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My Time is Yours
Picture of davetruong
posted
I think I'm pretty late to the game but thinking of cutting the cord to cable. Currently I'm grandfathered into all the premium channels, 2 DVRs, wifi and phone (though we don't use) and pay about $300 a month.

I'd like to get local and the same channels, DVRs but feel like I can get the same for much less.


God, Family, Country.

 
Posts: 6005 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: October 09, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ignored facts
still exist
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do you know if you are close enough to the local TV towers to get the signals over the air?


----------------------
Let's Go Brandon!
 
Posts: 10861 | Location: 45 miles from the Pacific Ocean | Registered: February 28, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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Local channels can be had for free with an over the air digital antenna (costs ~$20).

Something like Sling TV, Youtube TV, or another streaming TV channel service will likely get you all the rest of the channels for a lot less than $300. It's basically "cable TV" through the internet. But do you really need 100+ channels again?

If not, you can just go ala cart with some of your favorite TV channels, picking and choosing to subscribe to a handful of channels you want individually. Most of the larger players have their own standalone subscriptions. So you could do something like just ESPN, HBO, AMC, and Showtime, or whatever. That'll be significantly cheaper, since each separate subscription is only around $8-$15.

Supplement with one or more of the big name streaming-only providers like Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime Video for even more stuff. The available content is so vast that just 2-4 streaming subscriptions/channels gets you more than you could ever watch. (I have Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and ESPN, and am never at a loss for something to watch.)

Plus you can drop subscriptions and subscribe to others on a rotation to access even more content without any extra overall fees. For example, subscribe to HBO for a month or two, then when you've exhausted their current content cancel it and get a Cinemax subscription for a month or so, then drop it and get Hulu for 3 months, then drop that and get Netflix for a few months, then fire HBO back up because the new seasons of XYZ is now available, etc.
 
Posts: 32429 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Slayer of Agapanthus


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I quit tv about seven years ago. IIRC, there is enough broadcast to get along okay. Now I listen to the classical music radio. A vast improvement over the reverse toilet.

If you have a tv with Bluetooth then you can use the phone/computer to access YT for content. Thats a LOT of stuff.


"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
 
Posts: 5952 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: September 14, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
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Local channels via digital antenna. Some online subs have them but you start defeating the purpose of cutting the cord.

As to DVRs, we never found a convenient solution.

Hulu has a lot of current TV. Peacock has some free TV. Then you have Prime, Netflix, Disney+ and some of the packaged services like Sling.

We have our cable, internet and one DVR locked in at $99 for a year or two. If not, we would be internet only for about $70. Perhaps call to see if they can get you into a low price agreement for 12 months or more? If not, so many options are available.

Since Rona, we've barely turned the cable box on.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Back, and
to the left
Picture of 83v45magna
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I haven't had cable since 2009 and the few times I've had access to it somewhere else, I was pretty disgusted with the offerings. I noticed there is now a 'revolt' channel. WTF?

We do antenna in the attic to a couple of DVR's in addition to a couple of ROKU boxes. The cable I saw at Holiday Inn two weeks ago made me miss home. What a wasteland.

Years ago, I realized the only real reason to keep cable was sports and news. Both are now unmitigated sh*t. That plus streaming video makes it super painless to cut the cord. So many options.



I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. -Ecclesiastes 9:11
 
Posts: 7232 | Location: Dallas | Registered: August 04, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Joie de vivre
Picture of sig229-SAS
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A great move, OTA with a good antenna is the answered as posted above. You can even get a DVR for OTA programs, it works really well. With wife you have options such as Amazon Prime video or other services for other channels.

And the best part? You save a TON of money!
 
Posts: 3848 | Location: 1,960' up in Murphy, NC | Registered: January 29, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
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quote:
Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Local channels via digital antenna. Some online subs have them but you start defeating the purpose of cutting the cord.

As to DVRs, we never found a convenient solution.

There are several OTA TV DVR solutions. Two of them are discussed in Streaming TV Component Review.

We've been using our solution for two years, now. Still loving it.

IIRC, I calculated our break-even on the initial investment over paying a minimum monthly cable bill at roughly two years. That would be about now.

Cord-cutting keeps accelerating. It will be interesting to see how the broadcast networks deal with it.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
always with a hat or sunscreen
Picture of bald1
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Dave,
Even out here in flyover country with sparse population, we get a reasonable number of free OTA broadcast stations. And as far as streaming goes, our RokuTV only has free channels. Smile
We use a Winegard outdoor yagi as well as an indoor ClearStream 2Max antennae for our OTA reception.

Zero, I say again ZERO monthly costs!

TV Stations https://www.rabbitears.info

KOTA-TV RAPID CITY, SD
03-1 7.3 ABC-HD ABC "KOTA Territory"
03-2 7.5 Circle Circle
03-3 7.6 Justice True Crime Network
KEVN-TV RAPID CITY, SD
07-1 7.4 FOX-HD FOX "Black Hills Fox" (KEVN-LD 07-1)
KBHE-TV RAPID CITY, SD
09-1 26.3 SDPB-1 PBS "SDPB"
09-2 26.4 SDBP-2 World Channel
09-3 26.5 SDPB-3 Create
09-4 26.6 SDPB-4 PBS Kids 24/7
09-5 26.7 SDPB-5 Audio "SDPB Radio"
09-6 26.8 SDPB-6 Audio "SDPB Classical"
KCLO-TV RAPID CITY, SD
15-1 16.3 KCLO CBS "KELOLAND Television"
15-2 16.5 KCLO-CW CW+ "Black Hills CW"
15-3 16.4 ION ION
15-4 16.6 Escape Court TV Mystery
KNBN RAPID CITY, SD
21-1 21.1 KNBNNBC NBC "News Center 1"
21-2 21.2 KNBN-MyTV My-TV
KHME RAPID CITY, SD
23-1 2.1 KHME-DT Me-TV
23-2 2.2 KHMEDT2 Heroes & Icons
KRPC-LP RAPID CITY, SD
33-1 33.2 HRTLND Heartland
33-2 33.4 RTV Retro TV
33-3 33.6 REVN Rev'n
33-4 33.8 ACTION Action Channel
33-5 33.10 FAMILY The Family Channel

Free streaming channels we have on our Roku TVs include:
tubi
YouTube
plutoTV
Roku Channel
Filmrise
Favesome
xumo
Plex
popcormflix
FreebieTV
Dust
CW Seed
The CW
NewsOn
America's Voice
Newsmax
Free Movies Now!
Strirr
Movies Plus
Tune In
soma fm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,



Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club!
USN (RET), COTEP #192
 
Posts: 16146 | Location: Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: June 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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There is no such thing as a HD antenna. There are antennas made to receive a specific frequency or range of frequencies.

For local broadcasts check out tvfool or antennaweb. They will tell you what is available and guide you to the correct scale antenna.

Note you need an antenna for the broadcast frequency ( UHF or VHF) which can be different than the TV channel.

on YouTube search for "antenna man" he has a lot of no nonsense video's on tv antenna's.
 
Posts: 921 | Registered: June 16, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
eh-TEE-oh-clez
Picture of Aeteocles
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$300 a month? Jeebus man, you are throwing away so much money for no tangible benefit.

Ditch it all.

Buy an Over-the-Air antenna. Get something roof mounted for a couple hundred bucks and have the OTA signal delivered to each of your TVSs via the coax cables already used to deliver your cable-television signal. 1 months of cable savings will pay for this.

Replace the cable with a Netflix subscription and an Amazon Prime subscription. You already likely have an Amazon Prime subscription, so you can substitute in a Disney Plus subscription.

Allot yourself $10 a month to rent movies on demand from Amazon Video, iTunes, Redbox, whatever.

You should be out the door with $30-40 a month of subscription services, and $70ish bucks a month for high speed internet. Your net savings is $200 bucks a month, and countless hours saved scrolling uselessly through channels and shows you don't want to watch.

Also, since you have kids of reading age, buy some Kindles and get a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Encourage reading over television.

There is no benefit to cable and an DVR. None. Every show that can be found on cable can be had using an on-demand service. Want to watch the Walking Dead on AMC? Download the AMC app and cast the video to your screen for free. Want to watch real housewives? Bravo has an app. Game of Thrones? Pay for the HBO subscription, binge the show in 3 months, and then turn off the subscription.

There's really no reason to be paying for 300+ channels for 365 days of the year when you physically can only consume a couple of hours of television a day. Pay for what you need, when you need it, and watch on demand.

I cancelled cable like 15 years ago. In that time, I have never "needed" live television. I keep an OTA antenna on one of my TVs in case there's some dire emergency and the only way to get news updates is through television. That day has never come. So far, news delivered by internet/phone is so much more reliable: if there's something going on, the internet provides me with specific coverage without all the filler nonsense that you get from watching a live stream. Also, live stream for every news channels is available on the web.

I don't watch much sports, but every sporting event has a live stream on the internet that can be played on your Television with really little overhead in terms of equipment costs. Most times a Chromecast, or a newish TV with smart applications built in is all you need.
 
Posts: 13046 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of mcrimm
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I left Dish for YouTube TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime. I can’t get locals over the air due to distances but can with YouTube TV. All comes through an Apple TV 4K to my LG OLED and 7.1.2 surround.



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
 
Posts: 4214 | Location: Saddlebrooke, Arizona | Registered: December 24, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
eh-TEE-oh-clez
Picture of Aeteocles
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Side note: all of the best content now appears via a streaming service. You pretty much need Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Disney+ in order to get all of the latest blockbuster shows and movies. That stuff doesn't appear on network television anymore. Netflix, Disney and Amazon are following HBO's model and are throwing huge sums of money on producing exclusive high quality content.
 
Posts: 13046 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
$300 a month? Jeebus man, you are throwing away so much money for no tangible benefit.


It took me years to convince my (now ex-) wife that this was the case. We were paying $300 per month to the cable company for internet and TV, and she refused for several years to drop it, even though she rarely watched actual TV other than local networks (available OTA), and I watched Netflix 99.9% of the time.

She finally relented, and our cable bill went down to just $60 for internet.

Nearly $240 wasted per month on cable TV we weren't using. Almost $3k per year.
 
Posts: 32429 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
eh-TEE-oh-clez
Picture of Aeteocles
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
$300 a month? Jeebus man, you are throwing away so much money for no tangible benefit.


It took me years to convince my (now ex-) wife that this was the case. We were paying $300 per month to the cable company for internet and TV, and she refused for several years to drop it, even though she rarely watched actual TV other than local networks (available OTA), and I watched Netflix 99.9% of the time.

She finally relented, and our cable bill went down to just $60 for internet.

Nearly $240 wasted per month on cable TV we weren't using. Almost $3k per year.



I'm not even sure how we as a society even let cable subscriptions get so expensive. $300 a month is more than I pay to insure three vehicles or my home. It's more than I pay monthly for power or for five cell phone plans. $300 is 3 or 4 good visits to the sports bar a month to watch the fight or the game.
 
Posts: 13046 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
always with a hat or sunscreen
Picture of bald1
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Side note: all of the best content now appears via a streaming service. You pretty much need Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Disney+ in order to get all of the latest blockbuster shows and movies. That stuff doesn't appear on network television anymore. Netflix, Disney and Amazon are following HBO's model and are throwing huge sums of money on producing exclusive high quality content.


I strongly disagree about "needing" these pay streaming services. Given the generally lousy content coming out of SJW infested Hollyweird, I feel no compulsion to see what they tout as the "latest and greatest." I can easily wait for stuff to show up on free channels and then only watch what passes my smell test.
An example of what I consider worthy of waiting to watch is Yellowstone. The series' first two seasons is now available free. Big Grin



Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club!
USN (RET), COTEP #192
 
Posts: 16146 | Location: Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: June 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I'm not even sure how we as a society even let cable subscriptions get so expensive.


I completely agree. I currently pay less than $40 for my paid streaming options (not counting Amazon Prime since the video is just one part of a larger package of benefits you're paying for). And I have more content than I could ever watch, especially once you factor in additional free streaming services like PBS, Youtube, etc.
 
Posts: 32429 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
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You may also find sharing to be beneficial. We have some upgraded streaming subscriptions that let us have many streams at once which means the parents get to use. They only watch a show here and there on a device we bought for them to use.

I've known some close family to share one cable provided email which lets them access an individual channel app. I think it still works that way. Like a kid away at college wanting to watch a zombie show can log into the zombie channel app and watch on the computer.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
eh-TEE-oh-clez
Picture of Aeteocles
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by bald1:
quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Side note: all of the best content now appears via a streaming service. You pretty much need Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Disney+ in order to get all of the latest blockbuster shows and movies. That stuff doesn't appear on network television anymore. Netflix, Disney and Amazon are following HBO's model and are throwing huge sums of money on producing exclusive high quality content.


I strongly disagree about "needing" these pay streaming services. Given the generally lousy content coming out of SJW infested Hollyweird, I feel no compulsion to see what they tout as the "latest and greatest." I can easily wait for stuff to show up on free channels and then only watch what passes my smell test.
An example of what I consider worthy of waiting to watch is Yellowstone. The series' first two seasons is now available free. Big Grin


I understand your point that much of what is coming out of "Hollywood" these days can be objectionable to you. In that regard, watching TV isn't "necessary."

What I mean though is that if you want to watch "Stranger Things," a Netflix original production, then you will need to subscribe to Netflix. It will never be "free" for you to watch on network television in the foreseeable future under Netflix's current business strategy. Netflix paid to have the show made to attract subscribers to its service. They would not give it to NBC, ABC, CBS, or any other cable network for their use.

The same is true with Amazon. Amazon is creating content exclusive for its subscribers. Movies like "Extraction" with Chris Hemsworth, or the Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" show are exclusively on Amazon.

This trend is continuing. More and more, the highest quality content will be put out by Amazon and Netflix. They simply have the money and data analytics to make better content.

If that content doesn't speak to you, then sure, there's no need to subscribe to anything. But if you want actual content to watch rather than waiting for what dribbles down to free television, then you'll want to pony up for Netflix and Amazon.
 
Posts: 13046 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
blame canada
Picture of AKSuperDually
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Living where I live without an Amazon Prime account, is difficult. Possible, but more expensive and dangerous. Travel hundreds of miles to a larger city to get basic goods not otherwise available closer, is dangerous in different ways at different times of the year. Everything has a risk. Orders from amazon are certainly not without risk, or compromise. The benefit of streaming services is icing on the risk analysis cake. The cost of giving money to a company that supports foreign hostile governments and terrorists abroad and locally...is not a small trade-off. So far, we still pay our prime membership and utilize their services. I "own" (using that term lightly) more digital movies and shows than I'd care to admit through Amazon. The second I no longer use their apps on my devices, I'll no longer own that content. Lately, I've been slowly acquiring movies and other shows I find myself wanting to preserve and access forever, on bluray and 4k discs. The day when internet is more expensive and less available may soon be coming for Alaska. The day when I'm no longer willing to compromise safety and other freedoms to be connected to a grid near a city, may come soon.

Netflix, Hulu, Disney, and other paid streaming services (VetTV, Warrior Poet Network) come and go depending on how ticked off I get with their politics. Hulu is gone for our family, probably forever. We never found much on that network that we wanted to watch anyway. It was easy to cut that one off. Disney...is slightly more of a struggle, because there are good shows and old movies. I prepaid for premium membership when it was first announced. Until the membership is up for renewal, I'll table that decision. Disney politics can be difficult to support also, but not as bad as amazon, Netflix, & hulu.

The one thing we've not regretted was letting our expensive satellite service go. We liked some of the discovery and history channel shows...but it wasn't enough to keep us.

We've tried various types and styles of antennas to pickup over the air broadcasts, all with complete failure. It simply isn't an option where we live. I can't get a single one of the repeater towers with any of the cheap to expensive antennas we've tried.

I find that I spend most of my time on prime (paid or otherwise), followed by youtube, and the occasional netflix series. We typically add HBO for November through January, which is plenty of time to catch up on movies that don't make it to prime, and any HBO series we may wish to watch. We enjoy the 'Outlander' series, so we subscribe to Starz typically after December through March. I like that with prime, I can pickup a channel like that for a couple of months and then drop it. Al-La Cart style television channels. We're too busy April-November typically for anything more than background noise television after the kids go to bed. So suspending and canceling services for those 7-8 months works well for us.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Arguing with some people is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn't matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon will just take a shit on the board, strut around knocking over all the pieces and act like it won.. and in some cases it will insult you at the same time." DevlDogs55, 2014 Big Grin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.rikrlandvs.com
 
Posts: 13939 | Location: On the mouth of the great Kenai River | Registered: June 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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