anybody go completely cableless?

[SanFranciscan]

We got Comcast after the digital conversion laws went into effect. We canceled at the end of last week and will be returning the cable box tomorrow. The cable companies had a heyday around the time of the digital conversion, but that time has passed. The economy is bad, and they are selling something people can do without. The cable and Internet companies are still acting as though they are in a seller's market. They are not because Internet access is free at the library, and the Internet cafes will suffice for someone who is not on the Internet all day every day. In fact, the Internet cafes are a great social gathering place to make REAL FRIENDS; and Internet chat rooms are a poor substitute for that.

The shows that we really loved have been removed from On Demand anyway and replaced with network shows the cable companies did not pay to produce. On top of that the cable channels are showing the same movies that are also on the list on On Demand and reruns of network shows, which have been in syndication on the networks for years.

 

[ShanPooh]

We are like 7up
"Never had it, never will"

Of course, DH throws around being a "neo-luddite" quite a lot.

 

[SanFranciscan]

Bah! This scares me that I will be out of a job in a few years if everyone keeps cutting their cable.

I understand your concern because the lady I canceled Comcast with on Thursday. after being unable to get through after repeated calls last week, sounded so demoralized from the second that she answered the telephone. Then the guy that took our cable box back today had a separate line going for people returning equipment, and I saw two shelves full of returned cable boxes. My husband thanked him profusely because he was worried about time. Yet the man said that he was not being courteous, that he was just tying to shorten the line of people and get us out of there. I guess a bunch of people standing there with cable boxes to cancel their service can't be good for business, especially after an article last month in I think that it was USA Today saying how many cancellations Comcast was getting. That is just one company, so how many companies can we multiply that by?

Yet home Internet and cable television are luxuries being sold in a tight economy. Yeah, it is sad because the cable television and Internet business employs a lot of people. We just have too many people making too little money, which has long been the case in the private sector in our McJobs economy. Now government workers, who felt untouchable, are realizing that the serfs in the private sector can't support them anymore, even with more tax increases and are learning what insecurity feels like. Who has the money to buy non-essentials with a heavy markup? Cable television and Internet are non-essentials with heavy markups.

I do hope that you don't suffer irreversible economic harm, but our low-wage economy has got to stop relying upon the ability to pitch high-priced entertainment.

 

[eliza61]

I understand your concern because the lady I canceled Comcast with on Thursday. after being unable to get through after repeated calls last week, sounded so demoralized from the second that she answered the telephone. Then the guy that took our cable box back today had a separate line going for people returning equipment, and I saw two shelves full of returned cable boxes. My husband thanked him profusely because he was worried about time. Yet the man said that he was not being courteous, that he was just tying to shorten the line of people and get us out of there. I guess a bunch of people standing there with cable boxes to cancel their service can't be good for business, especially after an article last month in I think that it was USA Today saying how many cancellations Comcast was getting. That is just one company, so how many companies can we multiply that by?

.

Op here
Actually there are not that many cable companies out there and a lot of people feel that is part of the problem. In my area tri-state Philly area for so long we only had comcast. Then lately verizon has been trying to move into the market and comcast has been fighting them tooth and nail. I can only get comcast so they have the monopoly. they can deliver lousy service at high prices.
Like I said, my main peeve is that on the premium channels like hbo, showtime you may get 1 new movie a week. Last week the lineup was "The wiz", Big (with Tom hanks) and about 7 other movies at least 20 years old.

 

[C.Ann]

Cable at the lake is a "must have" - just no other way to get any kind of television reception - and the internet alternative is horrible..

Usually when I head back up in April they're running a 6 month special - so I get it for a lower rate for that period of time.. If I end up staying into the 7th month (like I did this past year), they only charge me for the number of days I was still there.. The price then drops down to $9.95 a month until I return to the mountains again..

What I have now is "one step up" from the most basic of basic.. However, if the price goes up as much as I have heard it's going to then I will be dropping it down to the lowest possible basic pkg. - which will be around 10 channels or less..

There's no way that I'm going to pay $100+ or so for one-step-up basic cable and internet service.. The number of channels on tv just aren't that important to me..

 

[Leajess99]

I thinking of getting rid of my cable. Well not entirely because we have a package that includes or internet access.

I think my major peeved is that the price is going up (again) and it seems like there is NEVER ANYTHING ON!!. Sorry for shouting.
We have a HBO package and except for Saturday night when they show a new movie, the rest of the week is old reruns. I mean last week one of the HBO channels aired "The Wiz"!!! Not the classic with Judy Garland, the crummy remake with Diana Ross (at age 45 trying to play Dorothy)

I'm thinking about cutting back to the lowest allowable to keep internet and then just using Netflix (we already have it).

Anybody else got rid of cable and managed to survive.
My teens of course think I'm trying to send them back to the "dark ages"

We have not had cable in years and my kids (17 next month, 11, and 7) all survive. My kids watch DVDs, play the wii for an alloted period, or read books. I miss cable at times now that I really can't get anything since the stupid digital tv stuff took over but I don't have to worry about the crap on some of the stations now a days. There are many options for watching shows on the internet as well.

 

[DW2010]

Not completely, but we only have basic cable for $12 a month .

 

[SanFranciscan]

I think that it was in Monday's paper that I saw that the over-the-air networks want to start charging cable companies per subscriber. That is one of the most silly things that I have ever heard. The viewer does not have to have cable to watch network television. I do think that the cable companies will stop fighting the a la carte option for cable subscribers if more and more channels pull the same "Take it or leave it" attitude that the cable companies themselves have been guilty of.

 

[ACDSNY]

We've never had cable or sat and we can't see paying for it when there's nothing we want to watch anyway. I figure the savings helps cover my travel expenses.

 

[reginaastralis]

I dropped everything last year when I lost my job. I have been working for almost a year now, and am considering getting internet again, but I don't miss cable.

We do have a converter box, and the only downfall is I don't get CBS. I don't know what that's about ... however with Hulu and Netflix, I feel like I was more than enough tv.

 

[DVCBELLE]

We are in the process of dropping our DirecTV - I told the kids I would disconnect on Feb 1.

But we have hooked up netflix and youtube and they have not turned on DirecTV all week. In fact, they forgot that they had wanted to watch the Disney Channel night of premieres tonight! I was worried they would be upset but it seems to be working out great for us!

 

[HHSTigerFan]

which is why I LOVE my DVR!

We don't even watch live TV anymore....I haven't seen commercials in ages!

Dawn

Which is why the cost of cable is going up so much...

 

[bonnaroomama]

We watch all our shows on sidereel and hulu. I would love cable but it's a luxury we just can't afford.

 

[Shelby5514]

I wish I could find it...there was a website mentioned on NPR this week. It is basically a TV guide with how to watch most shows without cable. I would love to unplug ours. A big waste of $$$. We could be saving towards Disney, right? We called Directv in November and told them to disconnect it. They said oh, wait we will give you 3 months free and then lower it to the next package price down. My hubby jumped on it. I just want it gone!!

Was it clicker.com?

We haven't had pay TV for almost 3 years and don't miss it one bit. With all of the online content, the locals off rabbit ears and Netflix, we get plenty of TV.

 

[SDSorority]

DH wants to get rid of ours, too. In fact, he just said to me "this can be our Christmas present to each other this year if you want" (meaning get rid of cable and set up a connection to our xbox to do streaming netflix). We would save probably $400-$600 bucks a year! The only thing I'm worried about is not being able to see the Buckeyes play live.... can you watch live tv via your computer streamed through your tv?

 

[JCMHutch]

We love our Netflix! Lately, it seems like they've been adding more and more stuff (shows from A&E, History Channel, SciFi - its been great!). We bought two Roku boxes and can watch on 2 separate tvs if DH & I feel like watching something difference. On thing we like is the Roku news channel - We've been watching Suze Orman lately because they have the new weekly show on there every Sunday.

We don't have full cable but we do have a $12 a month plan from Comcast because we have absolutely no reception where we are. We have our DSL through Verizon and have the $24 plan so we can stream Netflix. This is a lot cheaper than cable - my mom was paying $140 for Comcast a few years back and now has Verizon Fios for $135.00. Ouch.

 

[Colleen27]

We never had cable until Detroit Tigers coverage went completely to Fox Sports. DH just didn't see the point of it (he grew up without) and TV didn't matter enough to me to spend the money. But we're both big baseball fans and having Fox Sports is the only way to see live games, so now we're pretty much resigned to keeping cable/satellite of some sort. Otherwise I think I'd be just fine with the shows available online and through Netflix.

 

[Colleen27]

I think that it was in Monday's paper that I saw that the over-the-air networks want to start charging cable companies per subscriber. That is one of the most silly things that I have ever heard. The viewer does not have to have cable to watch network television. I do think that the cable companies will stop fighting the a la carte option for cable subscribers if more and more channels pull the same "Take it or leave it" attitude that the cable companies themselves have been guilty of.

A lot of people do need a subscription service to get local channels, though, because the broadcast signal doesn't reach parts of the viewing area. We're in that situation - even with a rooftop antenna we couldn't get a clear picture on most of our locals, and with just an indoor antenna we get nothing at all.

 

[wesjohnson]

We dumped cable about 18 months ago and it is easier than you might think. We bought a new media center PC (Windows 7) and decided to pull the local channels in onto that. All cable companies are required to broadcast local channels, in HIGH DEF, across their cable lines, at no charge. So, we run the cable line into the PC where media center acts like our DVR. We then stream the pc content to three xboxes throughout our home in different rooms. We are now able to record, pause, etc any programming on local channels. This content is then streamed to the xboxes where we can watch different shows in every room, if we want to. The pc cost about $500, but we recouped the cost of that in a few months of not paying cable--and, we have a superfast pc for other stuff to boot. Public Television has lots of programming in the AM
Finally, we use neflix and their streaming service is awesome. Both the Wii and the Xbox (and ps3) allow you to watch netflix content for $8.99/month. The content is not the greatest for adults, but my kids love it. Most Nick shows are available as well as Disney Channel.
We were paying about $80/month for basic cable, DVRs, HD, etc. Now, we pay $8.99 to netflix, after a $500 investment in a PC.
It takes some tech saavy, but it is well worth it.

 

[JennCa]

We don't have cable or satellite and just use Netflix and get 4 local real channels for free. I am happy to save the money since I wasn't using it much.
You may be surpirsed how you end up playing games, reading, since the tv isn't as much a draw, etc.


Jenn