Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[Chuckanut]

Don't you have to pay a monthly fee for your Tivo devices?

I have two Tivo Roamio OTA DVRs. One I paid $300 for brand new including lifetime guide service ($100 for the unit and $200 for the service). The other was reconditioned and I paid $200 for it including lifetime service. Both units were being made obsolete when I bought them and do not support things like 4K, etc. They are also slower compared to the new Bolt unit. But, they work reliably. Recorded OTA HD programs look great.

Monthly guide service at that time was $15 a month, after about 14 months the lifetime subscription is all gravy.

A good DVR, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and sometimes a DVD's from the library provide more content than I can possibly keep up with.

 

[wmc1000]

Sony PlayStation Vue will be charging Chicago customers 9% amusement tax. This new tax also targets services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Music, and more.

Currently Sony is the only one to accept this and not fight it.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/chicagos-9-entertainment-tax-now-includes-playstation-vue/


Another way for the government sector to raise income.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Cutting the cord (one month in)

What we had and what we paid:
1. Comcast cable - “Digital Start + Digital Preferred” with 220 channels for $130/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo

What we have now and pay:
1. Hulu with Live TV - basic (no add ons) with 50+ channels for $40/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo
4. Two (2) new Apple TV boxes at $5/mo/each. Amortized over 3 years.

What we gave up:
1. Two local PBS channels - I know I can solve this with an OTA, but the wife’s aesthetic objection to the “unsightly” indoor antenna might be a problem. I was able to put a Mohu Leaf antenna in our basement and now we get one of the two PBS channels. We do have RMPBS Passport because of our annual donation.
2. DIY and Cooking
3. BBC America
4. TLC
5. A whole bunch of channels we don’t care about. Home Shopping Network, anyone?

How much we save each month:
1. $80/mo

What is different about our viewing habits:
1. We seem to be watching a greater variety of programming. More fiction, less “house/food porn” from Discovery.

P.S. And, we lost the electrical vampire known as the cable box.

What and who do you pay for Internet (assuming your Comcast amount was just for the TV services)?

We still have Comcast with a pretty good imo just-renegotiated two-year deal (one DVR box, 140 channels, “blast Internet” for <$100), and a Sony BluRay streaming box for our big TV. We have a smaller TV w/o cable and just got a Roku box for it. We have Netflix and Amazon Prime (which includes Prime Music and we have Acorn at $4.99 through Prime—we can easily add HBO etc to Prime). So when we cut cable we would just add Hulu or something to get local channels as our OTA antenna with our small TV can’t get CBS. Plus we’d need a DVR. We should have this cutting cable thing in the next two years but I don’t know that we would be saving $80 a month—that’s great!

 

[bobandsherry]

Cutting the cord (one month in)

What we had and what we paid:
1. Comcast cable - “Digital Start + Digital Preferred” with 220 channels for $130/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo

What we have now and pay:
1. Hulu with Live TV - basic (no add ons) with 50+ channels for $40/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo
4. Two (2) new Apple TV boxes at $5/mo/each. Amortized over 3 years.

What we gave up:
1. Two local PBS channels - I know I can solve this with an OTA, but the wife’s aesthetic objection to the “unsightly” indoor antenna might be a problem. I was able to put a Mohu Leaf antenna in our basement and now we get one of the two PBS channels. We do have RMPBS Passport because of our annual donation.
2. DIY and Cooking
3. BBC America
4. TLC
5. A whole bunch of channels we don’t care about. Home Shopping Network, anyone?

How much we save each month:
1. $80/mo

What is different about our viewing habits:
1. We seem to be watching a greater variety of programming. More fiction, less “house/food porn” from Discovery.

P.S. And, we lost the electrical vampire known as the cable box.

What you pay now is more than I pay for my cable with Spectrum. Some ungodly # of channels - everything they offer but the "premium" such as HBO and Sports, $69/mo. And I get free Netflix (thanks TMobile). I also have access to Amazon Prime Video as Amazon Prime customer. I'm using Tivo with Mini's in other rooms (purchased 5+ years ago, so well past being considered as amortized expense). So seems cord cutting wouldn't be advantageous for me and I don't give up anything.

 

[davebarnes]

What you pay now is more than I pay for my cable with Spectrum. Some ungodly # of channels - everything they offer but the "premium" such as HBO and Sports, $69/mo. And I get free Netflix (thanks TMobile). I also have access to Amazon Prime Video as Amazon Prime customer. I'm using Tivo with Mini's in other rooms (purchased 5+ years ago, so well past being considered as amortized expense). So seems cord cutting wouldn't be advantageous for me and I don't give up anything.

1. Spectrum - "Sorry, Charter Services are not Available."
2. Netflix - We pay because our T-Mobile plan is $60/mo for 2 lines.
3. Prime Video - I did not mention it as everyone is an Amazon Prime customer.
4. Tivo - We are not DVR people. But, we really like how Apple TV + Hulu Live caches a few shows for us. We can now watch Chris Matthews head explode at any time, not just at 1700.

 

[bUU]

Another way for the government sector to raise income.

Rather, more a matter of leveling the playing field, and restoring a tax revenue stream disrupted by technical changes running faster than public policy can keep up with. Twelve objections were raised about the tax, and those that weren't ludicrous on the surface still sought to exploit edge cases in order to nullify the legitimacy of the base case - the epitome of exploitation. It is one thing to oppose taxes entirely - naive perhaps, but still an internally-consistent perspective. But it isn't reasonable to oppose taxes on one way of consuming something while not opposing those taxes on all ways of consuming that thing, especially when what is being consumed is so-much-so essentially the same thing that those consuming it consider it a suitable alternative. Cord-cutters need to keep in mind that their advantage is explicitly an early-adopter advantage. There is nothing about streaming that makes is better for society than broadcasting - quite the opposite as it encumbers shared resources much more heavily. So the benefits of cord-cutting are, by their very nature, to be expected to be short-lived. Get in early and enjoy them while they last, but expect that eventually industry and public policy will catch up and the advantage will be gone.

 

[Midpack]

Here's a very thorough explanation of why PBS is not on any of the live streaming services like Sling, Direct TV Now, Playstation Vue, etc. It's a complicated mix of programming rights, technological limitations, and donation considerations.

PBS and stations working on first ‘skinny bundle’ OTT agreement

The good news is that PBS is trying to resolve these issues by end of this year. They very much want to be available on these fast-growing platforms. Unfortunately, in the beginning, it might not be the actual local member station feed, but some combination of the National PBS feed supplemented with local and syndicated programming as the streaming rights are obtained. Apparently the streaming services don't even want the local feeds, just the national programming. But without actual local feeds, member stations are concerned that donations will dry up.

I already get the national stuff via the PBS app and my Passport subscription. It's the local and syndicated programming that I want, plus NewsHour at 6pm. I'll be very happy when this gets done.

Good news thanks. We’re using Passport to get PBS too.

I’ve noticed PBS Newshour appears on YouTube every day even before it comes on live at 6pm where we live. They upload the full episode along with each story separately. I end up watching on YouTube more often than Passport these days. FWIW

 

[audreyh1]

What we gave up:
1. Two local PBS channels - I know I can solve this with an OTA, but the wife’s aesthetic objection to the “unsightly” indoor antenna might be a problem. I was able to put a Mohu Leaf antenna in our basement and now we get one of the two PBS channels. We do have RMPBS Passport because of our annual donation.
2. DIY and Cooking
3. BBC America
4. TLC
5. A whole bunch of channels we don’t care about. Home Shopping Network, anyone?

How much we save each month:
1. $80/mo

What is different about our viewing habits:
1. We seem to be watching a greater variety of programming. More fiction, less “house/food porn” from Discovery.

P.S. And, we lost the electrical vampire known as the cable box.

On PBS - their app works very well on AppleTV. Since you have the passport, you should have access to a lot of shows. And local programming too once you log in and select your local station.

I signed in with a central Texas station I preferred and support them so I have passport access and it works very well.

 

[audreyh1]

I already get the national stuff via the PBS app and my Passport subscription. It's the local and syndicated programming that I want, plus NewsHour at 6pm. I'll be very happy when this gets done.

I see numerous local shows available for the PBS channel I have selected available via the PBS app and my passport subscription.

 

[flintnational]

.........Cord-cutters need to keep in mind that their advantage is explicitly an early-adopter advantage. There is nothing about streaming that makes is better for society than broadcasting - quite the opposite as it encumbers shared resources much more heavily. So the benefits of cord-cutting are, by their very nature, to be expected to be short-lived. Get in early and enjoy them while they last, but expect that eventually industry and public policy will catch up and the advantage will be gone.

I agree that tax policy will ultimately be neutral from one delivery system to the other. However, streaming technology brought much more competition to the market. Many cable companies were monopolies or duopolies. Streaming has brought almost unlimited competition to anyone with an internet connection. Additionally, the streaming companies, Amazon, Netflix and others are also producing their own content, directly competing with traditional cable channels. IMO, while the tax advantage will likely go away, the increased competition (and its pricing pressure and increased choice) will likely continue and may even accelerate when 5G is added to the mix. At that point, there will be significantly more competition for the internet connection delivering the streaming source. These factors will likely continue to keep pressure on pricing .

 

[zinger1457]

What you pay now is more than I pay for my cable with Spectrum. Some ungodly # of channels - everything they offer but the "premium" such as HBO and Sports, $69/mo. And I get free Netflix (thanks TMobile). I also have access to Amazon Prime Video as Amazon Prime customer. I'm using Tivo with Mini's in other rooms (purchased 5+ years ago, so well past being considered as amortized expense). So seems cord cutting wouldn't be advantageous for me and I don't give up anything.

Yea, some of the numbers that I see posted here that people are basing their savings on are way higher than I ever paid for a comparable package. I currently have DirectTV Xtra package (235 channels, DVR, NFL Season Ticket) and paying $60/month. When my promotion price ends in a few months I'll call up and renegotiate or switch to DISH or cable if I have to. Been doing it for +20 years, the switch over is painless. Paying full price is like paying MSRP for a new car.

 

[aja8888]

Clipped from Dave's post above.

To me, a cost to deliver the content is missing? Who do you have internet with and what is that cost?

What we have now and pay:
1. Hulu with Live TV - basic (no add ons) with 50+ channels for $40/mo
2. HBO Now - current HBO channels for $15/mo
3. Netflix - $11/mo
4. Two (2) new Apple TV boxes at $5/mo/each. Amortized over 3 years.

Thanks!

 

[audreyh1]

Clipped from Dave's post above.

To me, a cost to deliver the content is missing? Who do you have internet with and what is that cost?



Thanks!

A lot of folks would have internet anyway. So unless they moved up to a higher bandwidth to accommodate streaming, there is no additional cost for the internet part of the streaming.

 

[aja8888]

A lot of folks would have internet anyway. So unless they moved up to a higher bandwidth to accommodate streaming, there is no additional cost for the internet part of the streaming.

I was looking for the total with internet fees.

Around here, we pay $89/month for Comcast internet alone. Our total package here with "premium content" and our Netflix adder is $204/month, all in. That includes renting their modem, one DVR, two other boxes, three TV connections, and a worthless VOIP phone line.

What I am seeing, in general, is that replacing cable content with paid streaming services seems to add up to about what you can get a "package" from the cable guys. Seems like a lot of work for not much savings and more complication (remotes, different inputs, separate contracts, etc).

 

[bobandsherry]

A lot of folks would have internet anyway. So unless they moved up to a higher bandwidth to accommodate streaming, there is no additional cost for the internet part of the streaming.

More internet providers will start to enforce data caps and charge for overages. My son moved to being a cord cutter (Comcast) and has found past two months he's almost exceeded his data cap. More TV's, kids getting older and higher resolution video along with new streaming game appears to have more than doubled his usage. Going to get worse. It can get expensive when data cap is exceeded.

 

[audreyh1]

I was looking for the total with internet fees.

Around here, we pay $89/month for Comcast internet alone. Our total package here with "premium content" and our Netflix adder is $204/month, all in. That includes renting their modem, one DVR, two other boxes, three TV connections, and a worthless VOIP phone line.

What I am seeing, in general, is that replacing cable content with paid streaming services seems to add up to about what you can get a "package" from the cable guys. Seems like a lot of work for not much savings and more complication (remotes, different inputs, separate contracts, etc).

That really depends. We don't have any boxes besides our AppleTVs which we own outright and bought years ago - no DVRs, no cable boxes. We pay $73 including taxes for our 10mbps connection, which is the best available in our neighborhood and actually pretty expensive. Other than that - it's $15 for Netflix 4K, Amazon Prime video which we would pay for anyway, $5 a month for our PBS donation which gives us Passport Access.

So for us it's $93 a month, or $103 if you want to add in the full price of Amazon Prime.

We were paying over $150 a month for cable and much slower internet years ago, and no Netflix or Amazon Prime Video and no PBS membership or streaming. Back then Amazon Prime didn't include video - but we were already paying around $6.50 a month for the shipping.

 

[aja8888]

That really depends. We don't have any boxes besides our AppleTVs which we own outright and bought years ago - no DVRs, no cable boxes. We pay $73 including taxes for our 10mbps connection, which is the best available in our neighborhood and actually pretty expensive. Other than that - it's $15 for Netflix 4K, Amazon Prime video which we would pay for anyway, $5 a month for our PBS donation which gives us Passport Access.

So for us it's $93 a month, or $103 if you want to add in the full price of Amazon Prime.

We were paying over $150 for cable and much slower internet years ago, and no Netflix or Amazon Prime Video and no PBS membership or streaming. Back then Amazon Prime didn't include video - but we were already paying around $6.50 a month for the shipping.

How many TV's?

If we went to one (which would be my preference), we could reduce the bill to $175 or so.

This stuff is pretty complicated and the equipment need is dependent on the personal wants of the consumer. It's hard to compare this stuff with all the variables and differences.

As an example:

My DD has Comcast basic cable (~20 channels), no DVR, two TV's, not so fast internet speed, Sling and Netflix and pays about $125. month. But that's all and her DH want to watch (which is plenty)

 

[wrigley]

Yea, some of the numbers that I see posted here that people are basing their savings on are way higher than I ever paid for a comparable package. I currently have DirectTV Xtra package (235 channels, DVR, NFL Season Ticket) and paying $60/month. When my promotion price ends in a few months I'll call up and renegotiate or switch to DISH or cable if I have to. Been doing it for +20 years, the switch over is painless. Paying full price is like paying MSRP for a new car.

REALLY? I have the same package, no DVR, no NFL season ticket, (but I do have 3 receivers) and I am paying $150.00 a month and I've been with them for nearly 10 years. I have called many times in the past and they lowered my bill. I just got off the phone with them yesterday and the guy I spoke with......get this...…..told me "if I go with a package that has less channels, he would be able to lower my bill." I was getting ready to ask him if he was employee of the month.

Dish's current 2 year deal for their package that has less than you and I have now is more than the $60 a month you are currently paying. After 2 years it goes up. We have experimented with a few of the streaming services but little things like channel menus, previous channel, and local channel reception are missing. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before everything we watch on TV will be streamed and eventually just as expensive as what we are paying now for satellite.

Mike

 

[mpeirce]

However, streaming technology brought much more competition to the market. Many cable companies were monopolies or duopolies.

I think this is key.

In this case, the internet allows vastly increased competition. There are many channel aggregators like Direct TV Now, Playstation Vue, etc. as well as many options for direct purchase of a "channel" like CBS All Access.

This lets companies experiment with different delivery approaches without having to deal with the cable company monopolies.

It's fun to watch, so to speak.

 

[zinger1457]

REALLY? I have the same package, no DVR, no NFL season ticket, (but I do have 3 receivers) and I am paying $150.00 a month and I've been with them for nearly 10 years. I have called many times in the past and they lowered my bill. I just got off the phone with them yesterday and the guy I spoke with......get this...…..told me "if I go with a package that has less channels, he would be able to lower my bill." I was getting ready to ask him if he was employee of the month.

Have to be willing to switch if they aren't willing to reduce the price. I did receive a recent mailing from DISH for a 24 month price lock and $300 gift card. The monthly price was a little more than I'm paying now but works out to close to the same if you factor in the gift card. Cable company is offering some decent discounts but a little more than the satellite offers. Will likely take the DISH offer (if still available) when my current DirecTV promo is up unless they are willing to extend it.

 

[pb4uski]

On the subject of local channels available via streaming, I ran across this:

Local channels on DirecTV Now, Fubo TV, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV and YouTube TV compared [by CNET]


The information says "As of August 17, 2018"

Scroll down for markets smaller than the top 50.

One thing that I recently found out about these streaming packages with "local" channels.... the local channels are the local channels for your IP address... where you are watching from... not necessarily your "home" locals.

So for example, let's say I sign up with one of these streaming services that includes locals while I am home in Vermont... when streaming from Vermont I get the Vermont locals... but when I am wintering in Sarasota and using the same streaming service, the locals would be Tampa local affiliates.

So I can't use the streaming service to watch my home area news or more importantly, New England Patriots football games playing on home CBS affiliate.

 

[tomc5179]

Just a quick update on the streaming service Philo;

Within the past week or so, they have added all three Hallmark channels for no extra cost. Happy Wife, happy life! As long as you don't need sports, I think Philo is pretty hard to beat. $16 / mo. Add Pluto channel for free and an OTA antenna and you have most of your bases covered. I'm real happy with it.

I forgot - They also added a channel guide recently as well.

 

[pb4uski]

....Dish's current 2 year deal for their package that has less than you and I have now is more than the $60 a month you are currently paying. After 2 years it goes up. We have experimented with a few of the streaming services but little things like channel menus, previous channel, and local channel reception are missing. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before everything we watch on TV will be streamed and eventually just as expensive as what we are paying now for satellite.

Mike

We are long-time users of Dish at home since we are in a spot with no OTA availability because of a large mountain right behind our house between us and the major station transmitters that blocks our OTA signals.

Dish has a "skinny" programming package that meets our minimal needs that is called Welcome Pack for $20/month... it isn't on their website and you have to call to get it. In our case, our programming is $20 and our equipment cost is $40 because we have 4 tvs and therefore 4 boxes (a Hopper, two Joey's and a SuperJoey).

 

[Cobra9777]

...I’ve noticed PBS Newshour appears on YouTube every day even before it comes on live at 6pm where we live. They upload the full episode along with each story separately. I end up watching on YouTube more often than Passport these days. FWIW

That's interesting. I'll definitely check that out. Thanks.

 

[bloom2708]

I was looking for the total with internet fees.

Around here, we pay $89/month for Comcast internet alone. Our total package here with "premium content" and our Netflix adder is $204/month, all in. That includes renting their modem, one DVR, two other boxes, three TV connections, and a worthless VOIP phone line.

What I am seeing, in general, is that replacing cable content with paid streaming services seems to add up to about what you can get a "package" from the cable guys. Seems like a lot of work for not much savings and more complication (remotes, different inputs, separate contracts, etc).

Is there no internet competition in your area?

In our smaller market we have 2 cable companies competing. The 100mb speed package is $55 to $60 (with no incentives). I'd rather pay $50, but this is within reason. It is fast and both offer no bandwidth limits at all. Competition.

$60 internet
$50 (Playstation Vue)
$13 Netflix
$10 Amazon Prime (split out per month)

Say your total is $160, that is $45 less per month. That is enough savings to make a difference over 2 to 3 years.

You do have a one time purchase of your device of choice. We have Amazon Fire TV or Sticks on each TV.

That is the hidden benefit. No more cables running all over. No more cable boxes generating heat and sucking electricity. No dishes on roofs, no signal outages when raining hard or snowing.

The Fire TV boxes are simple and fast. TVs are mobile now, they don't have to be by the cable jack. It also opens up for watching on your phone, tablet or laptop. Any device, any location sort of setup.

I think you get some decent cost savings and a much more simple ecosystem. Lots of things to consider.