Cord cutters

[civvver]

Since a lot of posters here hail from countries other than the US this might not make a lot of sense to you as US pricing models for entertainment are seriously botched. But maybe someone can weigh in and answer a few questions.

I currently pay $135 including all the damn taxes and fees for comcast tv + internet. But my promo is set to expire in October and I'm getting a $40 discount right now. So it'll at least go up to $175, possibly more cus my rate won't be locked anymore either. I'm not willing to switch isps. The only other options out here are att, but it's slow, I think 12-20 mbps (my current internet is 80-100 mbps, I pay for 80 but it has a boost and often goes faster), or dsl, which is not acceptable at all plus I think I'd need a phone line. I'm going to try to negotiate a deal with comcast, but if all else fails, the internet I have is $80 on its own.

We already have netflix and amazon prime for the free shipping. But I watch almost every original show on AMC and FX and my wife watches the bachelor shows + the voice and some other crap I hate on NBC and ABC. So I am thinking if we just add hulu that will cover her shows. And then I'll either go without or I was looking at slingtv, which you can get AMC and FX in their $25 package. I watch on demand almost exclusively, nothing the actual day/time slot it comes on, but I think slingtv supports that. So we'd be at like 80 + 8 + 25 = $113, which is even less than we pay now.

Have any of you used hulu or slingtv? It looks like hulu has every abc and nbc current season show but I was wondering if anyone could confirm that. Then I have to look at my equipment, I still want to watch football on Sundays so I'll probably need an hd antenna/receiver, and my tv is an lg smart tv. It has hulu but I couldn't find slingtv so I'll need a chromecast or fire stick or something. I think slingtv will actually give you the $40 one free with a two month contract.

And of course there's always the blackhat option of buying a couple raspberry pi's, putting kodi on them and dropping all my streaming services...

 

[Bamspeedy]

I've heard good things about Sling, and that you can get some local channels on it too. Never tried it myself, but should take a closer look at it.

I just have Amazon Prime, and the free stuff that comes with the Roku (man there are some REALLY niche and/or weird channels available if you look through the thousands of channels available).

Plenty of kids stuff for my kids to watch; the series and movies on Amazon are enough for me and my wife for what little time we watch TV (1 hour/day). Watching the Packers wasn't worth $70+/month or whatever cable is. Just have to go elsewhere if I really need to see them. Course, I should have warned my dad we don't have the game on when he came over on the holidays.....

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Civver, do you live in or near a big city? Over the air can get you a lot of quality content, especially if you're willing to invest the time to explore the channels. I recommend getting an amplifier no matter how close you live to the transmitters. They clear up the signal and boost it significantly. They add about $15 to the cost of a digital antenna.

It's likely you can order all the shows you already watch on amazon right now. Add up how much it would cost to purchase a season (or however many seasons they show in a year) of each show, total the cost then compare it to your yearly cable bill. You may come out ahead with a la cart ordering on amazon.

Another piece of advice for cutting the chord - no matter how vested you are in your current programming, realize that 99% of those shows will end anyways, many this year or next. So sticking around just for the sake of current programming doesn't make a lot of sense anyways. It's also becoming more clear that Netflix, Amazon and other independent sources are becoming the go-to place for quality programming. You can only watch so much in a day and I bet over time you'll end up finding Netflix shows displacing cable shows you would normally watch if not for Netflix.

A lot of the network shows that you currently watch will wind up on other sources eventually so you won't miss them permanently. Some networks are also building out their own a la cart or subscription model sites so you should see if that includes any of your chosen shows.


I wouldn't mind paying $30/mo for basic cable but Time Warner and Verizon (the providers in my area) will only hit that price if they bundle with both internet and telephone service. I have no use for a landline telephone and will never purchase one again. So that bundle is pointless for me.

I pay for internet, through which I watch Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Vudu. I have antennas attached to all my TV's too so I get local news, weather, public access, foreign channels and other random stuff. Oh and the big networks you watch.

 

[warpus]

I pay $280 a month for internet, cable, and home phone. I only have home phone in there so that I could get the unlimited internet bundle. So.. yeah. I actually used to pay more, but I moved my cellphone to another company (and now pay a lot less) and got rid of 2 speciality (soccer) channels that were costing me $40 a month extra.

One day i will cut my cable, but.. I need my HD sports. Hockey and all the different soccer leagues and cups and competitions I like to watch. Streams are sucky, so.. here I am spending a fortune on cable each month.

Mind you my work pays me back for my internet. Every single $ I spend on internet I get back as cash at the end of the year. So that $280 should really be more like.. $180.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I cut the cord a few years ago, and use Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. Like hobbs said, those three are actually producing a lot of good content. Hulu posts shows 4-8 days after they air, but with commercials (yes, I pay for internet, I pay for Hulu, and I watch commercials - welcome to America). I also really like AMC and FX (also SyFy and BBC America), and I have to wait as much as a year for many of my favorite shows.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Well you could pay to watch most of those shows right now on Amazon.

I'm paying to watch S2 of The Expanse, for example - after having watched the first season for free.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Well you could pay to watch most of those shows right now on Amazon.

I'm paying to watch S2 of The Expanse, for example - after having watched the first season for free.

Yeah, I can't bring myself to pay a 3rd fee. I liked the first season of The Expanse too, but there's plenty of stuff to watch, so I can wait.

 

[civvver]

Well you could pay to watch most of those shows right now on Amazon.

I'm paying to watch S2 of The Expanse, for example - after having watched the first season for free.

Yes my friend does that, he watches only netflix and then pays $30 for the current season of the walking dead. I was like dude you can get slingtv for $20. And then as I said it I realized it's $20 per month vs $30 total. Works really well if you only follow one big show.

You say many of the shows might be off air in a season or two and we could replace with netflix or whatever, but my wife religiously watches only three shows- bachelor/bacherlorette, dancing with the stars and the voice. Those are never going to die, way too popular and the format means they can air almost indefinitely too. But I think I could convince her to switch to hulu cus she never watches them live. She usually watches a few days after on on-demand. We have two kids so sitting down right at 7 or 8pm for an hour or two is damn near impossible.

Same for me, I think FX's Taboo airs at like 10 on Wednesdays and I've never watched it live. For me though, I find myself watching every single new show FX and AMC come up with, even if they do get cancelled, I just watch the next one. Like the Bastard Executioner got cancelled. Most make it a couple seasons. Some I like more than others but I've not found anything awful I regretted watching. I think the only one I didn't finish the season was Into the Badlands. But Preacher was good, Better Call Saul is awesome, Walking Dead isn't what is was but I still watch. FX has currently Taboo, Legion (not sure if this is good or not, it's super weird), Humans (haven't started the latest season), and Americans is coming real soon. Atlanta was out of this world good.

I cut the cord a few years ago, and use Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. Like hobbs said, those three are actually producing a lot of good content. Hulu posts shows 4-8 days after they air, but with commercials (yes, I pay for internet, I pay for Hulu, and I watch commercials - welcome to America). I also really like AMC and FX (also SyFy and BBC America), and I have to wait as much as a year for many of my favorite shows.

Of course there's that. Americans is on amazon one season behind, Walking dead is one season behind on netflix, as is Better Call Saul. Not sure about some of the smaller ones like Turn and Humans, and some only have had one season.

One day i will cut my cable, but.. I need my HD sports. Hockey and all the different soccer leagues and cups and competitions I like to watch. Streams are sucky, so.. here I am spending a fortune on cable each month.

Sports is still the one thing you kind of have to bite the bullet on cus it has to be live and networks pay big bucks to carry those streams so they're exclusive. And if you watch a niche sport like Hockey (weird to call it a niche but it's never on the big networks or espn), or soccer in the Us you have to buy additional packages. I used to watch my local nba team a ton on our local fox sports, but now with kids and all my other shows I haven't watched a single game this year so I would give it up. And then just get an hd receiver for football on Fox or whatever on Sundays.

 

[Leonel]

You won't regret canceling your cable. I did that ages ago while going to Netflix and Hulu and I've never regretted it. Save myself $80 a month.

 

[Zkribbler]

Here in the Philippines, I pay $20/month for internet and half that for cable TV.
Internet is agonizingly slow. I can't play online games. Download a game off steam take days.
Hulu etc. are not available.
The TV shows are almost all reruns. I use it mainly for news, movies, and reruns of Big Bang Theory and NCIS.

 

[Farm Boy]

Internet and Netflix instant watch provides me with enough content to paralyze my selection process. I missed Wheel of Fortune and Supernatural for a while when we stopped getting shows and the signal went digital. I can't say I give a crap about them now.

 

[warpus]

Sports is still the one thing you kind of have to bite the bullet on cus it has to be live and networks pay big bucks to carry those streams so they're exclusive. And if you watch a niche sport like Hockey (weird to call it a niche but it's never on the big networks or espn), or soccer in the Us you have to buy additional packages. I used to watch my local nba team a ton on our local fox sports, but now with kids and all my other shows I haven't watched a single game this year so I would give it up. And then just get an hd receiver for football on Fox or whatever on Sundays.

Hockey isn't niche here, it's a religion. Most hockey games air on the same network. If all I cared about was hockey it would actually be easier to go cordless, as it's only 1 league to worry about. With soccer I gotta worry about 2 leagues, numerous cup competitions, several continental competitions, qualifying for various international competitions, the Euros, the World Cup... And each one of those competitions might be carried by a different network. That's the one benefit of the 5 North American sports, each one of the leagues is the top one on the planet. With soccer you have tons of leagues all over the place.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Hate to tell you this bud

Canada is a niche country.

 

[Zelig]

I've never lived anywhere with a tv subscription.

I refuse to support copyright monopolists.

 

[warpus]

Niche:

1. a shallow recess, especially one in a wall to display a statue or other ornament.

The Stanley Cup I'm assuming, but we'd need room for a couch and a fridge full of beer too.

2. a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment.

Yes our socialized healthcare state means we are usually relaxing on a couch not having to worry about anything other than hockey results

3. denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.

Ah see, this is the only one that doesn't fit. We are not specialized, we are stubbornly diverse. There's also more Canadians than Texans so I assume that qualifies as "big enough to not be called small"

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Oh boy do you really want to go down the road of comparing Canada to Texas? You won't come out good no matter what with that line.

 

[warpus]

Last time I arrived in Texas the first person to say anything to me said the following:

"Welcome home, sir"

I looked around and thought, "Good enough"

 

[onejayhawk]

I currently pay under $10 a month. It's for Prime and Netflix streaming on Amazon Fire. Local stations are picked up for local things, but we don't use them much.

J

 

[civvver]

Hockey isn't niche here, it's a religion. Most hockey games air on the same network. If all I cared about was hockey it would actually be easier to go cordless, as it's only 1 league to worry about. With soccer I gotta worry about 2 leagues, numerous cup competitions, several continental competitions, qualifying for various international competitions, the Euros, the World Cup... And each one of those competitions might be carried by a different network. That's the one benefit of the 5 North American sports, each one of the leagues is the top one on the planet. With soccer you have tons of leagues all over the place.

Well canada, duh you guys have hockey on main channels. In the Us though we end up watching cnbc to get hockey. I can't remember the last time it was on espn and only playoffs are on networks like abc. Nba and mlb are only on the big networks on the weekends, but they're constantly on basic cable channels like epsn and tbs/tnt. Hockey you have to subscribe to additional channels, other than the local fox sports which only carries our hometown team. So that's what I meant, cus I could get slingtv or something and still get the majority of national nba games.

I currently pay under $10 a month. It's for Prime and Netflix streaming on Amazon Fire. Local stations are picked up for local things, but we don't use them much.

J

That doesn't make sense, netflix is $10 a month and prime is $99 a year, so you should be paying around $18 for both of those.

 

[warpus]

I feel bad for American hockey lovers. I would presume that in hockey-passionate markets like Detroit, the games are more easily available than elsewhere? At least I'd hope so.