Cable?

[chicklets123]

Do you still have cable in 2021?


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[NotJen]

Nope.  I got rid of it about 10 years ago?  Maybe 11.  It was ridiculously expensive for almost no value.  I use a small indoor antenna to get local OTA stations, pay for commercial-free Hulu, and get access to Netflix when I'm watching TV with my BF.

[Metalcat]

Uh, no.

Why, do you?

[DaMa]

Nope.  I dropped cable in 2014.  I have a digital antenna for broadcast and Amazon Prime.  I subscribe to other streaming services as desired on a month by month basis.  Sometimes, I only have them for the free trial period.  I cycle through them as the series I like come on -- Hulu for Handmaid's Tale, Starz for Outlander, HBO for Game of Thrones, Netflix for The Crown, CBS All Access, Showtime, and Disney+.  I binge watch the shows and movies available, and when I'm done, I cancel.  Then I activate the next one I want.  I did a trial of Sling many years ago, but didn't care for it.

I have used Amazon Prime Channels to manage the extra services -- making for easy on and off.  I am dropping Prime at the end of my current year, so have been signing up directly for the last several months (on their websites).  It's very easy, and I put a reminder on my phone for when I need to cancel.

One more thing...I have had two Amazon Firesticks for streaming.  I have used a Roku at a couple of family members homes and find I prefer it.  I will be switching when my Firestick dies.

[WSUCoug1994]

No, we switched to YouTubeTV a couple of years ago and we love it.  It is super-flexible in terms of where and how you watch it.  I am a sports guy and I need my tv service - we don't really subscribe to anything else other than Disney+ (4 year old and 2 year old).  We deliver all content over Amazon Fire Stick.

[Boll weevil]

Yes.

Haven’t had good luck getting the local channels via antenna and really haven’t studied if the other options will support my viewing habits.

I’m way behind the times: I also still use a flip phone.

[Alternatepriorities]

I haven't even owned a TV since 2007.

[FINate]

We cut the cable way back in 2001. Crazy to think about the amount of time and money we've saved over the years. Although we do have a TV and a Netflix sub, we watch very little. It helps that I'm not into sportsball. Life is too short and too interesting to waste it in front of a TV.

[American GenX]

I haven't had cable for 8 years.   I put up an antenna then and continued using my home theater PC / DVR that I built 17 years ago (although upgraded a couple times over the years.)

And that was basic cable that was around $13/mo.  And I had switched to basic from an expanded line-up years earlier.

And unlike most people, I'm not subscribed to any streaming services that I have to pay for.  I do have a streaming box, but I have never watched or subscribed to any "pay" content.

[ObviouslyNotAGolfer]

No, we pulled the plug in 2013 and switched to Netflix/Hulu combination, which is FAR BETTER, CHEAPER, and MORE THAN ENOUGH.

We had Charter/Spectrum internet from 2013 through October 2020. It was never very good, but it deteriorated seriously starting in summer of 2020. We had hours' long downtime (interfering with my work at home!) on numerous occasions, and speeds were usually very slow even when it  worked. WE had them come out repeatedly to address our network issues, and nothing worked. We switched to Toast/ATT 1 GB fibre in October and it is AWESOME--rock solid and lightning fast.

Charter/Spectrum is STILL out here in this neighborhood nearly every day dicking around trying to fix issues. I pity my neighbors who still ahve their service.

The 21st century is here and it is time to flush all these horrible cable companies down the toilet.

[GuitarStv]

Haven't had cable for more than 10 years.

[mizzourah2006]

I do because I'm in market for the Saint Louis Cardinals, but far enough out of market that it's not the primary regional sports channel, so Sling, YoutubeTV, etc. Won't broadcast it. But this past summer I was able to find a relatively inexpensive VPN that allowed me to watch it via MLB.tv. So assuming that still works this year I will be canceling in June when my 2 year contract is up.

[meandmyfamily]

no

[Kathryn K.]

I've never had it. I'm curious why you're asking?

[Cranky]

Yes, it’s the only way my dh can watch the hockey team he likes.

[kanga1622]

Left cable about 15 years ago. Left satellite 5 years ago. Streaming is just right and inexpensive for what we want to access.

[MilesTeg]

Do you still have cable in 2021?


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Have exclusively done a round robin of streaming services and OTA for about a decade. Typical monthly 'TV bill' of <$10. These days ony use OTA for sporting events. Don't miss the commercials or garbage shoveled over the airwaves.

We when watch sports on OTA together, my friend's young son though loves the 'mini movies' and wonders why they don't get them on their TV.

[Zikoris]

No, and also no to any sort of streaming services or anything. There's just nothing I have any interest in watching. I get bored watching most things, unless it's educational. Once I was visiting my dad and he had something on about these prepper people who built crazy off-grid cabins and generated electricity and produced all their own food, which was cool. I think that was five or six years ago.

[mizzourah2006]

I've never had it. I'm curious why you're asking?

Might I suggest a good VPN and NHL.tv.

[Goldendog777]

Got rid of cable over 7 yrs ago.  We use an antenna to get local channels that come in very clear and have a Roku to get Netflix.  If you subscribe to either Netflix or Hulu and still don’t have enough to watch, you watch way too much TV! 

[Villanelle]

No.  The last time I have a cable subscription was 2010.  We do have Netflix and Amazon Prime. 

[Cranky]

I've never had it. I'm curious why you're asking?

Might I suggest a good VPN and NHL.tv.

I suspect that you’re actually replying to me.

I’m not interested in pirating anything.
We tried the NHL streaming, and it still blocks you out of your local games. That wasn’t disclosed the first year, and they refunded the subscription when we complained.

The channel that carries the games he watches is not available to purchase separately.

So honestly, it annoys me mildly that we really only have cable for that purpose, but dh enjoys it and we don’t spend much on entertainment.

[RedmondStash]

I had cable for many years. Wasn't sure how I'd manage without it.

But then we cut the cord several years ago, and haven't looked back. Antennas get us broadcast TV, and we can always sign up for brief stints of pay stations when they have enough content we're interested in.

[Turnbull]

I'm in my 40s and have never had cable. It's been at least ten years since we even had a TV.

[Sibley]

I ditched cable earlier this year. Slow adopter of certain kinds of tech. I bought a year's subscription of Disney+. My sister gave me the logins for several others, but I haven't watched any of them yet. I tended to watch Star Wars on repeat last year, and honestly I don't see that changing yet. It's comfort food basically.

[chemistk]

Nope! Have cable based internet but no TV. Haven't had it since 2015.

[OtherJen]

No.

[HPstache]

No, we switched to YouTubeTV a couple of years ago and we love it.  It is super-flexible in terms of where and how you watch it.  I am a sports guy and I need my tv service - we don't really subscribe to anything else other than Disney+ (4 year old and 2 year old).  We deliver all content over Amazon Fire Stick.

Isnt that still like $75/mo? 

[Just Joe]

Killed off our cable about ~20 years ago. Killed off Dish about ~15 years ago. Did DVDs only for a little while with XMBC before it was Kodi. Liked BBC iPlayer and ITV over VPN.

Switched to a Roku and never looked back.

Holidays and vacations give us a glimpse at live TV. Nope...

[Jack0Life]

Last time I had cable was when ATT introduced the $30 streaming cable and promised not to raise price.
Yeah that sucker went up to $60 in 2 years.
Haven't had anything since.
Do have Prime of course and HBOMax because it's FREE from ATT Fiber.

[moneypitfeeder]

Nope, as of a couple months ago. B4 we were held hostage by our cable company for our internet, basically we could have cut the TV side but then would have paid more for internet only and it would have been slower. Finally got the option to get FIOS internet in our area. Switched & ditched the cable, went from $100 a mo to $35 a month (military discount w/FIOS). We have Prime and Netflix for streaming using a Roku device.

[CodingHare]

Nope.  I never have, when I moved out of my parent's house Netflix and Youtube existed.  Anytime I moved the internet folks would try to upsell me to their cable + internet package.  "I don't own a TV.  No."  Shut that down quick.

[bmjohnson35]

We switched to streaming about 2 yrs ago. 

[pdxvandal]

Cut the cord in 2016 and have never looked back. Frankly, I'm surprised when people have cable or satellite TV ... it's becoming increasingly more rare and hopefully completely dies in the next few years.

[Metalcat]

OP, are you planning on participating in this thread?

I've noticed that you start a lot of threads with a short question with little to no context and then you don't really engage much when a pile of people share their information.

I'm wondering why? What are you looking for from threads like this?

[WhiteTrashCash]

I haven't paid for cable/satellite TV in 13 years and I haven't had it in my home for eleven years. We really don't miss it at all. For one thing, it was annoying to pay money to watch commercials and then to have product placement inside the episodes of the shows. With technology being what it is, it's easy to set up an antenna if you live in a populated area and just use an over-the-air DVR and maybe supplement it with one streaming service.

Just wanted to point out to folks that the upcoming LinuxMint 20.1 OS upgrade will include an app that allows you to play live TV through your computer and use the computer as a DVR. This function is already available if you know where to look for it under various operating systems, but this will be really nice for the less tech-savvy because it'll work straight "out of the box" with minimal setup and the OS is completely free-of-charge to install and use. LinuxMint is by far the most user-friendly version of Linux for people more familiar with Windows.

[Greystache]

We still have Directv. I rarely watch it and would drop it in an instant if it was only me in the household. But my wife likes it and it is relatively cheap entertainment. It is not the hill I want our marriage to die on. After 30 years of working hard and living somewhat frugally, we are pretty wealthy in retirement and can easily afford it. 

[Bloop Bloop Reloaded]

I share half a netflix subscription and everything else on cable (and in fact everything else generally) can be accessed by streaming sites, torrenting, or using free VPN services.

[jrhampt]

We haven't had cable for years but are now in an area where we can't get any of the local broadcast stations to come in with an antenna.  My husband misses watching college basketball but I'd prefer not to get cable just for that if I can help it.  Has anyone tried ESPN+?  It looks like you can get Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle for $12.99/mo or just ESPN+ for $50/yr.  My spouse seems to think that most of the good games are still on ESPN's cable channels only though.

[dcheesi]

SO works for an ISP, so we have their TV service. We've never talked about what we'd do if it were otherwise.

She uses it to watch some shows, whereas I pretty much only ever watch the occasional football game. Most of our viewing time together is spent on streaming services.

[mizzourah2006]

I've never had it. I'm curious why you're asking?

Might I suggest a good VPN and NHL.tv.

I suspect that you’re actually replying to me.

I’m not interested in pirating anything.
We tried the NHL streaming, and it still blocks you out of your local games. That wasn’t disclosed the first year, and they refunded the subscription when we complained.

The channel that carries the games he watches is not available to purchase separately.

So honestly, it annoys me mildly that we really only have cable for that purpose, but dh enjoys it and we don’t spend much on entertainment.

Using a VPN is legal and not pirating.

Yup, I still pay for MLB.tv. I'm paying for the product, I Just use the vpn to pretend I'm in a different city for a few hours each evening when my Cards are playing :) I'm literally 350 miles away from Saint Louis and I'm out of market for the Saint Louis Blues, just happen to be in market for the Cardinals. If I was 20 miles away in Oklahoma I'd be fine.

[chicklets123]

OP, are you planning on participating in this thread?

I've noticed that you start a lot of threads with a short question with little to no context and then you don't really engage much when a pile of people share their information.

I'm wondering why? What are you looking for from threads like this?

Wow you actually go back and look?
I asked for info. Is that not what the forum is for?
Same as when others ask and I respond to those.


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[chicklets123]

OP, are you planning on participating in this thread?

I've noticed that you start a lot of threads with a short question with little to no context and then you don't really engage much when a pile of people share their information.

I'm wondering why? What are you looking for from threads like this?

I also have no input Bc I have not made any decision as to what to do so I have no input which is why I asked to begin with


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[Metalcat]

OP, are you planning on participating in this thread?

I've noticed that you start a lot of threads with a short question with little to no context and then you don't really engage much when a pile of people share their information.

I'm wondering why? What are you looking for from threads like this?

Wow you actually go back and look?
I asked for info. Is that not what the forum is for?
Same as when others ask and I respond to those.


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I notice threads that ask questions with little to no context where the OP doesn't participate much. I'm wary of drive-by question threads where the person who started them doesn't offer anything themselves.

I like to know why someone wants information from me before I'll share much about it.

You can't have no perspective because otherwise you wouldn't ask the question. Are you contemplating giving up cable? Contemplating getting cable? Are you wondering what reasons people have for giving up or getting cable?

Yes, this place is for sharing information, but threads generally produce much better content when there's some context.

[chicklets123]

OP, are you planning on participating in this thread?

I've noticed that you start a lot of threads with a short question with little to no context and then you don't really engage much when a pile of people share their information.

I'm wondering why? What are you looking for from threads like this?

Wow you actually go back and look?
I asked for info. Is that not what the forum is for?
Same as when others ask and I respond to those.


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I notice threads that ask questions with little to no context where the OP doesn't participate much. I'm wary of drive-by question threads where the person who started them doesn't offer anything themselves.

I like to know why someone wants information from me before I'll share much about it.

You can't have no perspective because otherwise you wouldn't ask the question. Are you contemplating giving up cable? Contemplating getting cable? Are you wondering what reasons people have for giving up or getting cable?

Yes, this place is for sharing information, but threads generally produce much better content when there's some context.

I have cable and contemplating canceling it. Not much else to say and will just follow the consensus’s and opinions. Haven’t decided anything really or how much input as I don’t know much about other options which is why I asked


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[Khaetra]

I have DirecTV and don't plan on dropping it any time soon.  I love my sports and while I did try to drop cable/sat in the past, the infrastructure in my area hasn't been upgraded and there are no plans to do so as far as my ISP in concerned.  In fact, the past two weeks the internet has been so unreliable we've had to sit at McDonalds just so my son could log in and do his college classes.  If I relied on streaming only for entertainment I would have been screwed, so the dish stays.

[FINate]

I have cable and contemplating canceling it. Not much else to say and will just follow the consensus’s and opinions. Haven’t decided anything really or how much input as I don’t know much about other options which is why I asked


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OP, thanks's for joining the discussion :) These forums are meant to be bidirectional conversation, so yeah, we want to hear from you as well!

Since we're at the beginning of a new year, I'm going to encourage you to try giving up cable (and all forms of subscription broadcast) for 2021.

What do you have to lose by trying? Sure, you'll miss out on hours ads repeated ad nauseam. And the breathless 24x7 news cycle designed to make you angry/anxious. And mostly boring predictable plots. But then you'll keep a lot more of your hard earned cash and have a lot more time.

At first the more time thing will feel uncomfortable. You'll want nothing more than to plop down in front of the TV to fill the space. This is normal. Be intentional about you newfound time. Read a book. Cook a nice meal. Go for a bike ride or hike. Play a game. Call a friend.

After a few months you'll wonder how you ever had the time for cable.

[chicklets123]

The only reason I haven’t cancelled is they end up increasing the internet and home phone (maybe should also cancel)  by cancelling the bundle discounts... I end up saving $18... I guess it’s still cheaper to not have it. I don’t watch much tv.

I have to maybe find another internet provider or to downgrade the internet speed (which also doesn’t seem to be the speed in paying for by running a speed test).

Home phone +internet + tv (500 channels) =$160
Home phone +internet = $142


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[GuitarStv]

I've never had it. I'm curious why you're asking?

Might I suggest a good VPN and NHL.tv.

I suspect that you’re actually replying to me.

I’m not interested in pirating anything.
We tried the NHL streaming, and it still blocks you out of your local games. That wasn’t disclosed the first year, and they refunded the subscription when we complained.

The channel that carries the games he watches is not available to purchase separately.

So honestly, it annoys me mildly that we really only have cable for that purpose, but dh enjoys it and we don’t spend much on entertainment.

Using a VPN is legal and not pirating.

That's not true at all if you're using the VPN to bypass broadcast restrictions.  This use circumvents (excessively onerous) copyright law.  It absolutely is pirating (broadcast rights are big money) - no different from torrenting something and it is technically against the law - they just can't catch you for it.

I use a VPN to pirate British ITV coverage of the Tour de France every year.  Just because it's not otherwise available in my country and I want to watch it doesn't mean what I'm doing is legal.

[DeniseNJ]

I still have cable. Comcast/xfinity is the only game in town for internet so we have the tv, internet, landline bundle. New years resolution is to cut the cord. We really never watch cable tv, since we have hulu, netflix, fire stick, hbo, disney plus, omg what have I done?!

I'm cutting the cord, upgrading internet speed, and buying a modem so I don't have to pay to rent it from the cable company. When you have cable you also have all of these extra fees so the bill actually goes down quit a bit. We pay to rent the modem, remotes, cable boxes, as well as FTC fees, regional sports fees (?), and then taxes on all the extras.

Thanks for the encouragement.

So how do you use a firestick or VPN (how much and how do you get that) to get/pirate channels and not get in trouble? You can PM me if you don't want to publicize your activities.