My husband and I had been considering getting rid of cable for awhile and we finally took the plunge. I had appreciated other BBIers posts on this subject in the past so I thought I would share about our experience. First, there is no doubt that geographical location and what cable/internet options are available to you make a HUGE difference. I live in the Washington, DC, area and Verizon and Cox are the only two options we have for both cable and internet in our neighborhood. We were paying Verizon $146/month for HD/DVR (the DVR/cable box alone was $15/mo) and Internet service (we ditched the landline phone line a couple of years ago). This is especially true because there were so many channels that we never watched anyway. We ordered a 1byone 85 Mile Digital Amplified HDTV Roof Antenna for $50 from Amazon. Luckily for us, our townhouse is situated where the back of the house (where we were allowed to install the antenna per our HOA guidelines) was exactly where we needed to install and direct the antenna (due north) in order to receive the most over-the-air channels (doing some research on the best antenna placement was also key). The antenna picks up over 80 channels (that is not a typo), including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS and all of their sub-channels. We even get many Baltimore stations. The picture for most of them is fantastic - great HD quality. Our TV (an LG HDTV) also has a live TV guide similar to what we had with the cable box. We still get internet service from Verizon (50 mps - we don't need more - it's just the two of us and my 8 yo stepson part of the time) for $50/month and we did subscribe to an additional channel service. After much research between Sling TV, Hulu’s channel service, YouTube TV, and DirecTVNow, we decided to go with DirecTVNow which offered the most additional channels we wanted (TNT, TBS, AMC, HLN, ESPN, etc.) at a cost point we were comfortable with but they do offer several levels of channels. The antenna was also key here, though, because many channel services do NOT offer CBS since CBS has their own streaming service. Even with paying for DirecTVNow, we are still saving over $60 per month. The ONLY thing I will miss from cable TV is not being able to watch Nationals games and it really gripes me that they aren’t available in the local market over-the-air, nor can you subscribe to MLB TV to see them because you can’t watch in-market games from that platform. Many of you would likely have the same issue with Yankees/Mets as well as NBA/NHL teams. Sports programming was the one sticking issue with me in our decision to cut cable (at least we do get ESPN - I rarely watched the NFL network) but I figured I will get used to it and I can at least listen to Nationals games on the radio. I was limited to what Giants games I would get before anyway (though I am hoping that the Baltimore stations might give me an extra game or two). Since we’ve had a good experience, I thought I would share it. Even though we live near DC, I had been skeptical about how many over-the-air stations we'd get and was very pleasantly surprised. Happy cord cutting!
regarding MSG, apparently that's not the case.
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Giants games aren't really a concern with cord cutting because you can watch them on fox. If you weren't getting Giants games before cord cutting you won't care after cord cutting.
My concern is how do I watch Yankees rangers and Knicks games if I cut the cord? I live in jersey. And I'd have to find a way to stream NFL network but I'm sure that's easy.
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MLB tv service and get all the baseball games you want to watch.
I wish this were the case but they still block you from watching games in your own market but if anyone has any ideas of how to get around this, I'd appreciate it. I thought about having my NY-based sister buy the subscription but then read elsewhere about someone else who tried this and said they were still blocked because it was based on the internet location, not the billing address of the subscriber. *sigh*
Get a VPN service like Torguard or PureVPN, choose an out of state VPN, and it will work. I do this with NHL streaming. Also, you should use a VPN anyway for secure browsing
This seems to be my take as well. What I might do is just cut down on the premium fios channels and save money there.
That's how i felt but i have to do the math. Problem is one service has a channel I need and one doesn't. Direct TV Now doesn't have NFL network and Redzone so I would have to get Sling just for that. Waiting to see what Verizon's will look like. If one would just have everything I want in one package that would be ideal. It's so stupid though. With fios i get my internet and cable the same way. Could cut the middle man and just offer more diverse cable packages..
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I pay around $130 for 2 DVR's, HBO/Showtime, and pretty much every other channel with 200mb internet. To cut the cord and still get my fix of content I'd maybe save $20 per month. I casually watch and flip too much for it to be worth it. Glad other have success with it though.
That's how i felt but i have to do the math. Problem is one service has a channel I need and one doesn't. Direct TV Now doesn't have NFL network and Redzone so I would have to get Sling just for that. Waiting to see what Verizon's will look like. If one would just have everything I want in one package that would be ideal. It's so stupid though. With fios i get my internet and cable the same way. Could cut the middle man and just offer more diverse cable packages..
Although i definitely don't flip as much I only watch a couple channels really but any series I follow like on FX AMC USA etc
we have Verizon Fios TV and interent. I think we pay about $175/month but that includes 3 TV's, HD, DVR plus SHO/HBO. no worries about getting local channels, or ESPN, or NFL Net... all the kids get their shows... and there is nothing we want to watch that we can't get.
(Plus we have Netflix)
if I cancel that and start with an antenna, then start adding various streaming services... I assume my internet only bill will go up... I figure I might save about $25-30/month. Nothing to sneeze at but not if it creates a whole host of new problems/inconveniences.
Ugh I would not want to use my phone as remote and need dvr. You can't use Direct tv now with a Roku?
It is my understanding that DirecTVNow is beta testing a cloud DVR system so hopefully that will be an option soon.
For those of you getting great cable deals - that's awesome. I wasn't able to negotiate quite that good a deal even with threatening to cancel. It would be wonderful to be able to get a truly ala carte set up where you can get only those channels you want (and every channel you want) but I am not holding my breath.
Verizon wants me to sign a two year deal for phone, TV, and 50 mbps Internet for $116 a month. (I don't have a cell phone.) They will also give me a $100 gift card, and I build up points that I can redeem for free movies and other stuff. They also offer a lot of free movies, and are giving me free HBO right now through the end of February (started in December).
I live in a condo, and can't put anything on a roof. I could put a Dish on my balcony, but it faces east, and I think that needs to be south. The view is also not unobstructed.
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Has both YES and MSG in NY. I've been trying it the last week or so. Some streaming issues and having to use my phone as the remote. Plus they haven't figured out the dvr option yet.
Ugh I would not want to use my phone as remote and need dvr. You can't use Direct tv now with a Roku?
We use DirecTVNow with a Roku but only certain Rokus have access to the DTVN app. We've only had it for just about a month, though and the only problem we've had is a very occasional buffering issue that occurs usually at the height of streaming popularity.
This month, my Frontier bill jumped $60 because my new customer discount ran out. For the first time since Frontier purchased U-Verse, I actually had a positive customer service experience. I called complaining about the increase and proposed the idea of shutting the service down for a day, putting it in my wife's name and re-opening the next day with new customer pricing. The rep told me there's no need to do that, and they re-applied the new customer pricing again, and it's actually cheaper than what it was before.
Because I want every sports channel possible, and Frontier strategically spreads them across 5 or 6 packages, I have to have the highest package. My bill definitely comes in above what some of you are paying, but it's in our comfort zone due not paying for other services that are currently popular.
Plus, my TV runs through an AVR and I have found that streaming services broadcast TV in Stereo sound, when cable will broadcast in Dolby Digital/Dolby Surround. The sound difference between the two is substantial.
Run into two issues:
A) Can't find a way to reliably watch the Giants. The Kodi Sportdevil add-on is notoriously unreliable and never seems to work anymore when the game is on. So I've only been able to watch the next day via the NFL app or at a local sports bar in the Bay when the 9ers and Raiders aren't on at the same time.
B) In December, we received a letter from the ISP (Optimum) stating that we have gone over allowable band with and will be charged more if it happens again. This is unusual since although we cut the cable, we have always streamed about as much and there are no extra devices.
We were previously paying about $150 p/m for cable and internet. Cutting cable shaved roughly $80 off the bill, but if they're going to start charging more now that we've cut cable, we are going to have to find another provider.
Any ideas on game streams sans SportDevil?
All of these services are going to increase in time as well so I don't really know how popular cord cutting will be in 5 years. Netflix will be $20/$25 per month, when Disney has their Instant service (pulling content from Netflix) they will charge the same amount. That's $40/$50 right there before internet costs which are $60+ for a good speed. Just seems like a giant headache.
This is the site I used: http://www.tvfool.com/
All of these services are going to increase in time as well so I don't really know how popular cord cutting will be in 5 years. Netflix will be $20/$25 per month, when Disney has their Instant service (pulling content from Netflix) they will charge the same amount. That's $40/$50 right there before internet costs which are $60+ for a good speed. Just seems like a giant headache.
In the very least, those whi have cut the cord finally get ala carte, something everyone has been clammoring for.
You dont watch Disney? Ok. Don't get it. Don't need HBO or whatever? No problem.
It will work for some people. For those that really watch a lot of TV and movies or have kids that love what Netflix/Disney have to offer, cutting the cord doesn't seem like it will do much.
All of these services are going to increase in time as well so I don't really know how popular cord cutting will be in 5 years. Netflix will be $20/$25 per month, when Disney has their Instant service (pulling content from Netflix) they will charge the same amount. That's $40/$50 right there before internet costs which are $60+ for a good speed. Just seems like a giant headache.
Most people are probably buying internet in addition to cable/satellite anyway, so it's not an "extra" $60 for that anyway.
Antenna if its broadcast in your local market.
I'd have to build what amounts to a cell tower to gather in a very weak signal for the three major stations -- and that's pretty much all I'd get
OH well -- this place makes up for that in so many other ways
I have an XBoxone and stream everything I need to see.
I use some of my friends subscriptions and my parents directv login and share my subscriptions with them - I pay less than $40 per month.
Services I currently use include Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, CBS, ABC, FOX, NFL network, etc...
No regrets
We have every single possible channel and we probably watch around 5 or 6 of them. I love TV. Have a full DVR of stuff I'll never get to. Probably watch two hours a day during the winter when we're too lazy to go out in the cold. I pay for the convenience to watch what I want when I want it. Cutting back a bit might save me $50 a month but that hardly seems worth it. We'd both rather cuddle up and watch something on the big screen than go to the movies any day so it probably works out about even.
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MLB tv service and get all the baseball games you want to watch.
I'm not positive, but I believe she is correct. I think you get everything but your in-market games.
You are correct. Must be out of market and cannot be on FOX, ESPN or local stations...
Internet only= $85 per month.
It's just not worth it for me, and that pisses me off even more.
ps. My only internet option is Comcast.
I'm willing to give up cable TV (and switch to antennae) and downgrade from high speed internet to medium speed, but unwilling to give up my land line phone number (for business purposes). Can I accomplish that for about $100/month instead of the $200+ I'm currently paying?
I'd love to pay less and my Dad is trying to convince me to get a Amazon Fire Stick. Is anyone using that? I'd love to know how it's going for you. I watch a shitload of television.
What?
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In comment 13806360 spike said:
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MLB tv service and get all the baseball games you want to watch.
I'm not positive, but I believe she is correct. I think you get everything but your in-market games.
You are correct. Must be out of market and cannot be on FOX, ESPN or local stations...
I mentioned this above, but that's not true if you have a VPN. You can log in through another state or country and it will work. It's completely legal and I do it all the time for blacked out NY Rangers games.
We have every single possible channel and we probably watch around 5 or 6 of them. I love TV. Have a full DVR of stuff I'll never get to. Probably watch two hours a day during the winter when we're too lazy to go out in the cold. I pay for the convenience to watch what I want when I want it. Cutting back a bit might save me $50 a month but that hardly seems worth it. We'd both rather cuddle up and watch something on the big screen than go to the movies any day so it probably works out about even.
Same here. Plus, I watch everything via my DVR. I never watch a show live. I even will DVR sporting events and watch on delay and skip all the timeouts/commercials etc.
I was looking at the Mohu indoor antennas and some of these look pretty cool, but I cannot tell if they (or the one mentioned in the opening post) can address all of the TV's in the house or just 1 at a time.
No. I got an aerial antenna on Amazon (100) and then had a pro come and install it on the roof. They'll calibrate it to make sure it's oriented in the right direction. They can inturn run cable from it, or connect it to your existing cable connection, so you can hook your tv up through the wall. I did an aerial and ran cable from it so that I could pick up the Giants games in my basement, where a local antenna might have reception issues.
I bought my own antenna, but the pro offered to bring it with him (before he know I was bringing my own), basically at cost. Installation was between 200 and 300, and the antenna was 100, as mentioned. That was 18 months ago. It's a big investment up front, but only as much as a few months of cable.
And the HD quality is better than cable. Now's the Time to do it so you can get in time for the Olympics. We did it just before the Rio games.
Also, people forget that your ISP will always be happy to help you upgrade and take your money, if you need more bandwidth.
Over-the-air antenna websites are completely useless. The results returned look impressive, but they rarely translate to real-world usage. Ironically, even though we live 30 miles from the NY border, we get mostly NY stations and very few CT stations.
You needed a "pro" to do that?
Mount it on your roof and connect it into your existing coax. Pretty easy stuff.
And if you bought a $100 antenna off Amazon, it's omni-directional. There's nothing to calibrate.
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No. I got an aerial antenna on Amazon (100) and then had a pro come and install it on the roof.
You needed a "pro" to do that?
Mount it on your roof and connect it into your existing coax. Pretty easy stuff.
And if you bought a $100 antenna off Amazon, it's omni-directional. There's nothing to calibrate.
No, I could have done it myself.
But I figured I'd let a pro get up on my roof and start bolting hardware to my roof shingles, to make sure that it is done right the first time and that I am alive when it is all over.
i want to remove stuff but i love fios too much. Plus i have only tivo boxes in my house. I paid off the services for the tivo boxes and just paying for the cable cards. I dont watch all the stations but my wife sometimes does. Its weird.
im more on the side of let me see what each HBo is showing and i will watch it. i use PLEX for anything i want to watch and new movies. I dont use kodi.
Now trying HULU live tv and it's pretty good.