Cut off your cable TV service?

[syscom3]

Has anyone cut off their cable? I did a month ago. Here's my take on it. I had Time-Warner for broadcast and broadband internet.

1) I was generally satisfied with the service. The outages for both internet and broadcast were infrequent and nothing to get me upset over.
2) My cable bill kept creeping up month after month. I don't blame TW for all of that as the broadcasters were jacking up their prices. But what really pissed me off and finally got me to cancel the broadcast service was their jacking up the prices even more to cover the costs of the sports networks they created to show teams I don't watch.
3) The content of the few shows I did watch were nothing but commercials and rehash. A 60 minute show was actually 35 minutes of content. And the History channel, Discovery channel and the Learning channel were anything but!
4) I was paying $10 a month to rent THEIR cable box. To heck with that.
5) And their stupid "tiered" service packages meant I had to subscribe to 60 channels just to watch 2 or 3 channels I was interested in and still not getting the other two I wanted.

So I kept my broadband and no one in my family has missed the broadcast portion.

 

[Njaco]

I have not had cable/satellite/direct TV since 2001. When they switched from analog to digital a few years ago I got the converter box and an antenna that works and still had TV - with rabbit ears like the old days.

People don't realize that stations still broadcast free TV. What the change to digital did was open up the frequency. As an example: Our local WPHL station now has 5 channels that they broadcast on so they license ot to other stations. So just for that one channel I have WPHL-1 which is normal broadcasting, WPHL-2 which is ThisTV (all movies, mostly 'B' movies), WPHL-3 is AntennaTV (all old sitcoms = Sanford and Son, Adam-12, Leave it to Beaver, The Flying Nun, etc), WPHL-4 is Tango Traffic (rotating traffic cameras of all the local highways) WPHL-5 which is a religious station. And that is just ONE channel. In all, I have about 60 channels now which a wide range of programming.

I don't see a need for cable at this point.

 

[GrauGeist]

I dumped cable years ago and haven't missed it ar all. It was getting bad then, with HBO 1 and 2 alternating tne same movies all month and all these other channels that were of no interest.

With the conversion to digital broadcast, it's been great, like Chris mentioned, all the new channels. For example, the local ABC channel has it's regular channel (7.1) and then on 7.2 is MEtv that has vintage shows (Hogan's Heros, Star Trek and all the old westerns) while 7.3 has the Movies! network with a great variety of movies 24/7.

The list goes on, but the bottom line here is, I am completely happy with broadcast TV.

 

[Crimea_River]

I'm not the only one in my house but if I was, I'd probably look seriously at getting rid of it. I don't watch much TV to start with and what I do is larger available in internet streaming. Hell, I could have watched all of the Olympics on the net.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I have Direct TV for one reason and one reason only.

NFL Sunday Ticket

 

[N4521U]

What pisses me off over here is Red Bull Air Races are on Cable only, and I refuse to pay their price!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Its SWMBO who is the TV addict in this house and she is flat chap watching the free-to-air. Not much of a watcher myself, just the odd program, otherwise I just listen with one ear. So no cable TV here, never have, never will.

 

[GrauGeist]

What pisses me off over here is Red Bull Air Races are on Cable only, and I refuse to pay their price!

Some of the Red Bull events are found online via live streaming video

 

[Lucky13]

Use Sky here in the UK... 100's of channels for anything and everything, everything between heaven and earth shown on their stations, all the Discovery channels, History and the National Geographic channels, about 30 or so different movie channels etc.,.etc...
I do watch less and less and less of the Discovery, History and National Geographic channels, due to that they're becoming more and more a reality show bonanza and they repeat shows over and over again, plus.....some of what they show and tell is just straight out wrong, sometimes I just go 'oh really, is that sooo!?'....pure and simple, those three aren't worth the paper that their names are written on....
Plenty of music and radio channels they've got as well, so I can listen to radio on my picture box....

 

[Njaco]

paying to listen to radio on your TV.

Yup, sounds good.........................................

 

[buffnut453]

We live in the backwoods where there is no cable. From the occasions I was able to access it in hotel rooms when on business travel, it seemed like I wasn't missing much. This thread pretty much confirms that view. My only problem is internet access is pretty crappy for me so I can't stream movies or TV shows...but there's always Netflix via the postie!

 

[fubar57]

I'm like Vic, the missus watches the TV, mostly the Food Channel, she being an awesome cook, and the crime channels(I think she's taking notes). If there's a hockey or baseball game on when I'm modeling downstairs, I'll have the TV on in the background and run out when a goal or something is happening. I have a TV in my camp room and have turned it on twice in 21 months.

Geo

 

[Catch22]

If it weren't for sports, I wouldn't want it. I know the NHL has a couple options for getting games online but I haven't heard great things.

 

[Lucky13]

paying to listen to radio on your TV.

Yup, sounds good.........................................

Myriads of stations, saves me from getting a digital radio....

 

[mikewint]

The switch to digital TV broadcast had some very positive aspects BUT totally ended fringe reception. The nearest actual TV broadcast is ONE channel in Springfield,MO which is 150mi(242km) away or Little Rock, AR also about the same distance so any type of free "over the airways" reception is about zero. Without cable internet would be over standard phonelines (not even DSL out here). I looked into satellite but while their monthly rates were great the FIRST year they promptly doubled the second year and one HAD to sign for two years minimum. So I have cable...rock or hard place!!! The SOBs get you one way or another

 

[Njaco]

The switch to digital TV broadcast had some very positive aspects BUT totally ended fringe reception. The nearest actual TV broadcast is ONE channel in Springfield,MO which is 150mi(242km) away or Little Rock, AR also about the same distance so any type of free "over the airways" reception is about zero. Without cable internet would be over standard phonelines (not even DSL out here). I looked into satellite but while their monthly rates were great the FIRST year they promptly doubled the second year and one HAD to sign for two years minimum. So I have cable...rock or hard place!!! The SOBs get you one way or another

I saw pics where you live. Thats the cost of living in paradise!!!

 

[mikewint]

Like all things in life Chris: The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away! But no one could pay me enough to move back

 

[Airframes]

Got rid of my TV when the 'On/Off' switch packed up years ago. It would have been cheaper to buy a new set than get it repaired, but as the greater percentage of programmes are either football or 'soaps', which are of no interest to me and about as stimulating as the corpse of a dead flea, and the rest are either repeats of cr@p or inane 'reality' shows, I decided to do without.
Haven't missed it one bit!

 

[meatloaf109]

The old woman refuses to get rid of the directv... she couldn't live without the Jerry-Steve-Maury, progression of DNA drama!

 

[Njaco]

You ARE the father!!