For those of you that CUT THE CABLE, I have questions

[hsmamato2]

yeah,I'm not a big hulu fan,since they tend to take shows off abruptly... and I can't finish watching them.... it's kind of strange. But Hulu is sort of useful to check out new shows,etc.

 

[kamik86]

We cut cable, well barely ever really had it honestly besides one apartment in college where it was included.

When I lived in Rochester NY we got a few news channels with an antenna but never watched them. I get my news on the internet.

The area I live in now you can pick almost nothing up with an antenna (parents have tried)

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We would have cut the cable long ago if it wasn't for sports. DH wouldn't be able to watch our local MLB and NBA teams, not to mention <gasp> going without ESPN.

This is us. And we have Redzone. It would be a travesty to not be able to watch every touchdown made on Sunday. How would they survive? (DS and my SO)

My SO also does fantasy football so it's a huge deal. And my DS is a huge Lebron fan. They also watch every sport. Baseball, soccer, hockey, etc. ESPN can be on 24/7 and they wouldn't mind.

We have a pretty big cable package. The only thing I can look forward to is when the kids move out and I can cut down on the cable boxes so my bill can go down. I don't see my SO ever giving up cable because of sports.

We also have a lot of premium channels because there are shows on HBO and Showtime that we watch.

 

[dfchelbay]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm looking into all this information. Can anyone recommend a really good antenna? I found an old one in the furnace room in my house, from probably the 1970's...lol I hooked it up & it got me 31 channels. So, I thought, well if I buy a brand new, up to date antenna, I'll get even more channels...nope, lost half of what the old rabbit ears got me. I paid $10 for the new antenna, so I'll return it. If I pay more, will I get more channels? Do the antennas with amplifiers really get stations 100 miles away? Does anyone have a non-roof antenna they can recommend? I'd like to buy one and see what I can get. This is what I get with my 1970's rabbit ears:

Fox local
Movie
Buzzr
NBC
THIS
METV
ABC
Bounce
TCT
TCT Family
TCT Kids
Local UPN
COZI
Escape
ION
QUBO
ION-Life
Shopping
QVC
HSN
Local Station
GRIT
Religious-1
Religious-2
CW
PBS
PBS-World
Create
CBS
Decades

Will I really get much more with a pricey antenna? What's funny is that I watch Cozi, Create & Decades on my cable tv & they're all free on over the air broadcast tv.

Thanks all.

 

[dfchelbay]

I use Sling with HBO add on, 35 dollars/month. It has HGTV, Food Network, CNN, ESPN, ESPN2 and many many more.

Can you tell me if the shows are current on Sling? I looked on Netflix and saw that their HGTV shows are from 2013. Thanks

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Can you tell me if the shows are current on Sling? I looked on Netflix and saw that their HGTV shows are from 2013. Thanks

Sling is live TV streaming. I haven't tried it as the reviews are mixed. Supposedly the new Apple TV will have something similar to Sling from Apple. We shall see. I currently have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Huluplus. I am able to watch on demand through Hulu since I don't always catch the episode when it airs. I've also discovered series that I never watched when they were on and loved. Cutting cable was the best move!!

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

I would LOVE to be able to do away with Comcast. Hate, hate, hate them! But it's all about the sports. I live in a household with DH, DS15, and DS13. If there were no ESPN, there would be a mutiny. They watch soccer, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, etc., etc. I think taking it away might actually send them into physical shock.

I keep thinking I'm missing something and there would be a way to cut cable and still get some of the sports they "need". But from reading other responses, I guess there isn't, huh? Most everything else I could do without--just a very basic antenna or basic cable. But it's the sports thing that's killing me....

 

[dfchelbay]

I would LOVE to be able to do away with Comcast. Hate, hate, hate them! But it's all about the sports. I live in a household with DH, DS15, and DS13. If there were no ESPN, there would be a mutiny. They watch soccer, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, etc., etc. I think taking it away might actually send them into physical shock.

I keep thinking I'm missing something and there would be a way to cut cable and still get some of the sports they "need". But from reading other responses, I guess there isn't, huh? Most everything else I could do without--just a very basic antenna or basic cable. But it's the sports thing that's killing me....

I'm looking on Sling & they have live sports channels. Here's the link: https://www.sling.com/programming/sports Does this help your sports household? I hope so

 

[sarah4770]

Thays a lot of channels. We just use direct tv on the main TV and then use cheap antenna's in the bedrooms. The bedrooms get about 10 channels with the cheap antennaes. A friend of mine really only gets a few more with a rooftop antenna... so I cant help you there. 2nd year of contract with Direct TV and the bill is around 63 a month, and the bedroom antenna's are fine for listening to the TV while you fall asleep.

 

[RobbW]

I, too, wish we could cut the cable cord. We have WOW! for cable, internet, and phone. We're paying more than I care to for all three, but there currently isn't a polished all-in-one alternative.

Yet...

Most of our TV watching is Netflix, iTunes Movies, and other streaming options using our Apple TV devices. The only reason we still have cable is because of the broadcast channels and the DVR capabilities. There are several prime-time broadcast TV shows that my wife and daughters watch for which there is not a reasonable alternative. Most of these are reality TV shows for which it is "imperative" that they be watched the night of original broadcast to avoid having the episodes spoiled (e.g. Dancing With The Stars, American Ninja Warrior, The Amazing Race, Survivor, all the different Bachelor series, etc.). Currently, all these shows are recorded on our cable DVR and either watched later in the evening or the next night at the latest. Any non-cable option for watching these shows are either non-existent, significantly delayed (i.e. not current season), or too inconvenient (i.e. you have to watch on a PC from each channel's specific website). To truly cut the cable cord, we would require a single, convenient option for watching all our desired shows in one place in either real time, near-real time, or whenever we darn well please. Oh, and NOT cost nearly as much as just simply keeping our cable! So far, nothing out there meets our criteria.

What I'm hoping and waiting for is Apple to finally launch its subscription TV service. If it's what I'm hoping for (i.e. mostly a la carte pick-and-choose which channels you want), then we may finally ditch the cable and phone portions of our current package and just keep the internet. Cable can be replaced by the Apple TV service and phone can easily be replaced by an internet VOIP service.

 

[megsters]

I, too, wish we could cut the cable cord. We have WOW! for cable, internet, and phone. We're paying more than I care to for all three, but there currently isn't a polished all-in-one alternative.

Yet...

Most of our TV watching is Netflix, iTunes Movies, and other streaming options using our Apple TV devices. The only reason we still have cable is because of the broadcast channels and the DVR capabilities. There are several prime-time broadcast TV shows that my wife and daughters watch for which there is not a reasonable alternative. Most of these are reality TV shows for which it is "imperative" that they be watched the night of original broadcast to avoid having the episodes spoiled (e.g. Dancing With The Stars, American Ninja Warrior, The Amazing Race, Survivor, all the different Bachelor series, etc.). Currently, all these shows are recorded on our cable DVR and either watched later in the evening or the next night at the latest. Any non-cable option for watching these shows are either non-existent, significantly delayed (i.e. not current season), or too inconvenient (i.e. you have to watch on a PC from each channel's specific website). To truly cut the cable cord, we would require a single, convenient option for watching all our desired shows in one place in either real time, near-real time, or whenever we darn well please. Oh, and NOT cost nearly as much as just simply keeping our cable! So far, nothing out there meets our criteria.

What I'm hoping and waiting for is Apple to finally launch its subscription TV service. If it's what I'm hoping for (i.e. mostly a la carte pick-and-choose which channels you want), then we may finally ditch the cable and phone portions of our current package and just keep the internet. Cable can be replaced by the Apple TV service and phone can easily be replaced by an internet VOIP service.

If their shows are on over the air channels like your examples are, maybe the TiVo Roamio might be a good option?

 

[hblevins32]

Can you tell me if the shows are current on Sling? I looked on Netflix and saw that their HGTV shows are from 2013. Thanks

Yes, all the shows are current. At the time they are broadcast. Many channels have the feature that you can watch previous shows from that day also or begin from the beginning if the program is already in progress. They have ESPN & ESPN2 on the basic $20 but they also have a sports add on with lots more sport channels for another $5.

 

[JinxedSydney]

We cut the cord over a year ago, and I love it! We pay $40/month for internet, and then $8 for Netflix and $8 for Hulu. We did buy a cheap antennae (like. ~$15 cheap) that we probably should have spent more on, but it picks up our local channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS) for free. (clipped)

We did the same about two years ago. We did buy a Roku box to run it all and upgraded to digital rabbit ears ($30?). I don't miss it one bit. So I watch some of the shows a day later...not a big deal. I honestly thought we would have a hard time adjusting, but it never happened. Hulu is a big pain with buffering but it offers a ton of shows and movies.

 

[WIcruizer]

They have ESPN & ESPN2 on the basic $20 but they also have a sports add on with lots more sport channels for another $5.

Yes, but unfortunately it doesn't include FSN, which carries all the MLB and NBA games for many local markets, including ours. So yes, we're probably paying $1,000 a year just for this.

 

[magik]

I, too, wish we could cut the cable cord. We have WOW! for cable, internet, and phone. We're paying more than I care to for all three, but there currently isn't a polished all-in-one alternative.

Yet...

Most of our TV watching is Netflix, iTunes Movies, and other streaming options using our Apple TV devices. The only reason we still have cable is because of the broadcast channels and the DVR capabilities. There are several prime-time broadcast TV shows that my wife and daughters watch for which there is not a reasonable alternative. Most of these are reality TV shows for which it is "imperative" that they be watched the night of original broadcast to avoid having the episodes spoiled (e.g. Dancing With The Stars, American Ninja Warrior, The Amazing Race, Survivor, all the different Bachelor series, etc.). Currently, all these shows are recorded on our cable DVR and either watched later in the evening or the next night at the latest. Any non-cable option for watching these shows are either non-existent, significantly delayed (i.e. not current season), or too inconvenient (i.e. you have to watch on a PC from each channel's specific website). To truly cut the cable cord, we would require a single, convenient option for watching all our desired shows in one place in either real time, near-real time, or whenever we darn well please. Oh, and NOT cost nearly as much as just simply keeping our cable! So far, nothing out there meets our criteria.

What I'm hoping and waiting for is Apple to finally launch its subscription TV service. If it's what I'm hoping for (i.e. mostly a la carte pick-and-choose which channels you want), then we may finally ditch the cable and phone portions of our current package and just keep the internet. Cable can be replaced by the Apple TV service and phone can easily be replaced by an internet VOIP service.

If you're lucky enough to get good antenna reception, you can get on OTA DVR to hook up to it. Tivo, Tablo and a few others are options. I have a Tivo, and in addition to recording my OTA network shows from my antenna, it has apps for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, Youtube, and VUDU, so I can watch those streaming things through my Tivo as well. It cost me $300 up front, but nothing else since. A Tablo would need a seperate external harddrive to plug into it, but you would be able to stream your DVRed shows through your existing Apple TV devices. I think up front costs may be similar to the Tivo. So yes it's spending money now, but saving in the long run. Of course neither DVR option will work if you can't get the network channels you want with an antenna.

 

[dfchelbay]

Yes, all the shows are current. At the time they are broadcast. Many channels have the feature that you can watch previous shows from that day also or begin from the beginning if the program is already in progress. They have ESPN & ESPN2 on the basic $20 but they also have a sports add on with lots more sport channels for another $5.

Thanks. Can you tell me if these channels are carried in the $20 a month lineup...A&E, History & Lifetime? There's conflicting information on the website. It shows their icons, but these channels appear nowhere in the channel line up section. Do you get those? Are they in the $20 a month set up or are they in the $5 a month extra, or not carried at all on Sling? It shows conflicting info on their website. Thanks. Their websites advertisers that you get these networks for $20 a month, then as you navigate deeper into the website you find out some of them cost $5 extra a month. I'm going to get the free trial tomorrow & see what it offers over the weekend. Just don't want to do it until I'm actually home & can spend some time with it. Thanks for your help.

 

[3Gsandme]

I didn't read everything, but here's how we do it.

All of our tvs (4) have Roku boxes. The top of the line, newest model is $99.
We have an Over the Air antenna for real time network shows, news, football, etc. It cost us about $75 and we get about 10 channels with it.
We have netflix at 7.99/month
we have hulu at 7.99/month
We have amazon prime. I don't consider a cost for this because it's a perk with our prime membership that we use extensively.
We have sling. Sling is a subsidiary of Dish Network and offers real time networks shows. I think it's $20/month and we get CNN, ESPN, Disney, Disney Jr. Disney XD, HGTV, A&E, AMC and a handful of others.
I also subscribe to HBO now via my iPhone for Game of Thrones at 14.99/month.

 

[3Gsandme]

Thanks. Can you tell me if these channels are carried in the $20 a month lineup...A&E, History & Lifetime? There's conflicting information on the website. It shows their icons, but these channels appear nowhere in the channel line up section. Do you get those? Are they in the $20 a month set up or are they in the $5 a month extra, or not carried at all on Sling? It shows conflicting info on their website. Thanks. Their websites advertisers that you get these networks for $20 a month, then as you navigate deeper into the website you find out some of them cost $5 extra a month. I'm going to get the free trial tomorrow & see what it offers over the weekend. Just don't want to do it until I'm actually home & can spend some time with it. Thanks for your help.

I'm pretty sure those are included in the "basic" package. The upcharge is for kids channels (aka Disney, which I pay for), sports or HBO

https://www.sling.com/package

 

[dfchelbay]

I'm pretty sure those are included in the "basic" package. The upcharge is for kids channels (aka Disney, which I pay for), sports or HBO

https://www.sling.com/package

Thanks. That was the page I was looking at too. But, on their home page it lists channels like Cooking, DIY, TRU, etc. that appear to be part of $20 a month package, but they're not, they fall in 2 different categories, Lifestyle & Hollywood, with each costing $5 extra a month. I'm just trying to see exactly what I'm getting & putting all my ducks in a row before I tell Comcast to shove it on the 30th...lol J/k, going to tell them to pick up their equipment & adios gauging thieves

 

[3Gsandme]

Thanks. That was the page I was looking at too. But, on their home page it lists channels like Cooking, DIY, TRU, etc. that appear to be part of $20 a month package, but they're not, they fall in 2 different categories, Lifestyle & Hollywood, with each costing $5 extra a month. I'm just trying to see exactly what I'm getting & putting all my ducks in a row before I tell Comcast to shove it on the 30th...lol J/k, going to tell them to pick up their equipment & adios gauging thieves

I understand what you mean. From my experience, those channels listed on the link I sent you are what is available now.I actually don't see the channels you're mentioning, but I'll keep digging. For us, it's a good deal because it's on channels we watch and use and not channels we don't.