Why Would Someone Need Cable TV Service?

[Z3Dreamer]

I agree with those who want simplicity. I pay extra for convenience with many things and I can afford cable. I have a competing feeling which is that I truly dislike upselling and constantly raising prices or finding some new fee. Recently, I had cable for football/March Madness. The TV fee was only $29.99, but the Local Broadcast Surcharge was $22.00! This surcharge has risen faster than a rocket ship.

Also, DW says I always need a project to obsess about. Setting up antennae, an OTA DVR and finding cheap streaming appears to be one of my obsessions.

 

[target2019]

OK, I don't NEED cable. Someone/I, whatever. Pedants gonna pedant.

I want to get rid of cable and I would like to do all my TV viewing using my Roku via streaming services.

The ONLY thing I watch on cable that I can't get elsewhere is baseball games involving the Minnesota Twins. I can watch all other baseball games involving any other team via my paid subscription to MLB.TV but the local team is blacked out.

However, as I understand it, if my wife wanted to watch TV shows on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, PBS, or Bravo, AMC, INSP, etc. and we don't have cable she can't watch them via a streaming service because any streaming app for these networks is going to ask her to enter her username and credentials from our TV service. In our case that TV service would be Xfinity cable. Other people might get these channels using Hulu Live, YouTube TV, Sling, etc. I don't want to buy Hulu Live, YouTube TV, or Sling.

My point is I don't want to pay for any TV service provider, i.e. one that provides an aggregate number of channels.

Now, I could get the local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS stations with an over-the-air antenna. That means commercials and no easy way of recording content to skip those commercials.

You have solid reasons to keep cable.

We were never a total cable package family. Now in old age I enjoy adding different services back in. Roku + Netflix + Prime kept us happy for quite awhile. Basically, we downgraded cable and replaced the 1000 channels with Roku.

There are some interesting streaming subscriptions that certain people love, but of course you can live without them.

 

[folivier]

Just spent the week dog sitting at my DS's house. Didn't take me long to log into my accounts to not see advertisements.

 

[street]

Interesting topic and a timely one for us. I have been trying to get Dish Network to come and install TV for us in town. Our provider we have had for years is done in Dec. of this year. We have setup an account and did all they have required for service, but they never show up to install the dish etc. Lol

We started in February, and they make the appointment when they can come on a day and or afternoon or morning date. We are on our 5th appointment, and no one shows up to install the equipment.

We have spent ~8 hours on the phone with Dish people and no one knows what to do how to fix the problem and none of them have been on the same page for information.

It is like working with a company in a third world country. It has been an unbelievable experience but being very rural we have really no other choice but to have them provide service. We get internet but provider doesn't have an unlimited internet package so the cost of streaming etc. is extremely high price.

If it were just me, I would just get an antenna and I could get two stations to see a little news.

They have setup another appt. for next Thursday so we will see if we get snubbed again (be number 6 time). Very frustrating thing to go through.

 

[Midpack]

I pay for cable for one reason: I try to keep my life as simple as possible. I need cable for my internet connection anyway and my town does not allow any other cable providers, just Comcast.

I don’t want to deal with jumping around with different apps or various remotes. I have tons of easy to use features: record, back up, pause, local news and sports as well as watch remotely on my phone when away from home.

I just want to pick up my remote, press one button and watch TV.

Hulu+Live, YouTube TV and a couple others will do ALL those things for far less than $250/month. They’re simpler than cable or satellite IME, no tech service needed. If it was more difficult, my DW would never have agreed to drop cable, over 5 years ago. She adjusted within 2-3 days, and she’d never go back. But we all make our BTD choices…

 

[JoeWras]

OP answered OP's own question in the OP.

1) Local sports
2) Local DVR recordings and upgraded user experience, including full screen fast forward, better control of pause, direct channel number entry, etc.

After that, it doesn't matter. I resisted going to streaming for a long time because I had lousy streaming devices that were slow. My Roku rocks, so I got over that. I had to adjust to the cloud, and that means no full screen FF fast forward and other goodies. I'm over it.

I have a Tablo and love it. I recently sliced my internet cable (literally) and we were down for 36 hours. I loved watching stuff I recorded on Tablo from my antenna.

One option I have not seen mentioned here is DirectTV Stream. This is a streaming option that is much like Hulu+Live or YTTV. But, it has local/regional sports. I have used it in the past for playoff runs by teams I follow. It is a lot like cable, including the price unfortunately, but you can turn it on and off easily. That's why I have used it from time to time.

This year, I'll probably turn on YTTV for a month or two to watch my team's NHL playoff run since all the playoff games will be on national networks, not regionals, starting this week.

 

[marko]

Hulu+Live, YouTube TV and a couple others will do ALL those things for far less than $250/month. They’re simpler than cable or satellite IME, no tech service needed. But we all make our BTD choices…

Yes, I know. We had Hulu on our boat via the marina wifi. Maybe someday when the second Great Depression hits I'll rethink it. BTD until then!

Side note: between getting rid of the boat and DW entering Medicare next month we're saving close to $40k a year (pre-tax) in boat storage/maintenance and healthcare insurance. Saving another few bucks on cable TV is pretty much off my radar.

 

[eytonxav]

DW is hooked on several History Channel shows that are not available without cable. Plus the user interface is something we are used to and that makes it difficult to drop cable.

 

[Midpack]

For the more sports minded, Fubo TV may be a better choice than Hulu+Live or YouTube TV. Another cable replacement drop in with all the same features as cable/satellite.

 

[JoeWras]

For the more sports minded, Fubo TV may be a better choice than Hulu+Live or YouTube TV. Another cable replacement drop in with all the same features as cable/satellite.

Good point, Midpack. Well worth considering.

BTW, years ago I sparred with Midpack over this issue. I was mad about the user experience of streaming. Midpack, being a good evangelist, wore me down and one day I saw the light and now preach the same story has him.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

None, but we do not watch any sports that are not on local tv channels.

 

[target2019]

The media giants have many plans for those of us who have out-witted them.

 

[athena53]

I gave up cable 6+ years ago and switched to Google Fiber plus Netflix. My late husband wanted the cable for sports programming and I have zero interest in that. I'm not thrilled with recent noises by Netflix about "cracking down" on password sharing since they used to tout it as a perk and I share mine with DS and DDIL, but if it gets to that point they're happy with dropping it rather than my paying extra to keep them on.

I've gotten spoiled by commercial-free TV and I'm not going back. I do miss some of the shows on Lifetime and HGTV but I watch them when I'm donating plasma or platelets or I'm in a hotel for the night.

Sure beats the old days when I was married to my Ex, who insisted on a gold-plated cable package that cost us about $200/month- 25 years ago.

 

[Car-Guy]

We keep satellite (DTV) since it has almost everything we want through one provider. They are great "except" for their high price, their extraordinarily poor customer service, frequent weather related outages, occasional loss of channels due to contract disputes and extremely long system reboot times. Did I mention poor customer services.

We'd switch to some (a few) of the streaming services if our Internet connection was a little more reliable.

 

[Midpack]

Good point, Midpack. Well worth considering.

BTW, years ago I sparred with Midpack over this issue. I was mad about the user experience of streaming. Midpack, being a good evangelist, wore me down and one day I saw the light and now preach the same story has him.

I’ve been proven wrong here many times over the years. As my Dad used to say “too soon old, too late smart.” Cheers

As for conversion to streaming, I only push back because we’ve saved $ thousands and streaming has not diminished our TV experience at all. If anything it’s more convenient, no rented equipment or service calls. It took me about two years, and an untimely Dish price increase to finally get DW to even try it. She was shocked at how similar the experience was to cable/satellite, was used to it in 2-3 days, and she’d never go back.

 

[GenXguy]

I should change my name here to "Outlier".

Fifty years ago, I swore that I would never pay to watch TV, yet $250 a month, here I am.

I pay for cable for one reason: I try to keep my life as simple as possible. I need cable for my internet connection anyway and my town does not allow any other cable providers, just Comcast.

I can't imagine paying even half that much. Comcast is our only cable provider, but I cut the cable many years back and am able to get Comcast internet only for $52/mo by using my own cable modem. It's 75Mbs. I use an antenna for the major broadcast networks and a home theater PC/DVR, no subscriptions for that or any streaming, and I still get Peacock Premium for free at this point. When it stops being free in June, I won't pay for it. There's too much free stuff to watch, and I've weaned myself off of watching most sports - highly recommended.

Someone mentioned that prices will continue to go up. Duh. Of course, with skyrocketing inflation, prices have been going up on almost everything at a fast clip.

 

[JoeWras]

As for conversion to streaming, I only push back because we’ve saved $ thousands and streaming has not diminished our TV experience at all. If anything it’s more convenient, no equipment or service calls.

It may have enhanced it. I mean, watching some good shows I heard about, but couldn't watch like Breaking Bad is just one of many. Currently I'm enjoying Rabbit/Hole on Paramount+.

I converted in 2020 after suffering sticker shock in 2019 with rises. Here's what we spent on TV over the recent years:
- 2018: $1090
- 2019: $1330
- 2020: $1080
- 2021: $1160
- 2022: $ 580
- 2023: $ 600 (estimated, currently $180 for FY 23)

It is important to note I'm being very fair here. I have included all the costs I incurred, which include buying various streaming devices, a TV antenna, a Tablo device and a lifetime subscription to the Tablo guide, etc.

Therefore, my 2020 and 2021 show some one time expenses. Despite those expenses, I still was saving a little during the equipment investment years of 2020 and 2021. And now with those out of the way, it will soon be over a thousand saved.

I have yet to miss important sports that I like. I just turn them on and off. I have also paid for Hulu (ABC), Peacock (NBC), Paramount(CBS). Even though we record via Tablo, these are helpful in case the recording has glitches.

I'm not feeling deprived. I turn Netflix on an off. Currently it is off since their content quality went down. When I want to watch a Netflix buzz movie, I just watch it while giving platelets -- something I'll probably do for Black Mirror coming up.

 

[OldShooter]

We don't need it. It has probably been a year or more since our TV has been turned on.

 

[jim584672]

I get 90 OTA channels I don't want to watch. The library has most movies and TV series on DVDs. Can't see the value in paying for TV service.

 

[jjbychko]

No Cable for Me

No need for cable with all the free stuff. YouTube is my goto. Pluto TV, Tubi, and Crackle also offer lots of free content. Also don't agree with Government subsidy for free cable. Same with cell phone service. These types of handouts are disgraceful. Ok to subsidize needs not wants.

 

[jim584672]

No need for cable with all the free stuff. YouTube is my goto. Pluto TV, Tubi, and Crackle also offer lots of free content. Also don't agree with Government subsidy for free cable. Same with cell phone service. These types of handouts are disgraceful. Ok to subsidize needs not wants.

How do I get this free cable? Never heard of such a thing. If I qualify for something I'm taking it.

 

[jim584672]

I didn’t read it but https://www.fcc.gov/acp

I already get that, but it isn't free cable.

 

[pacergal]

I should change my name here to "Outlier".

Fifty years ago, I swore that I would never pay to watch TV, yet $250 a month, here I am.

I pay for cable for one reason: I try to keep my life as simple as possible. I need cable for my internet connection anyway and my town does not allow any other cable providers, just Comcast.

I don’t want to deal with jumping around with different apps or various remotes. I have tons of easy to use features: record, back up, pause, local news and sports as well as watch remotely on my phone when away from home.

Maybe this is one of my many BTDs, but this is simple: I just want to pick up my remote, press one button and watch TV. At this point, it's like the electric bill...I don't like to pay for it but life would be difficult not to have it.

Like driving around to find the cheapest gas or paying parking meters, I'm at a point in my life where saving a few bucks is just not worth going out of my way.

+1 for me, too.

 

[COcheesehead]

We dropped it almost three years ago.
We pay $1.99 a month for Hulu - all the movies and tv programs we want.
YouTube - my favorite service which is also free, videos on everything
NFL+ $10 a month for four months in season. All the games. My only sport of preference
An antenna for all the local channels

One remote runs them all. Switching apps is as easy as changing the channels.

 

[MichaelB]

<mod note> This is an interesting discussion, so let’s keep it going and please stick to the thread topic