The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: eliandjax1 on May 02, 2014, 10:28:13 AM
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My fil is broke and highly in debt however he just paid 200 $ to have his satellite moved on top of his insane bill. I made the comment how we haven't had cable in years and haven't missed it at all and his only response was "what do you do all day then"
Just frustrating to me. End rant.
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My in laws are like this too, although fortunately not struggling financially that I know of. The first thing in the morning TV is turned on and it's the last thing off at night. Drives me batty.
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I was talking with a bunch of fellow co-workers a few weeks ago and the topic turned to the different cable/satellite packages that everyone had. I chimed in eventually that I don't have any type of cable or watch much TV at all. Someone then made the argument that he simply would "miss out on too many things going on the world" and that he views his satellite package as an educational tool for his family as well as a tool to keep them informed citizens.
I was actually speechless, which is rare for me..
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Guess this people never heard of reading, playing tennis, going on a long bike ride, etc. Wow.
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I could easily do without cable for most of the year. Wouldn't miss it a bit. But the four months of fall college football season is my absolute favorite time of the year. The bulk of our entertainment is having friends over to watch our favorite teams. Pretty cheap entertainment really, beats going out to a bar etc. The moment there is a way to see live college games without cable, I'll cut that cord and never look back. Anyone aware of a solution?
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I could easily do without cable for most of the year. Wouldn't miss it a bit. But the four months of fall college football season is my absolute favorite time of the year. The bulk of our entertainment is having friends over to watch our favorite teams. Pretty cheap entertainment really, beats going out to a bar etc. The moment there is a way to see live college games without cable, I'll cut that cord and never look back. Anyone aware of a solution?
Can't go over to their place and let them foot the bill? Added bonus they get to worry about clean up lol
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This will be my first year of college football without cable. I'm an Auburn fan and we had an extremely exciting season last year, so I hemmed and hawed a lot about getting rid of my cable. I plan on playing with my kids instead and then reading about the games with my son and watching the highlights on line. We will see how it goes. I get the major stations via antenna, so I may see Auburn play a few times. Surprisingly, I haven't missed ESPN that much. I was into sports(outside of my kids sports) way more than I probably should have been. I, for the most part, have replaced tv(which for me was always sports), with things I enjoy doing more.
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I could easily do without cable for most of the year. Wouldn't miss it a bit. But the four months of fall college football season is my absolute favorite time of the year. The bulk of our entertainment is having friends over to watch our favorite teams. Pretty cheap entertainment really, beats going out to a bar etc. The moment there is a way to see live college games without cable, I'll cut that cord and never look back. Anyone aware of a solution?
Can't go over to their place and let them foot the bill? Added bonus they get to worry about clean up lol
Unless you are bringing food or something, that's called mooching, cheap, and just wrong. (I realize you are probably partially joking).
We are struggling with the cable thing right now. Right now, I am refraining from watching any TV during the week as much as I can. My wife loves her shows. We are now spending a lot of time apart.
I do love sports, but honestly, I'm not really caring any more that I am missing it.
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8 months of the year I literally don't watch TV. Its not that I have trouble filling my time. I love reading biking, running etc. Its just the college football thing. Its not even something I want to give up. It honestly brings me/friends/family lots of happiness. Its that other 8 months I don't want to pay for.
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8 months of the year I literally don't watch TV. Its not that I have trouble filling my time. I love reading biking, running etc. Its just the college football thing. Its not even something I want to give up. It honestly brings me/friends/family lots of happiness. Its that other 8 months I don't want to pay for.
If its something you truely enjoy then it makes absolute sense especially if you can afford it unlike my fil. Is there a way to upgrade ur package for those 4months and drop it to basic the rest of the year?
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8 months of the year I literally don't watch TV. Its not that I have trouble filling my time. I love reading biking, running etc. Its just the college football thing. Its not even something I want to give up. It honestly brings me/friends/family lots of happiness. Its that other 8 months I don't want to pay for.
If its something you truely enjoy then it makes absolute sense especially if you can afford it unlike my fil. Is there a way to upgrade ur package for those 4months and drop it to basic the rest of the year?
Good suggestion, I'll give it a try
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This will be my first year of college football without cable. I'm an Auburn fan and we had an extremely exciting season last year, so I hemmed and hawed a lot about getting rid of my cable. I plan on playing with my kids instead and then reading about the games with my son and watching the highlights on line. We will see how it goes. I get the major stations via antenna, so I may see Auburn play a few times. Surprisingly, I haven't missed ESPN that much. I was into sports(outside of my kids sports) way more than I probably should have been. I, for the most part, have replaced tv(which for me was always sports), with things I enjoy doing more.
Don't forget about radio. Great way to combine the game plus playing with the kids (or whatever).
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I went through the same thing this past season and am the exact same way. I don't watch much TV at all except during college football season. I could plant myself in front of the TV all day Saturdays during football season. This fall was the first time we've went without cable willingly (we had cut cable before because we couldn't afford it).
**Full Disclosure I'm a Notre Dame fan and they stream their home games online. I'll hook the laptop up to the TV via HDMI and it's just as good**
My Internet subscription comes with free access to ESPN3. You should check to see if yours does as well. If so, you can stream some (not all) games live. Others you can watch live, but the broadcast is in Spanish (lol). They do post replays of all games though, so if you missed a game on the ESPN networks you can catch up. They're posted several hours after the game is finished.
There are other, questionable, sites that you can stream live games on. Be careful where you click on these sites though!
Also if you're looking for a college football fix, you can watch quite a few full, commercial-free games on YouTube. Search "Your Team vs Their Team full game" and you'd be surprised how many you can find, especially from the last 2-3 years.
I didn't miss a game that I wanted to watch this fall.
I don't want to spam so I won't post a link, but I did write an article about How to Cut Cable As a Sports Fan if you want to check it out.
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we're uk based but my partner loves american football. it looks like sky sports would cost £42.50 a month which would be £520 a year. madness! That would give access to other stuff we would watch if it was there but it's not worth that much. We're considering getting an NFL game pass which gives access to all games live online for around £90. hope we could have a free trial to check it streams well. still a hell of a lot of money but a considerable saving nonetheless. we'll see.
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This will be my first year of college football without cable. I'm an Auburn fan and we had an extremely exciting season last year, so I hemmed and hawed a lot about getting rid of my cable. I plan on playing with my kids instead and then reading about the games with my son and watching the highlights on line. We will see how it goes. I get the major stations via antenna, so I may see Auburn play a few times. Surprisingly, I haven't missed ESPN that much. I was into sports(outside of my kids sports) way more than I probably should have been. I, for the most part, have replaced tv(which for me was always sports), with things I enjoy doing more.
UGA fan (and graduate) here. I haven't had cable/satellite for 7 years. At first, I found myself going to sports bars/friends' houses for my weekly fix during football season. Eventually I just started caring less. The big bonus to that was discovering that my mood on the weekends in the fall was no longer directly tied to the irregular performance of a bunch of young adults whom I have never met. It's nice, I highly recommend it.
Don't get me wrong, I will still catch a game if I have the chance, but I don't get so emotionally involved about them and I don't go out of much my way to watch them. I do enjoy the opportunity to hang out with my friends who are big college football fans.
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This will be my first year of college football without cable. I'm an Auburn fan and we had an extremely exciting season last year, so I hemmed and hawed a lot about getting rid of my cable. I plan on playing with my kids instead and then reading about the games with my son and watching the highlights on line. We will see how it goes. I get the major stations via antenna, so I may see Auburn play a few times. Surprisingly, I haven't missed ESPN that much. I was into sports(outside of my kids sports) way more than I probably should have been. I, for the most part, have replaced tv(which for me was always sports), with things I enjoy doing more.
Don't forget about radio. Great way to combine the game plus playing with the kids (or whatever).
+1
With the caveat that it really depends on the announcers. I've always enjoyed baseball on the radio, until I listened to a broadcast for the University of Texas. Their announcers sucked.
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We have cable and I don't apologize for it.
I love sports - my absolute favorite is Minnesota Gopher Hockey which is only on cable.
My DW and I also love watching a number of network shows together and the DVR is perfect for watching on our time table and the controls for watching and zooming past commercials is excellent. Seems like most of our favorites are on CBS so they aren't available on Hulu.
If we couldn't afford it then it would certainly be one of the easiest cuts to make but it's not that expensive when you consider a live sporting event, dinner out or concert would cost as much or more than a month of cable.
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I feel the same way as you do about the cable. I get a lot of bang for my buck!
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Just want to state my position. I agree with all the posters who have and enjoy cable. I choose not to have it which iss my personal preference but do not frown apon anyone who has it with the caveat... IF you can afford it! In my original post I was ranting about my fil who spent 200 $ to move his sattilite dish when lastweek he was so broke we had to buy them toliet paper. In that case he has zero business having pay tv.
Update: even tho I understand people have cable and enjoy it. Huge reason I never enjoyed cable were the unbelievable amount of commercials and I refuse to pay to watch people pitch me crap I don't want. Added bonus mykids dont seem to ask for much lol. Yes I know dvr u can fastforward thru them but I've always been to cheap to pay for that and its a hassle imo.
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Everyone I know who has cable always complains that there's nothing good on TV! It's insane!
(also, FYI, you don't need cable to have a DVR. They work just as well with your basic OTA antenna. Also, you don't even need an actual DVR if you have an old computer that's not in use. You can set that up to be a DVR as well)
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Everyone I know who has cable always complains that there's nothing good on TV! It's insane!
(also, FYI, you don't need cable to have a DVR. They work just as well with your basic OTA antenna. Also, you don't even need an actual DVR if you have an old computer that's not in use. You can set that up to be a DVR as well)
I had same issue when i did have cable. I would lay on couch for hours looking thru 100plus channels looking for something to watch and never actually watch anything.
Funny the only reason I did "cut the cord" was I moved and was to lazy to get cable setup at the new place lol I guess in this case my laziness saved me money?
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I was talking with a bunch of fellow co-workers a few weeks ago and the topic turned to the different cable/satellite packages that everyone had. I chimed in eventually that I don't have any type of cable or watch much TV at all. Someone then made the argument that he simply would "miss out on too many things going on the world" and that he views his satellite package as an educational tool for his family as well as a tool to keep them informed citizens.
I was actually speechless, which is rare for me..
With an internet connection, you can watch for free, full episodes of Frontline, Nature, Nova, and much more on PBS, The Daily Show and the Colbert Report (in HD!) Plus scores of TED Talks. You can stay well informed without cable. But there's no Shark Week. I use Plex and an old computer to stream this stuff to my TV.
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I did not have cable for the last 3 years. Didn't miss it at all. I just added basic cable because Comcast offered to cut my interned bill by a third if i added cable TV. I seriously thought about leaving the cable unplugged but finally hooked it up when i learned they would charge me a $2.50/month "unused equipment fee" if the box was not plugged in. So cable is hooked up. The TV gets turned on once a week or less. There is just nothing there that catches my attention.
I suspect that so many people are dropping cable TV that Comcast is having trouble fulfilling their viewership commitments to the content providers. They are essentially paying $25/month me to have cable TV hooked up.
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No cable here, but if I could just pay for HGTV, ooh...
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No cable here, but if I could just pay for HGTV, ooh...
Seriously. Outside of football season, HGTV is pretty much the only thing I watch. When is a provider going to let you purchase only the channels you want? I would purchase all of four channels: HGTV, Food Network, Comedy Central, and TruTV (don't judge, Impractical Jokers is frigging amazing).
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We went for about 16 years without having it, and never missed it. But then we got into basketball. We watch the game, turn it off, and don't turn it back on until the next game.
It's one of our biggest bills, and makes me feel a bit guilty, but we're not drinkers and have zero booze/bar expenses, so I don't feel bad enough to cancel it during basketball season.
(Depending on how game seven goes tomorrow night, we'll be done with cable until November.)
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Sports!
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Since I'm not big into sports I've never investigated but I'm assuming sports is one area that there are no reasonable replacement for cable?
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Not sure if this is relevant, but in Australia we have the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), modelled on the BBC. We also have the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), also government funded, which caters for our large migrant community, and broadcast news from many nations, in their own languages. In the evenings SBS seems more like the ABC or BBC. Both our state broadcasters buy programs from the BBC, and other European broadcasters, many of which are also state enterprises. Sometimes two European broadcasters will make a joint production. The BBC seems to have an almost bottomless pit of money and talent to make programs, but recovers some of the costs through worldwide sales.
I realise that not all Americans who subscribe to cable would watch the ABC or SBS if they lived in Australia.
Right wing Australian politicians accuse the Australian Broadcasting Commission of left wing bias, and less frequently, left wing politicians accuse the ABC of right wing bias, so the ABC must be getting it right.
I sometimes send an email of appreciation to both the ABC and SBS if they show an excellent program.
Both ABC and SBS offer apps for an Ipad, so if I miss a program I can see it later.
I see that some BBC programs are available on YouTube.
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No cable here; I watch shows online. I jokingly call it "active TV watching," cuz you pick what you want to watch rather than sit through scheduled programs.
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BBC has the best English language TV channels without a doubt. Not that I would pay a lot of money every month to get them…
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I'm working on cutting the cord, and the way I've approached it to my spouse is that we're going to try it over the summer with just the basic channels, the least expensive package DISH Network offers. We'll keep the DVR since that is really the only way we're watching regular programming now - on our own schedule, without commercials. To me, that is well worth the cost each month!
We're both big college basketball fans, especially the ACC, but don't live in ACC country anymore, so we get most of our fix from ESPN, which has good contracts with ACC teams.
So my hope is that we'll do this less expensive (less than half what we were paying) lineup until December... maybe even January, when conference play begins. We can upgrade (or downgrade) our DISH package every 30 days without penalty (and it's only a $5 fee if you do it more often than that), so to me there's not much risk in trying it out. Maybe we only keep it through the end of the NCAA Tourney, or approx. four months of the year.
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Other folks have expressed similar sentiment, but live sports for me is always the most challenging part of not having cable. The only times I've ever slightly been tempted to sign up to some cable package is because of sports.
I read someone's hypothesis, can't find the link, that basically the only reason the cable industry still exists is because of live sports. That once all of your sports are available, ala MLB.com or a similiar platform, that the cable companies will basically crumble. Not sure if that's true, but seems plausible.
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Other folks have expressed similar sentiment, but live sports for me is always the most challenging part of not having cable. The only times I've ever slightly been tempted to sign up to some cable package is because of sports.
I read someone's hypothesis, can't find the link, that basically the only reason the cable industry still exists is because of live sports. That once all of your sports are available, ala MLB.com or a similiar platform, that the cable companies will basically crumble. Not sure if that's true, but seems plausible.
they'll still have staying power. High-speed internet being the biggest one. It won't be as huge of a money maker for them, but that's why they are also doing the bundling. They are making things "easy" and able to make tons off it. Perception for the masses is all that matter.
I wish the MLB/NFL/NHL would come down in price and remove those f'ing blackout policies. So flipping stupid.
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We live in my mother in laws home, while she lives in a different city for work. We've asked/begged her to cancel her $180/mo cable, but she won't do it! We don't use it on principle and because I don't want my toddler watching all those ads, although we do watch netflix a LOT. But she has it on 24/7 on cnn when she's at home, always with those 24 hour cycle scary news stories. I can't stand to be in the house when it's on. And it's always so LOUD!!
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Since I'm not big into sports I've never investigated but I'm assuming sports is one area that there are no reasonable replacement for cable?
If you're really into sports and want to follow a specific team, then you're probably going to have cable. If you like sports in general, you can get by with rabbit ears. Pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday the over the air networks are cluttered up with sports. That's the only thing that tempts me about Cable is that I'd actually be able to find something to watch on TV on the weekends (I hate sports).
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Yeah, I was shocked that we had to get cable to watch our (local) team. It's been worth it to us, because a date night is hanging out on the sofa, talking and watching basketball, but it is way more than we'd like to pay. Once this playoff season is over for our team, we'll have the cable shut off until November.
If you had told me 15 years ago that there would be a time that I would prioritize cable in some way that so I could watch sports, I would have thought that you were drunk.
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It isn't attached exactly...but in my case, I get a decent value for what I pay. I have the minimum cable package with HBO free for a year plus internet and a landline. In order to break up the cable package to internet/landline anyway (cell phone service at our house is spotty and we need a reliable landline connection for my DH's business calls) we have to pay almost what it costs for the whole package.
I know TV gets a big frowny face around here as being a waste of time, and it is as much as anything else purely recreational, but IMO, TV is in a new golden age, and as long as you are judicious about what you watch, and what you watch is commercial free to eliminate temptation, there are some really good shows out there.
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We went for about 16 years without having it, and never missed it. But then we got into basketball. We watch the game, turn it off, and don't turn it back on until the next game.
It's one of our biggest bills, and makes me feel a bit guilty, but we're not drinkers and have zero booze/bar expenses, so I don't feel bad enough to cancel it during basketball season.
(Depending on how game seven goes tomorrow night, we'll be done with cable until November.)
Might be cheaper to purchase the NBA League Pass if that's all you're watching.
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I was talking with a bunch of fellow co-workers a few weeks ago and the topic turned to the different cable/satellite packages that everyone had. I chimed in eventually that I don't have any type of cable or watch much TV at all. Someone then made the argument that he simply would "miss out on too many things going on the world" and that he views his satellite package as an educational tool for his family as well as a tool to keep them informed citizens.
I was actually speechless, which is rare for me..
that is so bizarre. I listen to NPR every morning so I feel pretty clued in about world events... in grad school I watched way less TV than I do now (now we have a Roku) but students could get free copies of the NYT so I read that every day. that was probably the best informed I have ever been.
what a weirdo.
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We cut the cord about 6 months ago. I do not miss it at all. I can find all the shows I want to watch online. Whether it is on the networks website, or netflix, or Hulu. My oldest DD will watch random Monster High videos on Youtube. My youngest would watch Netflix all day if I let her, and I used to. Now I am giving her a limit each day. She has 45 mins left as of now and then the TV will get turned off.
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I cut the cord in January and college football was my main hesitation. Now, I enjoy NOT having cable so much that I look forward to making it work during football season. I only really care about my team anyway so I just have to get resourceful the 8 or so times that they're not on network TV.
I don't expect this to be too tough because I tend to get together with friends to watch the games anyway and as a fall back we have directv up here at work so...
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they'll still have staying power. High-speed internet being the biggest one. It won't be as huge of a money maker for them, but that's why they are also doing the bundling. They are making things "easy" and able to make tons off it. Perception for the masses is all that matter.
Yep. Comcast, in my experience, is kicking and screaming to try to avoid being dragged into the post-cable-TV era. When I renegotiated my rate last year, I was told that an Internet + basic cable "bundle" was $5 cheaper than the same speed Internet by itself (in retrospect, I bet I could have gotten a cheaper Internet-only plan anyway). This year when I insisted on getting the Internet-only package (that was advertised to me in a mail flyer) the various customer service people kept trying to pretend that the plan I wanted didn't exist, tried to upsell me on bundles (over and over again) and flat-out ignored me when I insisted in very explicit terms "DO NOT TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT SERVICES OTHER THAN INTERNET."
Those fuckers will be first up against the wall when Google Fiber comes!
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why does everyone still use sports as an excuse when you can pay to subscribe to an online streaming service like espn uuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.
I'm 27 and I've NEVER had cable. Been downloading/streaming TV since I was 18, before it was mainstream. Only the shows I want, no commercials.
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I was talking with a bunch of fellow co-workers a few weeks ago and the topic turned to the different cable/satellite packages that everyone had. I chimed in eventually that I don't have any type of cable or watch much TV at all. Someone then made the argument that he simply would "miss out on too many things going on the world" and that he views his satellite package as an educational tool for his family as well as a tool to keep them informed citizens.
I was actually speechless, which is rare for me..
that is so bizarre. I listen to NPR every morning so I feel pretty clued in about world events... in grad school I watched way less TV than I do now (now we have a Roku) but students could get free copies of the NYT so I read that every day. that was probably the best informed I have ever been.
what a weirdo.
Yeah- he also was flabbergasted that I had an older phone. Basically implied that I wasn't doing my job to the best of my abilities because my I didn't have the most up to date smartphone. When we're all sitting in front of our computers all day, not sure why that matters, but whatever.
He's an asshole.
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why does everyone still use sports as an excuse when you can pay to subscribe to an online streaming service like espn uuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.
I'm 27 and I've NEVER had cable. Been downloading/streaming TV since I was 18, before it was mainstream. Only the shows I want, no commercials.
This seems to vary for me. For some reason, sometimes I can, for instance, stream a college basketball game no problem, but then other times they want me to log in through my cable provider, which I don't have, and am therefore unable to watch. Not sure what the difference might be.
Having my favorite baseball team in-market is also a drag. I can't pay MLB $20 bucks a month to watch my favorite team, I have to subscribe to some bullshit cable package. So, radio it is.
But, yes- for the most part I agree- most things you can now watch on-line.
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why does everyone still use sports as an excuse when you can pay to subscribe to an online streaming service like espn uuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.
I'm 27 and I've NEVER had cable. Been downloading/streaming TV since I was 18, before it was mainstream. Only the shows I want, no commercials.
As far as I'm aware, you need a cable package in order to subscribe to Watch ESPN, their streaming app. ESPN provides some free streams, but not many and unless you're an overall sports fan, unlikely to include your favorite team. For me, NFL, MLB, or any other professional league's subscription service is useless. I'm a college football fan. Until NCAA has a streaming service, I'm out of luck if I cut the cord and don't want to stream on some sketchy website (except for the 1 or 2 games a year "my" team has a game on a broadcast network).
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I am successfully watching my in market mlb games with the $129.99 mlb.tv subscription, a roku, and a $5 per month sub to unblock-us.com to trick my router location settings. Just followed the instructions on unblock-us website.
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I am successfully watching my in market mlb games with the $129.99 mlb.tv subscription, a roku, and a $5 per month sub to unblock-us.com to trick my router location settings. Just followed the instructions on unblock-us website.
Ahh, interesting. Thanks for the tip.
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There are other, questionable, sites that you can stream live games on. Be careful where you click on these sites though!
If you are going to do this please do it in Richmond, then you can look me up when you need to hire someone to clean the viruses out of your computer.
There is no such thing as free TV or movies that don't go through a legitimate distribution network. You will get more than you bargained for.
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I am successfully watching my in market mlb games with the $129.99 mlb.tv subscription, a roku, and a $5 per month sub to unblock-us.com to trick my router location settings. Just followed the instructions on unblock-us website.
When you start combining the prices of the sports packages (mlb.tv, nhl Game Center, and especially adding the NFL package) you are already up to more than cable anyway. (again, that is factoring what the cable package actually costs you, not the total). You may get a bit of a break because you don't have the devices which can save a bit, but still. And then there's adding on Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, or various other services.
Need to be very careful.
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When the bf and I got a place together he already knew I wasn't going to go for cable. For christmas we were gifted a chromecast and now youtube and netflix substitute nicely. I do miss the cooking and travel channels.
The only time I really want cable is to watch ice skating in the winter olympics, sadly work was crazy the week I was able still watch it on my roommates dime, the week after I was moved with no cable.
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There are other, questionable, sites that you can stream live games on. Be careful where you click on these sites though!
If you are going to do this please do it in Richmond, then you can look me up when you need to hire someone to clean the viruses out of your computer.
There is no such thing as free TV or movies that don't go through a legitimate distribution network. You will get more than you bargained for.
Eh, that's what sandboxed VMs are for.
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CTH6twchIvs/S4U-yggfSZI/AAAAAAAABxs/MmDinrVCWA0/s400/television-0808-lg-70431065%5B1%5D.jpg)
This is my cable subscription. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My cable is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My cable subscription, without my money, is useless. Without my cable subscription, I am useless. I must click my remote true. I must surf the channels faster than my wife who is trying to kill me by changing to HGTV. I must find the sports channel before she wins. I will...
My cable and I know that what counts in this war is not the total number of channels we have, the noise of our surround system, nor the clarity of our display. We know that it is watching the hit shows that counts. We will watch...
My cable is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its times and its schedule. I will keep my television clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...
Before God, I swear this creed. My cable subscription and I are the defenders of my couch. We are the masters of the superbowl. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no spare time, but only programming!
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No cable here, but if I could just pay for HGTV, ooh...
I registered this account to let you know this; The old large satellite dishes have this option. They have options for al la carte and you can buy things much more individually than a blanket purchase like the big providers. It would probably be pretty easy to find someone who doesn't use their big dish anymore and take the equipment off their hands!
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CTH6twchIvs/S4U-yggfSZI/AAAAAAAABxs/MmDinrVCWA0/s400/television-0808-lg-70431065%5B1%5D.jpg)
This is my cable subscription. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My cable is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My cable subscription, without my money, is useless. Without my cable subscription, I am useless. I must click my remote true. I must surf the channels faster than my wife who is trying to kill me by changing to HGTV. I must find the sports channel before she wins. I will...
My cable and I know that what counts in this war is not the total number of channels we have, the noise of our surround system, nor the clarity of our display. We know that it is watching the hit shows that counts. We will watch...
My cable is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its times and its schedule. I will keep my television clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...
Before God, I swear this creed. My cable subscription and I are the defenders of my couch. We are the masters of the superbowl. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no spare time, but only programming!
Sweet Jesus that was hilarious!
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why does everyone still use sports as an excuse when you can pay to subscribe to an online streaming service like espn uuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.
I'm 27 and I've NEVER had cable. Been downloading/streaming TV since I was 18, before it was mainstream. Only the shows I want, no commercials.
Because you can't pay to subscribe to WatchESPN. Watch ESPN is for paying cable customers only.
Having streamed TV for so long you should understand why people don't do it. I've streamed for over 10 years myself and know why people don't.
The simple answer is it isn't easy, at least compared to cable TV. Lots of people stream Netflix, but that is about it. You get beyond that or Hulu Plus/Amazon Prime and people either don't know that it exists, it is too expensive, or can only be obtained illegally.
Most sports programs cost $5-10 per "show", which is way too much especially if you watch a lot of them. For example, the MotoGP online subscription costs $35/month. NHL online costs $19/month. At that point, I might as well pay for cable TV and watch both along with lots of other content. Plus, sports have blackout rules. Some online services you end up getting blacked out while the cable company still gets to show the local game.
So, I'm a big fan of building a simple HTPC and watching lots of free content online, but most people can't be bothered to do it.
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When the bf and I got a place together he already knew I wasn't going to go for cable. For christmas we were gifted a chromecast and now youtube and netflix substitute nicely. I do miss the cooking and travel channels.
The only time I really want cable is to watch ice skating in the winter olympics, sadly work was crazy the week I was able still watch it on my roommates dime, the week after I was moved with no cable.
I don't get it. I wanted to watch something OTHER than ice skating in the winter Olympics, but it seemed like the network broadcast was all ice skating, all the time :) do you have an OTA antenna?
No cable here, but if I could just pay for HGTV, ooh...
I registered this account to let you know this; The old large satellite dishes have this option. They have options for al la carte and you can buy things much more individually than a blanket purchase like the big providers. It would probably be pretty easy to find someone who doesn't use their big dish anymore and take the equipment off their hands!
I think there was a recent conversation about this, where someone said you might be able to watch stuff on their website...?
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we're uk based but my partner loves american football. it looks like sky sports would cost £42.50 a month which would be £520 a year. madness! That would give access to other stuff we would watch if it was there but it's not worth that much. We're considering getting an NFL game pass which gives access to all games live online for around £90. hope we could have a free trial to check it streams well. still a hell of a lot of money but a considerable saving nonetheless. we'll see.
Im in China and I share a gamepass with a few people. I dont watch the games live, but rather a day or two later, at night, without commercials. So a football game is only 2 hours, or less if there is a lot of running. The people can't watch it at the same time, but we had a schedule, one person monday afternoon, another monday night, another tuesday night. It can be VERY cheap this way.
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CTH6twchIvs/S4U-yggfSZI/AAAAAAAABxs/MmDinrVCWA0/s400/television-0808-lg-70431065%5B1%5D.jpg)
This is my cable subscription. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My cable is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My cable subscription, without my money, is useless. Without my cable subscription, I am useless. I must click my remote true. I must surf the channels faster than my wife who is trying to kill me by changing to HGTV. I must find the sports channel before she wins. I will...
My cable and I know that what counts in this war is not the total number of channels we have, the noise of our surround system, nor the clarity of our display. We know that it is watching the hit shows that counts. We will watch...
My cable is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its times and its schedule. I will keep my television clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...
Before God, I swear this creed. My cable subscription and I are the defenders of my couch. We are the masters of the superbowl. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no spare time, but only programming!
I about spit out my coffee lol
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I don't have an OTA antenna. My inability to watch was partially just crashing after work as well.
When the bf and I got a place together he already knew I wasn't going to go for cable. For christmas we were gifted a chromecast and now youtube and netflix substitute nicely. I do miss the cooking and travel channels.
The only time I really want cable is to watch ice skating in the winter olympics, sadly work was crazy the week I was able still watch it on my roommates dime, the week after I was moved with no cable.
I don't get it. I wanted to watch something OTHER than ice skating in the winter Olympics, but it seemed like the network broadcast was all ice skating, all the time :) do you have an OTA antenna?
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I was called by my internet (and cable) company yesterday. It started with reasonable questions about my internet service, then it switched to:
Telemarkert (T) : What kind of TV shows do you watch?
Me (M) : I don't watch TV.
T - What movies do you watch?
M - I don't watch movies.
T - What sort of video game systems do you have
M - none
T - How many TV sets do you have
M - none
T - Do you currently have cable (not kidding, this was asked after I said I didn't have a TV)
M - no, I don't have a TV
... went on for a bit longer
T - We have such and such package with xyz channels. It's normally $150, but for now its $130, and since you're such a loyal customer (I've had internet through them for about 2 weeks), we'll give you a deal at $98/month.
M - I'm not interested in cable.
T - In that case what about this package that has abc channels
M - click ... hang up.
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CTH6twchIvs/S4U-yggfSZI/AAAAAAAABxs/MmDinrVCWA0/s400/television-0808-lg-70431065%5B1%5D.jpg)
This is my cable subscription. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My cable is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My cable subscription, without my money, is useless. Without my cable subscription, I am useless. I must click my remote true. I must surf the channels faster than my wife who is trying to kill me by changing to HGTV. I must find the sports channel before she wins. I will...
My cable and I know that what counts in this war is not the total number of channels we have, the noise of our surround system, nor the clarity of our display. We know that it is watching the hit shows that counts. We will watch...
My cable is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its times and its schedule. I will keep my television clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...
Before God, I swear this creed. My cable subscription and I are the defenders of my couch. We are the masters of the superbowl. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no spare time, but only programming!
I about spit out my coffee lol
+1
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TV is like an anaesthetic. It numbs you temporarily after work. I think people love cable because it's a way of escaping from the pain of everyday life. Sit down and zone out.
But yes, there are better ways to live. Better than being a TV zombie. Friends, hobbies, exercise, family....
:) I like a little TV in moderation. Been watching Cosmos online and it's really great.
Cable prices are nuts though. We cut the cord about 5 years ago.
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About a year ago, the cable from the OTA antenna on my roof broke, I never bothered to fix it but the Eurovison song contest is being televised this weekend, so I actually want to be able to watch tv again ( love me some Eurovison) so Friday afternoon I got home from work, put a pair of pliers in my pocket and climbed up on to the roof to see if I could splice the cable back together. Tragedy! It was so perished that more of it broke off in my hand and there was just not enough left to be able to make the ends meet.
The solution? A wire coat hanger plugged into the coax cable plugged into the tv. Goes like a bought one.
I'm not sure if it would work in the US, but here in Australia it's a common sight, wire coat hangers can pick up a lot of signals.
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I'm not sure if it would work in the US, but here in Australia it's a common sight, wire coat hangers can pick up a lot of signals.
Back in the analog days it was common here, but it doesn't work well with digital. When the digital switchover happened, the power output for the local stations was drastically cut too. Digital doesn't degrade nicely either, it cuts out suddenly. So, post switchover it's more important than ever to have a big antenna up high and coat hangars no longer are enough.
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I'm not sure if it would work in the US, but here in Australia it's a common sight, wire coat hangers can pick up a lot of signals.
Back in the analog days it was common here, but it doesn't work well with digital. When the digital switchover happened, the power output for the local stations was drastically cut too. Digital doesn't degrade nicely either, it cuts out suddenly. So, post switchover it's more important than ever to have a big antenna up high and coat hangars no longer are enough.
We're on digital here too, where I am analogue was cut off in the middle of last year. I'm unsure of whether it is a different type of digital here compared to the US though. I don't think there is a roof antenna in the house I'm living in. I just have a $20 rabbit ear antenna it picks up digital channels just fine (although there are occassions that it doesn't always work that well).
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Yep. Comcast, in my experience, is kicking and screaming to try to avoid being dragged into the post-cable-TV era. When I renegotiated my rate last year, I was told that an Internet + basic cable "bundle" was $5 cheaper than the same speed Internet by itself (in retrospect, I bet I could have gotten a cheaper Internet-only plan anyway). This year when I insisted on getting the Internet-only package (that was advertised to me in a mail flyer) the various customer service people kept trying to pretend that the plan I wanted didn't exist, tried to upsell me on bundles (over and over again) and flat-out ignored me when I insisted in very explicit terms "DO NOT TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT SERVICES OTHER THAN INTERNET."
Only reason we have cable is comcast won't sell just internet for less than internet plus cable.
Same here. I had internet only but Comcast offered me internet+basic cable for 33% less. Hard to resist that savings.
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This will be my first year of college football without cable. I'm an Auburn fan and we had an extremely exciting season last year, so I hemmed and hawed a lot about getting rid of my cable. I plan on playing with my kids instead and then reading about the games with my son and watching the highlights on line. We will see how it goes. I get the major stations via antenna, so I may see Auburn play a few times. Surprisingly, I haven't missed ESPN that much. I was into sports(outside of my kids sports) way more than I probably should have been. I, for the most part, have replaced tv(which for me was always sports), with things I enjoy doing more.
Huge college football fan here too (VT Hokies). When I decided to cancel cable, the tipping point for me was how annoying ESPN has become. I'll just go to a bar or my friends' house to watch the VT games during football season, without having to pay for an entire year's worth of ESPN's increasingly-irritating drivel.
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Its easy for me because I don't watch a lot of TV and most of the shows I do watch are on over the air channels. My antenna and TiVo provide me with more tv than I have time to watch. The TiVo wasn't exactly cheap but it cost a lot less than cable and my ongoing costs are zero.
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We got rid of cable 2 1/2 years ago because we weren't watching much TV anyway. I'm not a sports guy. And I don't want to fund Comcast/NBCUniversal, ABC, CBS, Fox, Time Warner, Hearst Media, Al Jazeera, et. al.
We pay for Hulu Plus and Netflix, and we under-utilize both. But $16/mo is a lot cheaper than the $90/mo we used to pay.
TV sucks the juice out of your brain.
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I cut cable 8 years ago when my roommate moved out and took cable with them. The cable company wanted to charge me a $100 reconnection fee to have the cable back in my name. I said no.
We had an analog antenna since then until last year and now we have a digital antenna. But I would say I rarely watch tv.
I was on vacation last week and the hotel room had satellite. Couldn't find anything to watch except for some investigative reporting channel... and then had nightmares about it. Sigh.
I don't miss the cable but I can see that with the sports it's a good social activity.
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Every time one of these threads comes up I check my spreadsheet. Assuming cable hasn't gone up in price (I'm sure it has) I've saved $2650 since April of 2010 when I cancelled cable. That calculation is a little funky as the internet and phone costs used to be bundled and they've been all over the place cost wise but It's a reasonable estimate in my mind.
My favorite part about dumping cable was the year they gave it to me for free and gave me a $100 prepaid visa for taking it. Never turned it on once as we already had OTA and a week before we'd get billed for it we cancelled penalty free. Now every time they call I remind them that they paid me to take it once and I won't accept anything less then a lower current bill or cash up front and the bill staying identical.