Giving up Cable/satellite do you miss it?

[RooRach0906]

We pay $50/month for cable. It seems reasonable. We own our Tivo DVR so we're not paying dvr rental fees, maybe that's why it's cheaper. We went without it for awhile but it's enjoyable to have. It surprises me on the DISboards if there aren't more people enjoying the Disney channel like us.

OP Here ~ We are hard-core Disney fans and one of the main channels watched in our house was the Disney channel in the morning when Disney Jr was playing as we have a 3 year old. I also loved their Disney channel original movies I would DVR a lot of them and watch them over and over. It was not enough to keep us though, we were paying around $54 a month for a the lowest package we could get with Dish, it was a package that is no longer offered, it was not a lot of channels probably what you would get with basic cable, and we did have HD programing and a DVR, but they were raising our bill $10 a month which was no longer worth it for us. This was actually a final straw for us. We have already figured out that I can buy a Disney Jr DVD or two and we would still save money and DD can still watch the shows she likes. I was already buying some of the DVDs anyway because she did not have satellite in her playroom.

We pulled the plug last week and went 2 days with no TV while DH found a HD antenna that would work. We get about 20 channels now and at times there is not much to watch but to be honest it has helped us get more done around the house and have more family time so to me it was a great step for our family. DH is still adjusting and it will take him a little while to get used to it but he will plus he is finally watch movies, TV series that people have bought him in the past and he never watched.

Thank you everyone for your input. I know each and every family is different and so this would not work for everyone just wanted some input about it and different options we could get instead. Again Thank you!

 

[kalynn]

We don't miss it at all. There are the occassional times when there's something on TV that we have to find online, and its still not the best (like watching the Olympics currently), but for the most part, it's wonderful.

We find that with not quite as much selection, we're couch surfing a lot less (ie wasting less time).

Overall, we are happy with it and do not ever intend to switch back. Our cable company has called us several times with amazing offers. No thanks. We're getting off the couch (... and on to disboards instead).

 

[ILUVALASKA]

When I saw what junk was appearing on A&E and other channels, we bagged cable. No regrets.

 

[RitaE]

What is vacation suspension and how does it work?

You just call an 800 number. I got stuck for a bit in a phone tree loop but I finally figured it out. You can suspend service for up to 6 months. It keeps your account active but you don't have to pay monthly charges and if you decide you want Direct TV back then it is just a phone call. It is a computerized system and you just tell the computer when you want the suspension to start and end. No need to go through the "Please stay with us" sales pitches.

https://support.directv.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2430

 

[Narnia_girl]

OP Here ~ We are hard-core Disney fans and one of the main channels watched in our house was the Disney channel in the morning when Disney Jr was playing as we have a 3 year old. I also loved their Disney channel original movies I would DVR a lot of them and watch them over and over. It was not enough to keep us though, we were paying around $54 a month for a the lowest package we could get with Dish, it was a package that is no longer offered, it was not a lot of channels probably what you would get with basic cable, and we did have HD programing and a DVR, but they were raising our bill $10 a month which was no longer worth it for us. This was actually a final straw for us. We have already figured out that I can buy a Disney Jr DVD or two and we would still save money and DD can still watch the shows she likes. I was already buying some of the DVDs anyway because she did not have satellite in her playroom.

We pulled the plug last week and went 2 days with no TV while DH found a HD antenna that would work. We get about 20 channels now and at times there is not much to watch but to be honest it has helped us get more done around the house and have more family time so to me it was a great step for our family. DH is still adjusting and it will take him a little while to get used to it but he will plus he is finally watch movies, TV series that people have bought him in the past and he never watched.

Thank you everyone for your input. I know each and every family is different and so this would not work for everyone just wanted some input about it and different options we could get instead. Again Thank you!

It's good to know other's successes regarding cutting cable. We also have DISH and they have consistently raised our rates. We just got notice that it's going up another $5. We went without cable for a decade so I know it can be done but this is what I am having the hardest time giving up:
1) NFL . I love football!
2) News channels, especially FoxNews which I watch every morning and late afternoon.
3) Giving up our DVR which has the live-pause capability. I love pausing commercials so I don't have to watch them.

Any suggestions on how I can keep these aspects I love while dumping DISH?

 

[RitaE]

It's good to know other's successes regarding cutting cable. We also have DISH and they have consistently raised our rates. We just got notice that it's going up another $5. We went without cable for a decade so I know it can be done but this is what I am having the hardest time giving up:
1) NFL . I love football!
2) News channels, especially FoxNews which I watch every morning and late afternoon.
3) Giving up our DVR which has the live-pause capability. I love pausing commercials so I don't have to watch them.

Any suggestions on how I can keep these aspects I love while dumping DISH?

I'm not an expert on any of this but I'm starting to research some of the software/computer options and devices like simple.tv (not great ratings on Amazon but there appears to be some competitors). They seem to advertise DVR-like options.

 

[RitaE]

So as a personal update I discovered that Comcast in our area is offering a package special with high speed internet and basic cable for $49.99 a month for 12 months and no obligation past the 12 months. It is $15 a month cheaper than what I currently pay just for internet alone and the internet speed is faster than what I currently have. Oh, and there's a $50 Visa Gift card bonus too.

So I signed up. Comcast being Comcast, they've currently messed up our installation appointment twice and sent me a bill for my new $130 (over twice as expensive as what I ordered) tv plan and as an added bonus a $9.95 "technology fee" added onto the bill.

Having dealt with Comcast in the past, I saved all the documentation showing what I actually ordered from them. Hopefully this time around I won't find out in a couple of months that they also subscribed me to a magazine like they did last time I was their customer. I really hate dealing with these companies so I told my husband he needs to make all the phone calls and I'll take the trash out for three weeks for him.

 

[Narnia_girl]

So as a personal update I discovered that Comcast in our area is offering a package special with high speed internet and basic cable for $49.99 a month for 12 months and no obligation past the 12 months. It is $15 a month cheaper than what I currently pay just for internet alone and the internet speed is faster than what I currently have. Oh, and there's a $50 Visa Gift card bonus too.

So I signed up. Comcast being Comcast, they've currently messed up our installation appointment twice and sent me a bill for my new $130 (over twice as expensive as what I ordered) tv plan and as an added bonus a $9.95 "technology fee" added onto the bill.

Having dealt with Comcast in the past, I saved all the documentation showing what I actually ordered from them. Hopefully this time around I won't find out in a couple of months that they also subscribed me to a magazine like they did last time I was their customer. I really hate dealing with these companies so I told my husband he needs to make all the phone calls and I'll take the trash out for three weeks for him.

Ugh, I feel for ya. They are a headache to deal with! Hope he can get in straightened out! In 2010 we had Comcast for broadband and BASIC cable. They charged us $40 for that. We decided to get DISH so I called Comcast to cancel the cable and they said that was fine, but our broadband would go up to $45. So five dollars more per month to not get their cable!! We ended up just keeping Comcast cable even though it is not viewable on any of our TVs.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Ugh, I feel for ya. They are a headache to deal with! Hope he can get in straightened out! In 2010 we had Comcast for broadband and BASIC cable. They charged us $40 for that. We decided to get DISH so I called Comcast to cancel the cable and they said that was fine, but our broadband would go up to $45. So five dollars more per month to not get their cable!! We ended up just keeping Comcast cable even though it is not viewable on any of our TVs.

This the problem I am having difficulty getting around. We didn't have cable for 8 years didn't miss it but I cannot figure out how to keep Internet for wifi, Netflix and amazon viewing to the TV. Is there a way to get DSL cheap and not through the cable station. We have had the blast package for 2 years and that was 49.95 (a previous promotion) so that we could have wifi for our online classes as well. Now the promotion is over but if we don't switch to another promotion we will be charged 50.00 (plus taxes and whatnot) for just the Internet.

 

[nugov2]

It's good to know other's successes regarding cutting cable. We also have DISH and they have consistently raised our rates. We just got notice that it's going up another $5. We went without cable for a decade so I know it can be done but this is what I am having the hardest time giving up:
1) NFL . I love football!
2) News channels, especially FoxNews which I watch every morning and late afternoon.
3) Giving up our DVR which has the live-pause capability. I love pausing commercials so I don't have to watch them.

Any suggestions on how I can keep these aspects I love while dumping DISH?

1. Playon(has espn and some other sports channels) An Antenna will get you the basic channels to watch those games.
2. Playon has cnn, bloomberg, C-span don't know if those will work for you. Also if you can watch fox news on your laptop you can get a cord and put it right on to your tv.
3. Playon has built in DVR capabilities.

For $70 you get a lifetime subscription. We have other subscriptions, but Playon is great.
ETA that youtube has a ton of shows. My youngest likes Mickey Mouse club house and youtube has a ton of them. They play just fine. They aren't hd, but my 3yr old doesn't care

 

[Sunnywho]

I guess there are a couple of reasons for this -- many people on the BB are not what you would call "hard-core" Disney fans. They tend to be more into Dave Ramsey, etc.

And the other is of Disney's 3 cable channels (Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior), they tend to cater to preschoolers through pre-teens.

This makes sense. My kids are right in that age group.
Dave Ramsey is something I learned about here on the BB and there are aspects of it that I now use everyday and great appreciate. The other thing I learned about here was mechanical Turk. So, yay for the Budget Board, lots of good tips here.

 

[Nayan]

It's good to know other's successes regarding cutting cable. We also have DISH and they have consistently raised our rates. We just got notice that it's going up another $5. We went without cable for a decade so I know it can be done but this is what I am having the hardest time giving up:
1) NFL . I love football!
2) News channels, especially FoxNews which I watch every morning and late afternoon.
3) Giving up our DVR which has the live-pause capability. I love pausing commercials so I don't have to watch them.

Any suggestions on how I can keep these aspects I love while dumping DISH?

For NFL, if you can receive your major channels form an antenna, you can watch the Sunday games (and now that CBS made a deal with the NFL you could watch a Thursday night game as wee).

For Fox News, can't help ya there .

I would look into getting a Tivo. Not only can you stream Netflix and Hulu, but they also work with antennas. The only downside is there's a $15/month fee and if you don't pay the fee you're box is useless. But they work just like a DVR with pause, rewind and recording and many folks love them.

 

[JB2K]

We went without cable for a decade so I know it can be done but this is what I am having the hardest time giving up:
1) NFL . I love football!
2) News channels, especially FoxNews which I watch every morning and late afternoon.
3) Giving up our DVR which has the live-pause capability. I love pausing commercials so I don't have to watch them.

Any suggestions on how I can keep these aspects I love while dumping DISH?

1) NFL - as the majority of the games are already available for free on FOX (NFC), CBS (AFC, and in 2014, select Thursday night games), and NBC (Sunday night game), that shouldn't be too much of a problem. The only ones (unless you're paying extra for an "every games" package) airing on cable are the Monday night game on ESPN and the occassional Thursday game on NFL Network.

2) That could be a problem since FNC is a cable/satellite channel, but if I am not mistaken, Roku (one of the many "internet-enabled" boxes, out there) has some sort of a deal with Fox News. Can any Roku fans confirm/deny?

3) Not as hard as one thinks -- some people have built their own DVRs with a laptop computer (basically, your DVR is nothing but a hard drive and some software), and if you buy a TiVo with lifetime service attached (in the $300's), you have the DVR thing covered.

 

[*pixie*]

Seriously thinking about getting rid of Directv!

We already have Netflix to watch old seasons of t.v. shows that we missed when they originally aired. Right now we use the Wii for that. We had decided to order a Roku so that we could use Netflix on another t.v., but the more I read the more I think we can totally be free of satellite.

So, I'm ordering a Roku today.

We already have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I've also found out that our area can receive Aereo, so our local network stations are covered with that. We live in a very rural area and aren't sure if we could get these stations with just an antenna, so hoping Aereo will solve that problem.

Can anyone explain what the difference is between Playon and Hulu Plus?

As for sports, I think as far as NFL games, we should be fine with the local stations. I also think we can order a MLB package, but I read somewhere there could be blackout issues and we couldn't watch our local team. That could be a problem.

 

[Nayan]

Fox News Radio is on Roku and they have video clips, but no actual streaming of their TV channel.

 

[Nayan]

MLB.TV is $130 for the season, but they do black out local teams and do not stream many games on the weekends. I don't like it on the Roku and prefer to either use my gaming consoles or computer to view it as you can view more than one game (quad-box) on those devices.

 

[*pixie*]

MLB.TV is $130 for the season, but they do black out local teams and do not stream many games on the weekends. I don't like it on the Roku and prefer to either use my gaming consoles or computer to view it as you can view more than one game (quad-box) on those devices.

So I'm guessing you're just out of luck to watch your local team without satellite/cable?

 

[Nayan]

So I'm guessing you're just out of luck to watch your local team without satellite/cable?

Yep. Sports are the big reason I keep it, as all my teams are local and I can't watch them on the packages.

 

[MacDalt]

Seriously thinking about getting rid of Directv!

We already have Netflix to watch old seasons of t.v. shows that we missed when they originally aired. Right now we use the Wii for that. We had decided to order a Roku so that we could use Netflix on another t.v., but the more I read the more I think we can totally be free of satellite.

So, I'm ordering a Roku today.

We already have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I've also found out that our area can receive Aereo, so our local network stations are covered with that. We live in a very rural area and aren't sure if we could get these stations with just an antenna, so hoping Aereo will solve that problem.

Can anyone explain what the difference is between Playon and Hulu Plus?

As for sports, I think as far as NFL games, we should be fine with the local stations. I also think we can order a MLB package, but I read somewhere there could be blackout issues and we couldn't watch our local team. That could be a problem.

What's this Aereo? I also live in a rural area and if I could get local channels (networks) I'd drop direct TV in a heartbeat. We have Netflix thru the wii. I want to get Roku so we can watch it on both tvs. Can we watch 2 different Netflix shows at the same time on separate TVs?

 

[nugov2]

What's this Aereo? I also live in a rural area and if I could get local channels (networks) I'd drop direct TV in a heartbeat. We have Netflix thru the wii. I want to get Roku so we can watch it on both tvs. Can we watch 2 different Netflix shows at the same time on separate TVs?

Aero tv is a service that streams your local channels with no antenna, but they are involved in lawsuits so they are not in many markets. Was hoping we would get them soon. You can have netflix streaming on a lot of devices at once 4 maybe?? Not 100% sure, but I pay for Hulu and my brother pays for Netflix and we split them. So I have netflix on 3 devices at my house and he has it on that many at home, so at least 6. I've never had a problem watching it and neither has he. Hulu can be on unlimited devices, with only one streaming at a time but my dd watches it on her ipad while I watch it on the main tv all the time, so it isn't accurate.

For the poster who asked hulu vs playon, I'd do both. They are very different. I also returned my roku. I have google tv instead, but probably like anything just a personal preference.