9% expected to cut their cable this year

[Fedup]

I can't because my husband still enjoys watching a basketball game yesterday. The last one in the semi finals.

 

[marko]

I can't because my husband still enjoys watching a basketball game yesterday. The last one in the semi finals.

Man I wish I could cut the cord too!

Sadly, DW is not into switching from one means of broadcast to another (Netfilx, Amazon, Hulu, etc) in order to get all the shows she wants to see.

She just wants to pick up the remote and hit a number. Just having recently gone from 2 digits to 3 (channel 42 to now 842) was traumatic for the poor thing.

With DW, some battles you fight, others you just let it go and pay the $160 a month.

I must say, that the new cable box is pretty cool and quite smart. Plus being able to just speak out some obscure old movie and have it available within 20 seconds does have a certain ring to it.

At the same time, like most towns in our state Comcast is the only game in town. So if I cut the cord and only went via internet, I'd still be paying the Comcast beast! The way they bundle, if I cut the cord, my bill might go from $160 to $90 just for internet; for another $70 bucks I get a ton of additional functionality.

 

[Fedup]

My husband said real live ticket is $400, not even front row seat. At home he got front row seat. I honestly don't mind paying, I only watch CNBC and my husband all kind of sports. We're stuck. I hope watching CNBC will pay off for the cable bill.

 

[gerntz]

Still have cable & no plans to get rid of. The differential svings vs. other options isn't significant enough to care about at this stage.

 

[Mulligan]

There are some substantial issues to overcome with wireless, regarding strength of signal and visual path to the tower, which would require substantially more towers to solve - for each provider. And for each person to verify they can get the service in their home (not to mention some spots in one's home can be spotty). With cell phone towers mostly handling phone calls and some data up to now, it'll be a bit more advancing to be able to truly handle all of the data through-put to be a primary ISP for multiple residences and business - along with the issue of a good signal to all homes.

Sure would suck if land-based lines went away, and you were one of the 5%-10% of homes that had various spotty signals.

You will have to pry my cable bill from my cold dead hands, lol... I pay $150 a month for internet and fairly robust package minus premium movie channels. I live by myself but require 3 monthly box fees, plus the protection package that takes it to $150. I call when my discounts end to get them back on. I enjoy sports/business/ and news channels and I like my house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.. $10 a day is all it takes to give me that...A bargain and 5% of my after tax income..Well worth it to me...I will be cheap somewhere else..
But traditional cable tv is a dying business...like the daily newspaper which I also subscribe too. I am definitely a dinosaur!

 

[marko]

You will have to pry my cable bill from my cold dead hands, lol... I enjoy sports/business/ and news channels and I like my house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.. $10 a day is all it takes to give me that...A bargain

+1
Mulligan, you're a man after my own heart! Nicely put!

I do hate the pricing of cable, but as I noted above it does provide some cool features...just wish it wasn't priced the way it is.

(Back when cable first came out, I swore that I'd never pay for TV when I can get 4, 5 and 7 for free...but here we are)

 

[AllDone]

I'm part of that statistic. I dropped cable in February, bought a cheap antenna from Target, and get 43 crystal clear stations. Then I stopped watching TV completely for the 40 days of Lent. It turned out to be no sacrifice at all, and I found quite delightfully that I altogether dislike TV. I now read in the evenings far more than I used to. I'm even thinking of getting rid of the TV itself. It would free up an area of the den that could accommodate a comfy reading chair and lamp.
I've been increasingly mindful of my habits and watching mindless TV was a stupid one. I now need to start to curb mindless web surfing...that's tough!

I lived a television-free lifestyle from the age of 18 to the age of 40. Then, I got married.... It kills me to have to pay for that nonsense too -- the TV, not the spouse.

 

[marko]

Then I stopped watching TV completely for the 40 days of Lent. It turned out to be no sacrifice at all, and I found quite delightfully that I altogether dislike TV. I now read in the evenings far more than I used to. I'm even thinking of getting rid of the TV itself. It would free up an area of the den that could accommodate a comfy reading chair and lamp.

Slightly off topic, but...

I'm old enough to remember when not everyone had a TV. I remember people saying that "...it's supposed to be a pastime... something when you have nothing else to do..."
Remember when people had hobbies, read with just the radio on and made stupid stuff in their basements? (plywood windmill thingys...little guys chopping wood).
TV seems to have taken all that away.

Man I wish I could live without TV.

 

[John Galt III]

I reduced my cable TV bill from $107 to $34 per month, by dropping from "full" to "basic". (TV only, no internet). Don't miss anything, really. This Fall I won't get those Penn State football games on The Big Ten Network, since BTN was one of those channels I discarded, but I'll still get about 5 or 6 games on the remaining channels. Glad I did it!

 

[marko]

I reduced my cable TV bill from $107 to $34 per month, by dropping from "full" to "basic". (TV only, no internet).

"No internet"? Are you mailing these posts in? Just kidding.

Seriously, I might live without TV but at this point, I view internet as a critical item.

 

[John Galt III]

"No internet"? Are you mailing these posts in? Just kidding.

Seriously, I might live without TV but at this point, I view internet as a critical item.

Well, maybe I'm posting from a public library. LOL.

 

[Scuba]

We only watch 3 things on TV - NFL games, House Hunters International, & Turner Classic Movies. Does anyone know if there is a way to keep our access to these without having cable TV? Most nights out TV never gets turned on, but we do value the few things we like to watch.

 

[tsoispf]

We've been off of DirecTv for two years now. Had to convince DW. Now she's a big promoter of cord cutting. The convenience of watching on-demand (no, we never had a DVR) and the savings are what sold us. We subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and get over-the-air stations at a fraction of the cost. The only regret is the trip back from the mailbox carrying all those "we want you back" offers.

 

[athena53]

We've been off of DirecTv for two years now. Had to convince DW. Now she's a big promoter of cord cutting. The convenience of watching on-demand (no, we never had a DVR) and the savings are what sold us.

I did have a DVR with Comcast but the additional benefit of Netflix for me is that I don't have to fast-forward through commercials. There are no commercials! I can watch 3 hours of programming in 2 hours.

 

[John Galt III]

We only watch 3 things on TV - NFL games, House Hunters International, & Turner Classic Movies. Does anyone know if there is a way to keep our access to these without having cable TV? Most nights out TV never gets turned on, but we do value the few things we like to watch.

Nope. I used to watch a lot of Turner Classic Movies when I had "Full" cable TV. I don't actually miss it, though, now that I have reduced the cable TV package to "basic". Thought I would. But I can get some of the old movies on DVD's from my library anyway. Free and no commercials!

 

[Fedup]

We have Netflix but rarely watch it. Occasionally we we watch the Crown. I'm not keen on watching it so my husband doesn't put them on often. But we like to watch old western movies, especially the ones with Clint Eastwood in the movie, but my daughter said I have to pay $10 to get them by mail. Forget that. It's not the money, it's just we have not got the energy to do that. Too lazy.

 

[gerntz]

But I can get some of the old movies on DVD's from my library anyway. Free and no commercials!

Free if you don't use purchased energy to get to/from library.

 

[T-Minus]

I don't know about other people, but I cut the cable a couple of years ago because TV has nothing to offer me any more.

I'm just not interested.

Higher quality news and/or fewer ads would get me back, but that doesn't seem likely anytime soon.

We cut the cable in October of 2015. Initially, we missed some of our shows, but with OTA, Netflix and Amazon Prime, we've adapted quite nicely.

Just this past 10 days, DW and I were on vacation, and the hotel we were staying in had a huge selection of satellite channels available. I could not believe the amount of pure crap and the volume of commercials that is being offered now. We turned the tv off and listened to music and read instead. We are never going back to CATV.

 

[Fedup]

Nope. I used to watch a lot of Turner Classic Movies when I had "Full" cable TV. I don't actually miss it, though, now that I have reduced the cable TV package to "basic". Thought I would. But I can get some of the old movies on DVD's from my library anyway. Free and no commercials!

I loved some of the old movies I got from the library. This was back from the day my husband and I retired early by accident, aka laid off. It was so great to see these movies, some of them black and white. Same with books. I checked out so many books both for me and my oldest daughter, so many that the check out person was joking that my daughter was going to Harvard. I'm still cherish my memories of those 2 years.
Priceless. For everything else there is Master Card.

 

[athena53]

Just this past 10 days, DW and I were on vacation, and the hotel we were staying in had a huge selection of satellite channels available. I could not believe the amount of pure crap and the volume of commercials that is being offered now. We turned the tv off and listened to music and read instead. We are never going back to CATV.

DH always liked to watch TV in the room; I can stay in a place for days and never turn it on. I always have good books and now I can watch Netflix on my computer!

 

[John Galt III]

Free if you don't use purchased energy to get to/from library.

I have to take my 1988 Trans Am out for some exercise now and then, and I often stop at the library since I'm already out. But, yes, you're right, there is a cost to get to and from the library. But, I'm always looking for an excuse to get out of the house, anyway.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Free if you don't use purchased energy to get to/from library.

Check your library--we can download movies, videos, ebooks, audiobooks through a couple of services ours offers. Still like to get out of the house, though

 

[gerntz]

Check your library--we can download movies, videos, ebooks, audiobooks through a couple of services ours offers. Still like to get out of the house, though

Good point. But in that case, you have your internet fee.

 

[Midpack]

Free if you don't use purchased energy to get to/from library.

I have to take my 1988 Trans Am out for some exercise now and then, and I often stop at the library since I'm already out. But, yes, you're right, there is a cost to get to and from the library. But, I'm always looking for an excuse to get out of the house, anyway.

That was my plan, but it doesn't work at our local library even though they have a huge DVD library. Ww can only check out a DVD for 2 days, and we can't reserve/request movies (like we can with books). So you have to just hope the movie(s) you want to watch are on the shelf, and then you have to watch them right away...

 

[Fedup]

We can walk to the library here. So it's even nicer, free gym sort to speak.