Jump to content

Menu

I'm so happy I got rid of cable!!!


gingersmom
 Share

Recommended Posts

For $6 I got an indoor antenna from Amazon.com and am sitting here watching Ellen show on NBC. And Judge Judy, channels with shows for my teenage and even a channel showing Lost in Space!!! Plus QVC and HSN when I can't sleep in the middle of the night.

 

The best part.....saving $205 a month!!!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've been without Dish (haven't had cable in forever) for four years now. Antenna plus Netflix streaming + one DVD at a time. Haven't missed Dish yet. We found more channels when we bought a new TV (why? IDK, but it's a smart TV, which apparently was able to find more stations).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We ditched direct TV a few months ago. Haven't missed it. We found we were watching netflix more than pay tv so we cut the cord. We will be purchasing an antennae for regular tv.

I think the cable companies are going to run into major profit problems in the next few years. They need to reinvent themselves into something relevant. People are tired of paying for a bunch of channels they do not watch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your TV alone was $206?  Wow.  I would be happy too.

 

We got rid of Satellite as soon as it hit $100/month.

 

We went completely over the air for 4 full years.  We had to have a rooftop antenna and even then we had some issues getting channels where we life.  However, what I found was that I missed the ability to pause live TV and record shows.  So, we bought a Tivo with lifetime off of eBay.  Then we bought a 2nd!    That worked well, although we still didn't get all the channels in perfectly.

 

Then the cable company offered us cable TV for an extra $35/mo.  So, we jumped at that and that is what we pay now.  We already paid for internet, so we just pay $35 more now and use our own Tivo boxes so no DVR rental.

 

If it goes up we may change our minds. 

 

For $6 I got an indoor antenna from Amazon.com and am sitting here watching Ellen show on NBC. And Judge Judy, channels with shows for my teenage and even a channel showing Lost in Space!!! Plus QVC and HSN when I can't sleep in the middle of the night.

The best part.....saving $205 a month!!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We never had cable. Nor an antenna. We had Dish when my wife worked for Dish. We've had Netflix since 2005? Kids are watching Wild Kratts right now. I wouldn't even want cable if we could get it for free... having to keep track of when what is aired on what channel etc? Ugh... too much work.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea when things are on, that is why we have Tivo!  I just set it and forget it!

 

 

We never had cable. Nor an antenna. We had Dish when my wife worked for Dish. We've had Netflix since 2005? Kids are watching Wild Kratts right now. I wouldn't even want cable if we could get it for free... having to keep track of when what is aired on what channel etc? Ugh... too much work.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It isn't any harder than searching on Netflix for shows.  And I watch Netflix shows based on word of mouth just like I watch TV shows based on word of mouth.  I don't pour over TVGuide or anything.

 

I type in the name of the show in a search engine and then click "get a pass for this show" and voila!  It records every episode until I stop it.

 

And netflix doesn't carry everything we like.

 

DH likes all those stupid car shows for example.  He also likes several of those living in Alaska shows.  

 

Anyway, it definitely works better for us.

 

But you'd still have to figure out what's on TV to set the Tivo. It makes it a little easier, but not as easy as Netflix.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It isn't any harder than searching on Netflix for shows.  And I watch Netflix shows based on word of mouth just like I watch TV shows based on word of mouth.  I don't pour over TVGuide or anything.

 

Anyway, it definitely works better for us.

 

That's fine, what works best for you doesn't have to work best for me.

 

I sometimes search for shows on Netflix, but more often I'll look through the list of recently added or "because you watched ..." or w/e. Afaik, cable/satellite doesn't recommend shows based on your viewing habits, nor sort them nicely by genre. I watch almost nothing based on word of mouth, and when I do hear of something, it's usually from someone who also has Netflix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right,  that is why I said it works well for us.

 

We used to have only over the air and Netflix.  We still do have Netflix.

 

 

That's fine, what works best for you doesn't have to work best for me.

 

I sometimes search for shows on Netflix, but more often I'll look through the list of recently added or "because you watched ..." or w/e. Afaik, cable/satellite doesn't recommend shows based on your viewing habits, nor sort them nicely by genre. I watch almost nothing based on word of mouth, and when I do hear of something, it's usually from someone who also has Netflix.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is loving the indoor antenna. He says he can't even remember why he was upset that I got rid of cable.

 

The reason you are not upset is because there was nothing worth watching! Now we can relive my childhood watching Happy Days, the Jeffersons, All in the family, Mash and That Girl :)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We might ditch Netflix too, if they lose too many things.  I have not yet found a Netflix Original that I wanted to watch.  If that's all they're going to have, we might be better off with something else.

 

I'm actually just watching a lot of stuff on youtube.  Apparently the things I'm interested in have no commercial value.

 

If you pay for Hulu, do you still get ads?  That's been the one thing keeping me away from Hulu.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, you still get ads.

 

We might ditch Netflix too, if they lose too many things.  I have not yet found a Netflix Original that I wanted to watch.  If that's all they're going to have, we might be better off with something else.

 

I'm actually just watching a lot of stuff on youtube.  Apparently the things I'm interested in have no commercial value.

 

If you pay for Hulu, do you still get ads?  That's been the one thing keeping me away from Hulu.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have never had cable or Netflix.

 

We got those free or almost free digital converter boxes when the signals changed a few years back, and gradually they cover less and less.

 

The highest tech thing I have done since is get Amazon Prime and watch recorded TV and movies on it.

 

I don't even know what all that stuff is.

 

When we go on vacation and our hotel room has cable, DH glues himself to the TV and watches nature shows.  He also buys individual copies of videos about Alaska and/or gold mining, and watches them on his tablet.

 

I should probably go research all this stuff so that we could have good TV at home, now that DD is old enough not to be around all the time/addicted to it, but I really don't know where to start.  Being a recovering Luddite is hard work!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have not had cable for several decades. We don't watch much on TV, mostly stuff on PBS and occasionally our local news.

 

We did break down this year and got a subscription to Netflix. I think it's about $8 per month. I like watching old HGTV and British mystery shows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We might ditch Netflix too, if they lose too many things.  I have not yet found a Netflix Original that I wanted to watch.  If that's all they're going to have, we might be better off with something else.

 

I'm actually just watching a lot of stuff on youtube.  Apparently the things I'm interested in have no commercial value.

 

If you pay for Hulu, do you still get ads?  That's been the one thing keeping me away from Hulu.

 

I haven't liked a Netflix Original, either. Happily, there are still enough other shows to keep my habit satisfied. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We didn't have cable or satellite for nine years.

 

Then we moved, and we received a good deal (we really wanted Game of Thrones). We never watch the television except for family movie nights (which Amazon Prime could cover).

 

I wish we could subscribe to specific channels. HBO, the Food Network and maybe Disney. The rest of the channels are junk.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We haven't had cable for years - or local channels, for that matter. It's pretty common where I live, I think. We do pay for Netflix, but we hardly use it. My 14 yr old never watches, and my 7 yr old occasionally binge-watches something like Pokemon or Good Eats. We just signed up for Hulu because the kids wanted to watch Mythbusters. We have Amazon Prime TV but I can't remember the last time something we wanted to watch was actually free on Prime.

 

ETA: Hulu is offering a new subscription deal for NO ADS. It is $12/month instead of $8. A handful of shows will still have ads before and after the show, but the rest will be entirely ad-free. So worth it to me!

 

http://www.hulu.com/nocommercials

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For $6 I got an indoor antenna from Amazon.com and am sitting here watching Ellen show on NBC. And Judge Judy, channels with shows for my teenage and even a channel showing Lost in Space!!! Plus QVC and HSN when I can't sleep in the middle of the night.

 

The best part.....saving $205 a month!!!

 

It's freaking amazing that Cable companies have managed to hornswaggle everyone into thinking they need cable for reception.  How do people think TV worked before Cable??  The free airwave channels have been there all along! They never went away! You just need an antenna!

 

People moved to cable at first because it was commercial-free and you could get things like movies.  Commercial-free went away long ago, and with Netflix, who needs premium movie channels?

 

Yes, I know there are some remote locations that couldn't get reception at all before cable, and sorry for that.  But... for most of the US, we were all watching TV with just the antenna just fine for half a century.  I have never paid for cable even one day of my life, and we get tons of channels just fine, thankyouverymuch.  Our current antenna is over 20 years old.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've been without cable for many years. We used a Roku with Amazon Prime, Netflix streaming, and purchased shows we wanted from Amazon. Two years ago we added an HD antenna.

 

We recently signed up for SlingTV. It rocks! For $20/month, we have ESPN, ESPN 2, Food Network, HGTV, TNT, Disney and more. It's a nice compromise giving my dh some sports and the girls in the family Project Runway, Dance Moms, and Food Network Star.

 

We're thinking of dropping Amazon Prime this year and just keeping Netflix and SlingTV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just cancelled our cable ($81/month for 12 months a year).  We already have a Roku to stream Netflix and Amazon Prime.  We pay for the MLB Channel on Roku, which is a flat fee/season, but we paid for that even before we dropped cable.  We now pay, thanks to this board, for Sling instead of cable, $20/month for ESPN, and only for the months we need it, so maybe $100/year.  I bought a $30 indoor antenna at Walmart this morning so I can get CBS, since the Auburn-Louisville game is on CBS today.  It took five minutes to install and works great.  

 

Ironically, I watch more TV now that we don't have actual TV.  I could never get my schedule together to watch X show on Tuesdays at 9.  Now that I can sit down and watch an episode whenever I have 45 minutes, however, it is much, much easier to fit in a show.  Since I haven't watched TV in so long, I have a lot to catch up on, and I'm kind of enjoying it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have also had a TiVo box for years, so we can watch things when we want.  Yes, this works just fine without cable.  We also don't pay a monthly charge for the TiVo - if you pay a bit more up front, you get the TiVo service for free as long as you own the box.  As long as you keep the box more than 2-3 years, it works out very well.  We keep all our stuff forever!  The TiVo box also streams Netflix, Amazon prime, Hulu, etc. for you if you subscribe to one of those services.  We moved the Roku into the other room where we have a projector.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's freaking amazing that Cable companies have managed to hornswaggle everyone into thinking they need cable for reception. How do people think TV worked before Cable?? The free airwave channels have been there all along! They never went away! You just need an antenna!

 

 

Yes, I know there are some remote locations that couldn't get reception at all before cable, and sorry for that. But... for most of the US, we were all watching TV with just the antenna just fine for half a century. I have never paid for cable even one day of my life, and we get tons of channels just fine, thankyouverymuch. Our current antenna is over 20 years old.

 

Except for when you had to put tin foil on the rabbit ears and someone had to stand on one foot with one arm up and the other on the rabbit ear to keep the channel from going fuzzy.

 

But you are correct that the antenna on the roof generally worked just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Except for when you had to put tin foil on the rabbit ears and someone had to stand on one foot with one arm up and the other on the rabbit ear to keep the channel from going fuzzy.

 

But you are correct that the antenna on the roof generally worked just fine.

Ah, memories.... :lol:

 

But actually, while we did have to do this with our rabbit ears I was a kid, I haven't found that we had to do that at all with our big honkin antenna in the attic...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't liked a Netflix Original, either. Happily, there are still enough other shows to keep my habit satisfied. :-)

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34110968

 

Netflix is going to drop its contract with Epix and lose a lot of movies.  This looks like it isn't the usual, yeah, we dropped it then we got it back the next week.

 

"Netflix, which has more than 60 million subscribers worldwide, said it wanted to focus on exclusive content."

 

As long as they still have real TV shows (not their stuff), I suppose we may stick with it, but this looks like they're repositioning themselves as a network where they mostly make their own shows.  If that's where it's headed, we may be looking for something else. 

 

Meanwhile, if Hulu wants to be competitive, they ought to be offering ad free content for roughly the same price as Netflix, not half again as much.  I'm still seriously wondering if we need to be paying for netflix, so it's not likely we'll start paying more for Hulu.

 

I can watch cable at the gym -- enough to know I'm not missing anything at all (either on cable or broadcast TV).  Well, except that CNN can be pretty funny at times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Digital TV via antenna doesn't seem to work as well as the old TV broadcasting system.  I can understand why people are going to cable.  There must be some areas where the new digital works fine with an antenna, but I don't know of anyone around us who is very successful at picking it up.

 

With digital, if you've lost the signal, you've just lost it.  With the old TV, you might still pick up something.  We watched a lot of Star Trek with only the sound.  It was really quite a bit better that way, as it turned out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's freaking amazing that Cable companies have managed to hornswaggle everyone into thinking they need cable for reception.  How do people think TV worked before Cable??  The free airwave channels have been there all along! They never went away! You just need an antenna!

 

People moved to cable at first because it was commercial-free and you could get things like movies.  Commercial-free went away long ago, and with Netflix, who needs premium movie channels?

 

Yes, I know there are some remote locations that couldn't get reception at all before cable, and sorry for that.  But... for most of the US, we were all watching TV with just the antenna just fine for half a century.  I have never paid for cable even one day of my life, and we get tons of channels just fine, thankyouverymuch.  Our current antenna is over 20 years old.

 

 

The signals have changed from analog to digital. Where I live (about 1 mile outside the capital of Vermont), we cannot receive digital signals through an antenna any longer. It sucks, but we're not bamboozled, just in a valley next to mountains that are blocking the signals coming from Mt. Mansfield and Burlington. We're not that remote and from what I hear, people used to get TV channels just fine "back in the day". 

 

Glad you get tons of channels though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The signals have changed from analog to digital. Where I live (about 1 mile outside the capital of Vermont), we cannot receive digital signals through an antenna any longer. It sucks, but we're not bamboozled, just in a valley next to mountains that are blocking the signals coming from Mt. Mansfield and Burlington. We're not that remote and from what I hear, people used to get TV channels just fine "back in the day". 

 

Glad you get tons of channels though. 

 

'Tis true, the digital signals don't work as well.  That was a bit of a bamboozle, as supposedly the whole switch to digital was supposed to 'increase quality', remember?

 

We were fortunate in that we only lost the PBS channel from the next state (but gained a few more PBS sub-channels, like PBS Kids and Create - although I don't really watch them).  We also gained a few free movie and oldies TV channels with the digital switch, and all of our local channels continued to work fine.

 

We are not surrounded by mountains, but our antenna does span half our attic; it's not just a little thing attached to the TV.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Digital TV via antenna doesn't seem to work as well as the old TV broadcasting system.  I can understand why people are going to cable.  There must be some areas where the new digital works fine with an antenna, but I don't know of anyone around us who is very successful at picking it up.

 

With digital, if you've lost the signal, you've just lost it.  With the old TV, you might still pick up something.  We watched a lot of Star Trek with only the sound.  It was really quite a bit better that way, as it turned out.

 

 

The signals have changed from analog to digital. Where I live (about 1 mile outside the capital of Vermont), we cannot receive digital signals through an antenna any longer. It sucks, but we're not bamboozled, just in a valley next to mountains that are blocking the signals coming from Mt. Mansfield and Burlington. We're not that remote and from what I hear, people used to get TV channels just fine "back in the day". 

 

Glad you get tons of channels though. 

 

I agree!

 

 

After over a decade of no cable, I'm so excited that we are finally getting cable (9 more days!)!!! Not bamboozled, just sick and tired of poor reception. We don't even watch that much TV, but I'm looking forward to being able to watch it without reception issues. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's freaking amazing that Cable companies have managed to hornswaggle everyone into thinking they need cable for reception.  How do people think TV worked before Cable??

 

I'm going to guess that a lot of younger people don't realize there *was* TV before cable. I don't even have a clue what year cable started. I know it's been around since before I was born.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I think is funny for us is that DH works for a cable company and we get it for free. We have all the channels and extended packages and the kids would rather watch something on Netflix or youtube. I'm about the only one who uses it and if we had to pay for it we would drop it too ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We ditched cable for Directv years ago, then about 3 or 4 years ago we ditched that too. At the time it was temporary because we needed to cut back expenses and that was the only thing left we could really cut back on. We got a digital antenna for over the air channels and we get a ton of those. We already had Netflix and Amazon Prime, but added Hulu Plus (we're in the minority that the ads don't bother us) and more recently AcornTV. Even paying for those 4 streaming services (and like I said we were paying for the first two PLUS satellite before) we still don't come close to spending what we did on satellite or would on cable. We do occasionally pay for a season of a show or two that we are too impatient to wait for, and even then we're still saving money.

 

We haven't looked back. We never had a dvr when we had satellite so we don't miss what we didn't have. We rarely watch anything when it's broadcast, so we don't need to pause live tv. Nearly everything we care about watching we stream, and we can pause that. When we're watching something on the antenna, it's usually just dh watching "something to watch", so missing it to get a snack doesn't bother him. There's not much we watch on OTA channels, and what we do watch we can see on Hulu the next day.

 

We don't have a landline, and have Bright House for internet. Every now and then they try to get us to add cable and a landline so we can "save" on a bundle. We just laugh and say no thanks.

 

It's one of the best decisions we've made. Ds missed Directv at first, but doesn't anymore. Much of what he watches is on YouTube anyway. Dh and I never really missed it. The savings has been totally worth it for us and we never lack tv shows or movies to watch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to guess that a lot of younger people don't realize there *was* TV before cable. I don't even have a clue what year cable started. I know it's been around since before I was born.

 

I'm not sure either, but we first heard of it in 1970. When we lived in NJ, all of our tv stations came from NYC and there were plenty of them. The same was true when we lived in Hallandale. FL. Our stations came from Miami, and maybe a few from Ft. Lauderdale. 

 

Then we moved here and...nothing. Our OTA channels come from Orlando, but the signals were so weak we could only get one channel (the local ABC affiliate) without cable. Sometimes you could pull in CBS, but NBC was impossible.  I also remember seeing signs at the movie theater to "Fight Pay TV", which at the time referred mainly to HBO. 

 

A quick google search says it's been around since the 1940's but apparently was only used in remote areas. I'm still not sure when it became normal to have cable. I do remember the Superstation Channel 17 on UHF (now TBS) when I was in college. People thought Ted Turner was nuts for paying to distribute over a satellite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

With digital, if you've lost the signal, you've just lost it.  With the old TV, you might still pick up something.  

 

We don't have mountains, so that might have a lot to do with our reception. However, we still had issues, especially during thunderstorms. Dh bought a rotating antenna with remote control. When the reception gets bad, he just uses the remote to rotate it until it improves. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to guess that a lot of younger people don't realize there *was* TV before cable. I don't even have a clue what year cable started. I know it's been around since before I was born.

 

My family got cable for the first time when we moved to a suburban area tucked into a valley. Without cable, even with an antenna, we got about one-half of a channel (mostly static with occasional almost recognizable images and fuzzy sound). The original cable simply provided the same channels other folks got over the air, complete with commercials. That was in 1972.

 

As I recall, the first "premium channel" we were offered was The Movie Channel, which we got sometime in the late 1970s. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I grew up in really rural WV.  We had a really old set that had buttons on the case--channels one to thirteen.  I don't remember if we picked up an actual channel for each button, but channel 13 was TBS and I watched The Flintstones and Tom and Jerry on that channel before I caught the bus in the morning.  TV wasn't really a big deal.  I played outside most of the time.  I remember watching Three Stooges at my neighbor's house.

 

We moved to "town" when I was in the middle of the second grade.  That was the first time I had cable or knew it existed approximately 1990.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We didn't have cable or satellite for nine years.

 

Then we moved, and we received a good deal (we really wanted Game of Thrones). We never watch the television except for family movie nights (which Amazon Prime could cover).

 

I wish we could subscribe to specific channels. HBO, the Food Network and maybe Disney. The rest of the channels are junk.

 

Sling TV offers Food Network and Disney I believe. You can also get HBO added on for an additional cost. We subscribed to Sling for a few months but let it go for now. It's just live TV, and we discovered a lot of programming wasn't as good as we remembered (WHY is Food Network so obsessed with Guy Fieri?).

 

Meanwhile, if Hulu wants to be competitive, they ought to be offering ad free content for roughly the same price as Netflix, not half again as much.  I'm still seriously wondering if we need to be paying for netflix, so it's not likely we'll start paying more for Hulu.

 

I can watch cable at the gym -- enough to know I'm not missing anything at all (either on cable or broadcast TV).  Well, except that CNN can be pretty funny at times.

 

I don't know, I think what Hulu offers is that you can keep up with shows and not wait for the season to end before you get a chance to see them. Yes, you usually have to wait until the next day to see a show, but I got used to doing that when we had our TiVo. And I did upgrade to the no-commercial version and I really liked it. 

 

I also watch cable at the gym. One of the reasons I felt we didn't need to keep paying for Sling was that if I could watch HGTV at home, that takes away a good reason to get my butt to the gym!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sling TV offers Food Network and Disney I believe. You can also get HBO added on for an additional cost. We subscribed to Sling for a few months but let it go for now. It's just live TV, and we discovered a lot of programming wasn't as good as we remembered (WHY is Food Network so obsessed with Guy Fieri?).

 

 

I agree on Guy Fieri. Ugh.

 

I love Chopped which is why we have Food Network. I could watch re-runs several times. If the shows were online, I would be happy to cut the cable cord.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...