how many people here have cut the cable cord?

[randomep]

 

Seems like everyone understands the subject of the post but me. What do you mean? cut cable completely or just disable cable tv? If everyone disconnects the cable how do they get internet?

 

I use cable for internet and then they convinced me to add tv for additional $5, $5/mon for football is worth it.

 

The value for their internet is a bit high but it is a good value proposition.

 

 

[Travis Wiedower]

Highly doubt the OP is referring to cable internet as he specifically mentions TV in the post.

 

Anyway, I got rid of my only TV ~3-4 years ago (so obviously haven't had cable either). I occasionally watch shows through Netflix/Hulu (usually lazy nights with the girlfriend) but TV is such a time sink.

 

Also agree that this forum is about the opposite of a random sample to this question. All of my friends have TV (some have gotten rid of cable though) and they all follow quite a few shows/sports.

[merkhet]

I've thought about it a number of times, but I haven't taken the plunge. I need my college and professional football.

[hendrie]

We cut cable about 2 years ago, stream everything from Netflix to sports. With that being said, our Internet bill is around $100/mth

[oddballstocks]

I've thought about it a number of times, but I haven't taken the plunge. I need my college and professional football.

 

Had a friend who argued to his wife that it was cheaper to go to the bar to watch the games, plus there was a sense of community there.

 

Around here bar's have deals for Steeler games.  Usually you can get a Miller or Coors for $2, figure five beers and the NFL "costs" $160 or so.  I'd say he had a point considering that seems to be the average monthly Comcast bill around here.

[merkhet]

I've thought about it a number of times, but I haven't taken the plunge. I need my college and professional football.

 

Had a friend who argued to his wife that it was cheaper to go to the bar to watch the games, plus there was a sense of community there.

 

Around here bar's have deals for Steeler games.  Usually you can get a Miller or Coors for $2, figure five beers and the NFL "costs" $160 or so.  I'd say he had a point considering that seems to be the average monthly Comcast bill around here.

 

I've thought about that too, but my math is a bit different. When we watch a Texans game we can't catch at home, we go to the bar, and that will usually set us back about $50 because of food + drinks + tip. Figure maybe half the games aren't broadcast here, so that's $80 + $400, and we can eat/drink at home for about $10 a game, and that's an $80 difference, so my delta is $320. And then there's 13 games for my Longhorns, and the math is fairly similar.

 

My bill in DC is about $120 a month, and that includes HBO. So take off $10 a month I'm paying for HBO and figure that cable is about half that bill, and I'm paying about $660 a year for cable. And the bonus is that I can catch random games, like when Colt McCoy starts for the Redskins.

[TwoCitiesCapital]

I cut the chord. I generally went to a bar to watch sports games anyways - it's more fun that way and a good reason to splurge on food that's awful for me :).

 

I mostly use Netflix/HBO GO for the little bit that I do watch. Even both of those are friends' accounts though. I don't think I'd be willing to pay for either from how little I really use them.

[Steve]

cut the chord several years ago.... before that I would take advantage of direct tv's hiatus feature (stop service and bill for up to 6 months)... and then only have service during football season. 

 

currently I use netflix... hbo now... amazing prime (but haven't used it yet).

[fareastwarriors]

I use Dish. I pay a good amount for my regional sports channel. Let's go Golden State Warriors!

 

I probably watch an hour or 2 per day during weekdays and 3-4 hours per day on the weekends.

[augustabound]

That's the only thing I'm unsure of.

I can get Notre Dame games on NBC sports, even in Canada.

 

But Jays games on Sportsnet and the rest of the NCAA football online somewhere is what I'd want.

 

I cut the cord to the Oilers but now that it looks like the 'ole boys club may be dismantled by Nicholson and Chiarelli, it may be time to follow them again.

 

But really, Jays games and U.S. college football are must haves for me. If 50centdollars magical box can get me those then the deals done.

U.S. college baseball and basketball would be gravy.  ;D

 

 

[ATLValue]

I cut the cord and added Hulu

[CanadianMunger]

I've thought about it a number of times, but I haven't taken the plunge. I need my college and professional football.

 

Had a friend who argued to his wife that it was cheaper to go to the bar to watch the games, plus there was a sense of community there.

 

Around here bar's have deals for Steeler games.  Usually you can get a Miller or Coors for $2, figure five beers and the NFL "costs" $160 or so.  I'd say he had a point considering that seems to be the average monthly Comcast bill around here.

 

Yeah but what are the costs when after said 5 beers the waitress starts looking more and more like Megan Fox?

 

-CM

[fareastwarriors]

I've thought about it a number of times, but I haven't taken the plunge. I need my college and professional football.

 

Had a friend who argued to his wife that it was cheaper to go to the bar to watch the games, plus there was a sense of community there.

 

Around here bar's have deals for Steeler games.  Usually you can get a Miller or Coors for $2, figure five beers and the NFL "costs" $160 or so.  I'd say he had a point considering that seems to be the average monthly Comcast bill around here.

 

Yeah but what are the costs when after said 5 beers the waitress starts looking more and more like Megan Fox?

 

-CM

 

No snacks? No nachos? Wings? When I goto a bar, I somehow always spend more than I would like.

 

 

[one-foot-hurdles]

Thought this might be of interest:

https://www.foragerfunds.com/bristlemouth/verizon-blows-apart-bundle#

[randomep]

 

NFL cost me $5!

 

I had cable internet without TV for 80, then they offered me basic cable TV for $5 more. That has NFL, so what's the problem?  The marginal cost of basic cable when you got internet is cheap no?

[SpecOps]

You are all showing your age now, Netflix?? Who watches Netflix!? Its all about Youtube and watching PewDiePie now among the youth :)

 

But in all seriousness, Youtube is huge and for a lot of young people has completely replaced TV. There are a lot of Youtubers that provide regular 'series' and make a whole lot of money from the ad revenue. I even watch some myself. The biggest that come to mind are Yogscast, PewDiePie, Skydoesminecraft, but there are hundreds.

[kfh227]

I cut it and our landline phone (also via Comcast) and save about $100/month.

 

I have a Bluetooth phone base at home that supports two phones, so we still have the same home phone setup but we save money by not having a landline.

 

Saving about $100-$110 per month.

 

I didn't miss it from day one because I already realized how bad TV has gotten.  I kind of miss sports but not that much.  I might get cable again for sports but not for $80 or whatever the hell it is a month.

 

It's pity, but we also got rid of Netflix.  We have it till the last day this month.  The thing is, you can watch all the good stuff in bursts.  So all I have left are documentaries that I kinda car about but not really.

 

Once that is gone, we are going to do RedBox.  That way, we have to watch TV wit ha purpose.  No instant gratification.

 

It's more about that.  I am fed up with the instant gratification that the internet provides.  Why is it wrong to have a scheduled time slot for things anymore?  Even with sports, I have friends that say to just record it and watch it later.  Why?

[dwy000]

Okay I am obviously the outlier here but I pay full bore for cable every month and love every bit of it.  For $100/month I get about 300 channels, all the movie channels, about 30 music channels etc, etc. etc.  Plus access to new release movies generally faster and cheaper than they are available on Amazon or Netflix.  All for $3/day - that's a cup of coffee.  That's a pretty good bargain in my book - and frankly the amount we'd save by getting 3 or 4 OTT services is nothing compared to the value we get by having the entire selection live 100% of the time.

 

Sure I generally only watch a small fraction of the channels 90% of the time but I love having the access to the others for those few times I want it. 

 

The one thing I would really miss is all the shows I would never even know to look for if I was just using Netflix or YouTube.  The number of times I flip past something, stop and get riveted for an hour is amazing.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.  It will be interesting to see how OTT users change behavior if the cable companies start charging for data like the cell phone companies.  Malone for one thinks it is inevitable.

[adesigar]

Once that is gone, we are going to do RedBox.  That way, we have to watch TV wit ha purpose.  No instant gratification.

 

It's more about that.  I am fed up with the instant gratification that the internet provides.  Why is it wrong to have a scheduled time slot for things anymore?  Even with sports, I have friends that say to just record it and watch it later.  Why?

 

Its not wrong to have a scheduled time for something but you should time for important things and TV is not important. I (and most people) don't want to schedule life around TV shows when I can schedule TV around our life. Family, Friends etc get priority, TV just fills in empty slots.

[Jurgis]

I am fed up with the instant gratification that the internet provides.  Why is it wrong to have a scheduled time slot for things anymore?

 

I will answer this during a scheduled slot for answering questions like this.

[brker_guy]

Have been free from the wrath of cable since Sept. 2014.  I also have cut my landline as well.  Save our family $120 per month.  I only have an HDTV antenna, SlingTV, and Netflix these days.

 

I think SlingTV offers tremendous value to someone like me who only cares for a handful of channels.  I highly recommend SlingTV to everyone. 

 

Other than the Tennis Channel, I don't miss anything from my cable provider.

[AzCactus]

Okay I am obviously the outlier here but I pay full bore for cable every month and love every bit of it.  For $100/month I get about 300 channels, all the movie channels, about 30 music channels etc, etc. etc.  Plus access to new release movies generally faster and cheaper than they are available on Amazon or Netflix.  All for $3/day - that's a cup of coffee.  That's a pretty good bargain in my book - and frankly the amount we'd save by getting 3 or 4 OTT services is nothing compared to the value we get by having the entire selection live 100% of the time.

 

Sure I generally only watch a small fraction of the channels 90% of the time but I love having the access to the others for those few times I want it. 

 

The one thing I would really miss is all the shows I would never even know to look for if I was just using Netflix or YouTube.  The number of times I flip past something, stop and get riveted for an hour is amazing.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.  It will be interesting to see how OTT users change behavior if the cable companies start charging for data like the cell phone companies.  Malone for one thinks it is inevitable.

 

There are two points I would like to add.  The first is that expenses are relative: So if someone nets 10k/month $100 is a mere 1% which is neglible.  However, the second point is really a matter of simplifying your life.  If you could use Netflix, Hulu or some other platform and that covers 95% of what you would be watching than having cable really is more of an annoyance.  In terms of sports you could typically stream those for free online. 

[augustabound]

But in all seriousness, Youtube is huge and for a lot of young people has completely replaced TV.

Young peoples attention span is only 3 minutes, therein lies the problem.  ;D

 

Even with sports, I have friends that say to just record it and watch it later.  Why?

I don't know how people watch recorded sports, it has to be live for me.

[dwy000]

Okay I am obviously the outlier here but I pay full bore for cable every month and love every bit of it.  For $100/month I get about 300 channels, all the movie channels, about 30 music channels etc, etc. etc.  Plus access to new release movies generally faster and cheaper than they are available on Amazon or Netflix.  All for $3/day - that's a cup of coffee.  That's a pretty good bargain in my book - and frankly the amount we'd save by getting 3 or 4 OTT services is nothing compared to the value we get by having the entire selection live 100% of the time.

 

Sure I generally only watch a small fraction of the channels 90% of the time but I love having the access to the others for those few times I want it. 

 

The one thing I would really miss is all the shows I would never even know to look for if I was just using Netflix or YouTube.  The number of times I flip past something, stop and get riveted for an hour is amazing.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.  It will be interesting to see how OTT users change behavior if the cable companies start charging for data like the cell phone companies.  Malone for one thinks it is inevitable.

 

There are two points I would like to add.  The first is that expenses are relative: So if someone nets 10k/month $100 is a mere 1% which is neglible.  However, the second point is really a matter of simplifying your life.  If you could use Netflix, Hulu or some other platform and that covers 95% of what you would be watching than having cable really is more of an annoyance.  In terms of sports you could typically stream those for free online.

 

See, I would have said the opposite.  Having Netflix and Hulu and Amazon and Sling and HBO would probably cover 95% of my viewing but it's more complicated not less. Now I have 5 bills plus the broadband bill and it is a major pain to switch channels back and forth.  It's worth the extra few bucks to have one provider, one bill and be able to surf channels - not to mention the other 250 channels that get thrown in too.

[AzCactus]

Okay I am obviously the outlier here but I pay full bore for cable every month and love every bit of it.  For $100/month I get about 300 channels, all the movie channels, about 30 music channels etc, etc. etc.  Plus access to new release movies generally faster and cheaper than they are available on Amazon or Netflix.  All for $3/day - that's a cup of coffee.  That's a pretty good bargain in my book - and frankly the amount we'd save by getting 3 or 4 OTT services is nothing compared to the value we get by having the entire selection live 100% of the time.

 

Sure I generally only watch a small fraction of the channels 90% of the time but I love having the access to the others for those few times I want it. 

 

The one thing I would really miss is all the shows I would never even know to look for if I was just using Netflix or YouTube.  The number of times I flip past something, stop and get riveted for an hour is amazing.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.  It will be interesting to see how OTT users change behavior if the cable companies start charging for data like the cell phone companies.  Malone for one thinks it is inevitable.

 

There are two points I would like to add.  The first is that expenses are relative: So if someone nets 10k/month $100 is a mere 1% which is neglible.  However, the second point is really a matter of simplifying your life.  If you could use Netflix, Hulu or some other platform and that covers 95% of what you would be watching than having cable really is more of an annoyance.  In terms of sports you could typically stream those for free online.

 

See, I would have said the opposite.  Having Netflix and Hulu and Amazon and Sling and HBO would probably cover 95% of my viewing but it's more complicated not less. Now I have 5 bills plus the broadband bill and it is a major pain to switch channels back and forth.  It's worth the extra few bucks to have one provider, one bill and be able to surf channels - not to mention the other 250 channels that get thrown in too.

 

I see your point.  However, if your bills are on auto-pay its not a huge hassle to have it debited every month.  This year I think I have literally written two checks and I think others on this board are in the same boat.  Also, while having one bill might be easier it will likely be more expensive and you will have 250 channels that probably comprise 5-10% of your viewing time.  To me it seems unnecessary but to each his own.