows?

They have different content so it would be best to see what you are interested in by going to their sites.  Keep in mind they add and also take away stuff from time to time.  You can also watch old shows on sites like http://metvnetwork.com/videos or Hulu.  The networks also have content available at their websites.

[Atlplasma]

I have a decent extended basic cable package. (Got to have BBC America.) But I find I consistently watch five or six channels (the networks, BBC, and HGTV). So much of the rest seems like a waste of time. I certainly don't feel like it's worth $100 a month or whatever it costs. Do any of you cord cutters feels like you've had to sacrifice something to leave the standard cable fare behind?

[Doublej]

I bought a rabbit ear antenna one of those dollar stores that's working great at my house for OTA reception.

Better picture than my RCN cable IMHO.