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Old 01-23-2017, 01:11 PM   #21
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I've never paid for cable, but spent a lot on beer.

Looks like we spend about $30/month for Netflix/split with another user, Amazon Prime and a newsgroup subscription...this includes 4 matinees a year,one every quarter. The others are downloaded. We watch the trash tv on Bravo...and catchup on some discovery and animal planet when we stay in hotels 30nights/yr
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Old 01-23-2017, 01:58 PM   #22
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Going on 2 years without cable TV. Don't miss it a bit.

I remember when cable TV first came out. They advertised a clear picture for all the OTA programming, plus cable-only channels with no commercials, all for $10 a month.

Things sure have changed since then!
+1. The horrible and relentless commercials are what is making me want to dump cable. Paying for TV shows is one thing, but paying for commercials is just too much to bear. You know when you're channel surfing to find something without a commercial, and you've gone through 5 channels, and each one has a commercial blaring, it's just over.
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Old 01-23-2017, 06:27 PM   #23
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Just now experimenting with cutting the cable. Unfortunately, antenna channels availble in my area are not very many, unlike big cities.
I have a ROKU Express, and am doing free 30 day trials of NetFlix and Hulu (commercial free version). If it were up to me and not my wife, I would have cut cable long ago. I would be plenty satisfied with the limited antenna channels and with NetFlix and commercial free Hulu.
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Old 01-23-2017, 07:52 PM   #24
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I think it is an extension to the Firefox browser, or maybe a separate software program I discovered elsewhere, that creates a "Download" link immediately below every YouTube screen. I can click that and download any YouTube video I desire to a USB stick. I then insert that in the USB port of my DVD player, and watch tons of stuff on any TV at my leisure. (YouTube has seemingly everything these days--even soon-after videos of many TV shows.)

I have only OTA TV, and get some 40 channels in high HD. I don't have cable or streaming sources like Netflix and Hulu. I also watch lots of stuff available from my local library (DVDs and online).
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:00 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by John Galt III View Post
+1. The horrible and relentless commercials are what is making me want to dump cable. Paying for TV shows is one thing, but paying for commercials is just too much to bear. You know when you're channel surfing to find something without a commercial, and you've gone through 5 channels, and each one has a commercial blaring, it's just over.


We spend less than $135/month for cable/phone/internet. I'd get rid of the phone and the cable but my DW won't part with them. We also have a DVR. I haven't seen a commercial in 7 years.
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:27 PM   #26
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If you live in an urban area. For rural folks, it'll take a substantial, elevated outdoor antenna. Or, if you're really out in the woods someplace, you'll get no OTA TV at all.
That's me... we grew up on OTA television but there are some high hills between me and the transmitters 30 miles away that block the signal and preclude OTA... so we're stuck with satellite if we want to get our local channels.
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:30 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by John Galt III View Post
+1. The horrible and relentless commercials are what is making me want to dump cable. Paying for TV shows is one thing, but paying for commercials is just too much to bear. You know when you're channel surfing to find something without a commercial, and you've gone through 5 channels, and each one has a commercial blaring, it's just over.
Easy solution... get a DVR.. record the shows you like and scroll through those darn commercials. Best $10/month that I spend is for the DVR... occasionally I miss the first episodes of a new show and have to watch the early episodes with On Demand which forces me to watch the commercials and it drives me bat crazy.
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Old 01-23-2017, 10:02 PM   #28
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Did try various antennas (home built and various purchased ones) til I got one that I get all the major free local stations coming in clearly without having to readjust the antenna.
What antenna did you end up with. I've only tried the indoor non-powered ones and they've only been fair in terms of finding all the local channels. I'm thinking about putting one up in the attic.
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Old 01-24-2017, 06:34 AM   #29
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The below channel is helpful to some cord cutters who can't pick up their local channels OTA. It's not perfect as it doesn't have all local channels. But it does helps pick up some local channels for news.

https://channelstore.roku.com/details/71845/newson
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Old 01-24-2017, 06:42 AM   #30
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The below channel is helpful to some cord cutters who can't pick up their local channels OTA. It's not perfect as it doesn't have all local channels. But it does helps pick up some local channels for news.

https://channelstore.roku.com/details/71845/newson
Interesting idea.. but alas, they do not cover our area. Here is a link that you can look up your local area.

NewsON
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Old 01-24-2017, 06:45 AM   #31
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What antenna did you end up with. I've only tried the indoor non-powered ones and they've only been fair in terms of finding all the local channels. I'm thinking about putting one up in the attic.
I ended up getting an indoor/outdoor, non-powered antenna called the "HD Frequency Cable Cutter Indoor/Outdoor HD Digital TV Antenna". Just looking right now on Amazon, it's sold for about $25 less than when I bought, but the product has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E9G98R2

I have the antenna indoor, mounted on a pole, facing a window.
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Old 01-24-2017, 06:51 AM   #32
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We cut the cable over two years ago, but we haven't replaced it with broadcast TV. We used to get some OK over the air signals, but as more houses were built around us, signal strength went to hell, and we didn't get around to installing an antenna in the attic.

We've been very happy with internet streaming only. There is plenty of content. If I really want to watch some prime time broadcast programming there is always HULU. But we ditched that a long time ago too.

IMO the biggest benefit of streaming is being able to watch what I want when I want (i.e. on demand).

Also, now everything we watch is commercial free.
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:23 AM   #33
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I'm ready too. Just waiting for my two year contract with Directv to expire in May. The landline went last year and I didn't miss it for one second. I watch so little TV these days, and the election bruhaha was so miserable that I don't even watch the news anymore. Can't wait to have the extra $52.00 in my checking account every month!
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:37 AM   #34
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I'm ready too. Just waiting for my two year contract with Directv to expire in May. The landline went last year and I didn't miss it for one second. I watch so little TV these days, and the election bruhaha was so miserable that I don't even watch the news anymore. Can't wait to have the extra $52.00 in my checking account every month!
I wish they had a television news channel that excluded politics. After the last year, enough was enough.

At least on some of our local radio channels, we can still get swap shop at noon. And they give the high school girls' basketball scores from the night before.
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:39 AM   #35
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We have never used a cable/satellite service. With OTA, Amazon Prime, and the many free Roku sites, we have more TV available than we know what to do with. (In fact, we have over 15TB of programming recorded that we'll never in a million years be able to watch.) SageTV is our primary device for watching programs and the sole source of recording (well, in addition to stuff recorded/played on a local computer).


Therefore, SageTV is how we get most of the TV viewing from our computer (HTPC) to the TV. We, also, have a Roku Ultra that comes in second. And for locally produced recordings (including recorded YouTube stuff -- https://www.ytddownloader.com/) I have found PlexTV to be superior to watch video from computer to TV -- https://www.plex.tv/.


Our TV is (of course) a "smart" TV (and, I believe, PLEX is also available there) but since it is connected to an AVR, we never use that programming.
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:42 AM   #36
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I wish they had a television news channel that excluded politics.
Well, good luck with that. You are in a long line of those waiting for such an animal. You can, however, narrow your choices using (for instance) https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:44 AM   #37
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No cable for about 10 years. Used Redbox for movies for awhile. Then got a Netflix subscription back when they mailed out the DVD's to you. Also borrow about a dozen DVD's from the library.

Our area experiences partial losses of OTA TV when the wind is too strong. We just put in a movie, or watch the TV show on the internet the next day. I also live stream a TV news channel not available over the air.

Very little discomfort to save $1,000 a year or so.

BTW, gave up support of local NBA franchise when they moved to cable TV only coverage. Now they wonder why their fan base is shrinking....thank goodness the local NFL games are still free!
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Old 01-24-2017, 08:32 AM   #38
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We spend less than $135/month for cable/phone/internet. I'd get rid of the phone and the cable but my DW won't part with them. We also have a DVR. I haven't seen a commercial in 7 years.
Yeah, I ought to get with the program and rent a dvr, but I can't get myself to pay any more per month. Seems like protection money.
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Old 01-24-2017, 08:38 AM   #39
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OTA tv is only a worthwhile option IF you live in a big city with lots of stations and a clear line of sight to the stations. There are exceptions, but mostly this holds true.
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Old 01-24-2017, 09:22 AM   #40
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OTA tv is only a worthwhile option IF you live in a big city with lots of stations and a clear line of sight to the stations. There are exceptions, but mostly this holds true.
Some people have access to 40+ channels. Only 11 here but all the major networks so I'm fortunate. I'm living in a city with a population of around 40k.
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